Merry Christmas!

From our home to yours . . .

Merry Christmas!!!

May God bless each and every one of you!
Thank you for touching our lives this year!
We are so blessed to have you in it!
With love!
Rod, Jessica,
Camryn, Carsyn & Tyleigh

Miracles and Round Two

It's gonna be another long post . . . consider yourself warned! This is an experience to journal!

So, at our house, we have learned that "routine surgery" does not apply to any one of us. If the doctor says that there is a 1% chance for complications, we have discovered that we ARE that 1%. Lucky us! :)
Tyleigh decided to really shake things up at our house on Sunday night. After her first scare and trip back to the emergency room, things went TOO well. She was in minimal pain for the next three days and felt too good to have just had surgery. Rod and I were both amazed at her energy levels and her pain tolerance! Then on Saturday night, she crashed. She was up every couple of hours in intense pain, and crying. According to our post-op instructions, this was supposed to be fairly normal. Day five was a day for scabbing, and increased pain. We gave her lots of TLC and Tylenol and just decided to watch her closely.
Rod and the girls went to church without us on Sunday morning, and Tyleigh was cranky the entire time they were gone. 10 minutes before they were supposed to be home, she threw up blood again. I tried not to panic, and called my mom. She got on the internet and found that it could have just been a scab falling off, so she told me to have Tyleigh lay down and drink lots of cold water. Tyleigh was extra compliant for fear of going back to the hospital. This seemed to work though, so we did nothing more about it.
She didn't look good the rest of the day, but gave no indication that anything else was going on. We had a baptism to go to that night, so we dressed her up and took her thinking that getting out of the house might lift her spirits. She was so pale and tired, but was so happy to go.
When we got home, she begged to go to bed, which worried me, but I was glad that she would finally allow her body to rest. Rod and I checked on her at about 10:00 that night and she was as peaceful as could be.
At around midnight, I heard her cry out and went in to check on her. She was swallowing like crazy, and I knew it was blood that she was swallowing. I called out to Rod to come listen to her, and started getting ready to go to the hospital. He thought I was over reacting - until she threw up A LOT of blood. He kept her calm while I called the doctor and our dear friend to come stay with the girls. Poor Camryn and Carsyn got woken up with all the crying and came up the stairs right as Tyleigh threw up another basin full of blood. They both started crying, which panicked Ty. The harder she cried, the more she bled. By the time Jason, our friend staying with the girls, got to our house, Tyleigh had filled three of the throw-up basins full of blood. I got on the phone with 911 and asked for an ambulance. Rod told me to cancel because the throwing up had slowed enough to drive her there . . .or so we thought!
Tyleigh asked to go to the bathroom, so Rod tried to help her walk into the bathroom. She fainted and then struggled to come to. Rod and Jason tried to keep her alert while I called 911 for the second time.
The dispatcher was amazing - what a job! She kept me talking until an officer came only five minutes later. By the time he had started his report, the ambulance and firemen were at our house, and had Tyleigh loaded and ready to go! They were angels in disguise!
Ty was pretty much unconcious for the whole ride to the hospital. Rod got to stay in back with her, and I rode in the front so we could both be close to her. They started oxygen and an IV and had her fairly stable by the time we got to the hospital . . . in a horrible snow storm non-the-less. In the meantime, Jason did an awesome job of keeping the girls calm and entertained. They played games and had chocolate at 12:30 in the morning. He stayed with them until my mom and dad could get there, and then came to the hospital just in time to help give Rod a beautiful blessing to Tyleigh before she went back under for surgery. He then stayed to support Rod and I while we waited - which was nice because he has been blessed with the gift of gab, and kept our attention elsewhere with stories and jokes.
The doctor - who is also amazing - came back in after about 40 minutes and felt like she had stopped all of the bleeding. She said that Tyleigh would have to stay for several hours to determine whether or not a transfusion would be necessary. Tyleigh lost 1 liter of blood total, which was scary considering that her body only has 2 1/2 liters on a normal day.
When Tyleigh came to, she was exhausted, but calm. I have never seen such a white, pale child in all my life. She looked so fragile. We were admitted to the pediatric unit of the hospital where she was given more IV fluids, and medicine. She slept for a lot of it, but when she woke up, she was ticked about being there again! She wanted the IV out and begged to go home. It quickly turned into a really long morning with a mad five year old! Rod and I made lots of phone calls to family, and thank Heavens for each of them! My mom and dad were so good to stay with our girls. They were such a comfort to them - and to us, and shoveled our walks, and cleaned our house - and just made life easy again! My sweet sister felt the need to come down - in the snow storm - to be with Ty, which also was such a huge blessing! She came right to the hospital and helped Tyleigh do crafts until her results from her blood came back. It was the best distraction ever! Camryn and Carsyn were also amazing! They were a huge help in getting us ready to go to the hospital in spite of being scared, they helped my mom and dad while we were gone, and have bent over backwards for Tyleigh the last couple of days! I am so proud of both of them!
Tyleigh's blood level went from 35 last week to 20.2 on Sunday night. We were told that if it went below 20 she would need to have a blood transfusion. Luckily, by the time surgery was over, her IV fluids were turned down, and she had rested for a little while, it went back up to 22.6. She was able to come home at that.
She is exhausted and weak - but she is a fighter, and she's still here! We feel so blessed that Heavenly Father is giving us more time with our little angel! This has definitely been one of the most humbling experiences of our life! We are overwhelmed with gratitude for our little girls, for our family and friends, and for so many that continue to care so much about our family. We had no idea that anyone even knew, and we have been called, visited, gifted, and loved by so many! Thank you to every one of you for the kindness, compassion and love you have shown our family! You have touched our lives and hearts forever, and words will never be enough to express our gratitude to you! May the Lord bless each and every one of you . . . and may you not EVER read another post like this one from the Madsen family again! :)

Sister Love, Surgery, and A Lot of Gratitude . . .

Fair warning: Journaling post = EXTRA LONG!!!

Sometimes I wonder if my girls would care at all if something happened to one of the others. They fight more often than not. They find reasons to be mad at each other that make no sense to the rest of us. They hit and wrestle as much as any brother would. And then just when I think they can be no meaner, a miracle happens . . . they protect each other, watch out for each other, and do everything they can to help the other. They are true sisters. The worst of enemies, and the very best of friends.

Tyleigh has needed to have surgery for a while now. Being the pansy that I am when it comes to my kids hurting - even when necessary - I kept putting it off. Then she got sick AGAIN. We took her to the ENT, and even the doctor was astonished at her findings. Tyleigh could not hear well due to so much fluid in her ears (and this is after two sets of tubes), and could not breathe - healthy or not - due to such huge adenoids! Surgery became inevitable, and I finally scheduled it. Wouldn't you know she got swine flu three days prior to having it??? Cancelled again.

In the meantime, Carsyn told her teacher all about it and asked if the class could help cheer Tyleigh up by making her cards. I had no idea. She came home one day after school with 21 cards from her 3rd grade class for Tyleigh. I was beyond touched. She had to hide them for two weeks because of the swine flu, but the night before Ty's re-scheduled surgery, she pulled them all out to ease Tyleigh's nerves. Of course, Ty loved every one of them! The attention made surgery way too exciting!

Surgery Day. My worst nightmare. Tyleigh was the biggest trooper I have ever met. She had to fast all night, and was so disciplined about doing what she needed to to make her surgery a success and get home sooner. A child life specialist came in to talk to her about what would happen prior to her procedure. She gave Tyleigh a doll to draw on, crafts to keep her mind off of what was happening, and all sorts of other hospital memorabilia. What a great service.

Getting a blood pressure reading.

And temperature.

Her doll from the child life specialist.

Getting nervous!

One last smile for dad before she went back to surgery.

She was not about to wear that hat, but she was totally cool with dad wearing it!

The nurses made sure she got both of her favorite colors of wrap for her IV. She got so spoiled by the nurses at the hospital! They catered to her every desire and even sent her home with a Dora bed tent! (It will probably only cost $500.00 after we meet our deductible! LOL!) The picture of her IV is the only picture she would let us take after her surgery, poor kid! She was hammered!

Not to make a long post even longer, but I have to finish journaling this experience for Tyleigh's sake. I don't blame you if you stop reading here.

Tyleigh's surgery went well. She was under for a little less than an hour. She ended up needing her tonsils out along with having tubes put in both ears and her adenoids removed. Coming out of the anesthesia was traumatizing for Tyleigh, but also for the mom and dad!!! She was so confused and in so much pain! She just kept telling us that she didn't want to have surgery ever again! Luckily, she was exhausted enough to sleep it off for a couple of hours once her pain was under control, and when she woke up, she was a new girl again.

All I could think about the whole time we were at the hospital was how blessed we are to have our children, especially healthy children. I can't imagine those who go through the hospital scenario on a daily, monthly, weekly basis. I can't fathom watching your child hurt and not being able to fix it or take it away. Listening to each of the kids brought out from surgery was a heart-breaking experience, but more than slightly humbling. I have never felt so helpless in all my life.

Tyleigh got to come home at about 1:00 that afternoon. The nurses told her that she had to start drinking to be able to leave, so she managed to get down about seven glasses of water! She would have stood on her head if it would have gotten her home any sooner!

At about 6:00 that same day, she started spitting up blood, and had to be taken to the emergency room. She had a couple of blood clots in her throat that had to pass before we could go home. She was admitted to the hospital for the rest of the night, which was another traumatizing experience to say the least, but she was so brave and was such a trooper. She had to have another IV put in her arm, and barely even cried when they put it in. Another moment of being willing to do anything just to not be there. We were finally released at 8:00 the next morning to go home . . . and all is well. We came home to a clean and warm home (thanks mom!), sweet big sisters with get well cards and helping hands, much needed visitors, gifts, and a new perspective.

While it has been an exhausting and emotional week, I am OVERFILLED with GRATITUDE. I am so grateful for so many that have called to check in, for those that have visited, for the non-stop gifts (Christmas is going to pale in comparison! :)), for the help from my mom, and dear friends in a time of need, for healthy little girls that I get to tuck in bed at home at night, for advanced medical technology and great doctors, sisters that love each other so much, and for more blessings than I could possibly ever deserve! We have felt so much love this past week, and are thankful for it.

Needless to say, I have found my Christmas Spirit. It definitely wasn't in the gifts this year, or the decorations, but in the compassion, love, and support of others, and most importantly, I found it in the love and tender mercies of our Heavenly Father and Savior . . . right where it should have been and probably was all along.

Miss Kaylee

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of my darling niece, Miss Kaylee. Since we were borrowing the "amazing camera," my sweet sister-in-law wanted to get some pictures of Kaylee for her own Christmas card. Like I said, I am NO photographer, but Kaylee was so happy to be outside after being sick for a week that she was more than cooperative, and the pictures turned out adorable! Love you guys!

I love her little face in this one!

Grammy told her that Aunt Jessica had green hair - apparently it was pretty funny!
We captured some priceless moments with that comment!

Kaylee and her beautiful Momma, Vanessa!

Girly pictures

I am SO not a photographer, but I needed some different pictures of my girls for our Christmas card this year. For the life of me, I could not get a decent shot of all three of them together, and I was not in the mood for cute matching outfits, fancy hair-do's and STRESS. So, Rod and I told them to dress themselves in whatever they wanted (yes, they put the hats on themselves . . . it was not a forced moment by the mom), borrowed our good friend's amazing camera, and started taking pictures. To our surprise, they didn't even turn out half bad! See for yourself . . .

Christmas Spirit

Okay neighbors, friends, blog stalkers, enemies, whoever you are . . . if you are reading this blog, I am in need of lots of comments and opinions today. For your benefit, and maybe even for mine, I have disabled all public comments - just for this one - so that you can spill your guts out on me and no one else will ever know.
My Christmas Spirit is in a funk this year - in a big way! I can hardly think straight, and have no ambition . . . so this is where I need brutal honesty. . .
It's neighbor gift time again. For the last two (three?) years, my family and several other families in our neighborhood have donated what would have been our neighbor gifts to the Road Home. It has served a greater purpose for our families, but I know that for others, it has been somewhat offensive. I am struggling to find the desire to do anything this year - neighbor gifts or big projects such as this drive, so I am needing some input to direct me one way or another.
On the one hand, neighbor gifts are a great way to reach out to someone we may not otherwise talk to much throughout the year. On the other hand, many of those gifts are given out of obligation - and Heaven only knows that I do not need to eat one more goodie!!! :)
However, the economy is so rotten that by donating to the Road Home, we serve others, and those who can't afford neighbor gifts are still able to contribute as the people there benefit from many no longer needed items that we already have. This year the Road Home is over-flowing with children, and it's tugging at my heart strings and leaving me with a desire to help.
Long story short . . . will you PLEASE leave me a comment/opinion on what your preference is this year. It will only take a second, and I'm even allowing it to be anonymous. If enough people love the idea of contributing to a charity (doesn't even have to be the Road Home - ideas welcome!), I will be happy to head it up again. However, if you are offended by this, I'd like to know that too. If most of you fall into that range, I may not waste my limited amount of Christmas Spirit in pulling something together. Bah Hum Bug! LOL!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take a minute to comment on this! THANK YOU!!!
Oh, and if any of you happened to have found my Christmas Spirit lurking around, would you please send it back my way? . . . Much appreciated! :)

Happy Halloween! (aka . . . blog catch up!)

Happy Halloween
From our house to yours!

The school parade

Carsyn's class party - "The Mummy Wrap"

Eating donuts off sticks . . . dumb swine flu! No bobbing for apples or eating donuts off a community string in this classroom!

Sucking up ingredients for a "witch's stew."
(Yes, I was in charge of the party - can you tell?)

Rod's awesome last minute costume . . . he's a leaf blower!
The worst part is that he actually won a prize at our ward party!

Tyleigh and just one of my favorite triplets at our ward party.

I love this picture of these two! My cute niece Kaylee "Little Tinkerbell"
and Tyleigh "Big Tinkerbell!"

My "all grown up" babies!

All the cute girls getting ready to Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat! Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

PUMPKINS!

Pumpkin carving at our house is always an adventure to say the least! Thanks to mine and Rod's amazing genes, our children were blessed with severe OCD, perfectionism, and competition. We totally should have had 12 kids! Thankfully, no one's pumpkin ended up stabbed to death this year (Carsyn's), and only one of my daughters ended up in tears over the design (Camryn). They are always very creative - especially since they like to do it all themselves . . . except for Tyleigh.

This carving business takes serious concentration from all involved!

See what I mean? She's totally into it!

Carsyn hard at work!

Camryn working on getting it "just right!"

Tyleigh totally into her pumpkin again . . . oh, wait! That's Rod . . . carving Ty's pumpkin!

Carsyn's masterpiece. Yes, she meant for the candle to look like his cigar. Always testing my limits! :)

Camryn (pre-breakdown) with her creative design.

Tyleigh with her perfectly carved pumpkin - thanks to Dad!

Tinkerbell was the only one who cooperated with the camera while she was lit.

We had to get a picture of ourselves with the pumpkins. We were being really funny sticking our tongues out . . . until Rod licked mine! BLEH! It still makes me sick to look at this adorable picture! We should probably use it on our Christmas card.