Bavaria

Hi- this is Brooke, not Mike but I am too lazy to sign out and sign in again. I just spent a wonderful few minutes reading through all the blogs that I have missed the past week and a half.

First of all- Jess and Tony congratulations!!! Indie is beautiful and I can't wait to see more pics. Please post as soon as you can.

Geoffie George, I'm so sorry I missed your birthday. I thought about you all day long. I love you and hope you are moved in and at peace. I know moving to a different region of the country is a bit of culture shock. Also, seeing what apartments you can actually afford is a shock as well. I remember when we first got to Oklahoma, after two days of looking at apartments I called mom and just started crying. But we found a reasonable place that wasn't fabulous but it worked. I'm excited for you guys though. There is so much history and so many neat things to see and I'm glad you are getting out. Mike says make sure you go see Williamsburg and Yorktown and the Outer Banks in North Carolina are only three or four hours away and beautiful.

Cam, I loved your long blog, every part of it. Your lives sound incredibly busy and I really appreciate the time you take to keep us updated. Also, thank you so much for fasting with us for Ellyn last Sunday. It means so much to us and it was greatly needed.

Well, as Adam said, Ellyn and I spent six exciting fun filled days in the hospital. I'm sure most of you have heard the full story, but just in case. Last Thursday morning as Ellyn was sleeping she began seizing- is that how you say it? The girls were all on my bed and it scared us all half to death. I called Mike out in the field and then called the health clinic. They told me I could get an ambulance or I could take her in to the emergency room myself, which I did. I was concerned but not overly, once I got over the initial shock (Ellynn-as in sister- has had a couple). Jane went to school and I dropped Sadie off at our friend's house so she could go to pre-school, telling my friend that I would probably be back in time to pick her up. Mike met me at the emergency room and initially the treating physician thought it was an isolated incident from an infection or something and told us we would need to stay overnight and they would do some bloodwork. Mike left to go get stuff for overnight for me and Ellyn and to pick up Sadie from pre-school. Ellyn and I were taken to our room where I laid down with Ellyn and she immediately fell asleep. Within about two minutes she was having another seizure and I was bawling and yelling for a nurse. As soon as she was done they started wheeling her downstairs for an EEG. Ellyn was fast asleep again. We got down to the waiting room and the nurse left and Ellyn was sleeping peacefully on the bed. And then it happened again. I have to say it was the scariest thing to happen in my life, well it's right there with Mike leaving for PT and never coming home again, and the time I thought the Fed Ex guy was an Army official at my mom's front door (all I saw was an arm with a black coat ringing the doorbell and it was right in the middle of Operation Anaconda). I wasn't so much worried about the seizures, although they were scary and disturbing, but what they were indicating. Well, the techs did the EEG and called upstairs to tell them Ellyn had had another seizure. I borrowed their phone and called Mike and told him to come back right away. When we got up to the room the pediatric neurologist was there. He already had the EEG and he told us that Ellyn has epilepsy. They put her on a powerful med to stop the seizures and she slept the rest of the day. The next five days were the most boring of my entire life. They started Ellyn on a low dose of the meds she must now take every night. They had to keep us there to monitor her blood and make sure it was not damaging her liver. On Monday, they had to take about 8 tubes of blood and after the line not working that they had put in when we first got there and them sitting there squeezing her little arm while she's screaming hysterically I asked if they could please give her some sort of sedative- did I mention this all took place in a German hospital where only the doctors speak English with any fluency and the nurses speak more English than I speak German but that is not saying much- so they basically made her high, made a few more pricks and got their 8 tubes of blood. On Wednesday, the day they discharged us, they did an MRI and a spinal tap. Oh I thought we were home free. So excited to be home with my happy, healthy child, she had been completely happy and normal the whole time we were at the hospital. We did not know however that spinal taps cause a great deal of pain, nausea, headaches, etc... and so up until last night our poor baby was miserable. I can only be grateful that my stomach isn't bigger because I carried that baby on my chest for three and a half days. She is finally happy and becoming a bit more independent. I swear right now I have two umbilical chords. Thanks to throwing up for three weeks and hard bread and bologna for two of my meals a day for the past week I have only gained two pounds so far.

I have to tell you that my husband was amazing through all of this. His commanders were incredible. They took him off his field assignment, told him to stay home and take care of his family. Luckily it was a four day weekend as well. Mike started bringing Ellyn mac and cheese and spaghetti and all her favorites from home once he realized what we were attempting to eat (German food is amazing, German hospital food is disgusting). He took amazing care of Sadie and Jane (they did stay up way too late and he did feed them waffles and icecream for breakfast one morning). Since we've been home he has done everything so that little Ellie could have my constant care. I don't know what I would have done without him.

I have to say this experience is making me a bit apprehensive about staying here during a deployment. I felt so isolated, the only American in our wing of the hospital. I wanted Taco Bell and not whole fried fish and most of all I wanted to be able to communicate exactly what I wanted to say. But I have to say we are incredibly blessed. Ellyn has had no more seizures. My husband and daughters are wonderful. We live in a day and age where modern medicine can help in so many ways (the doctor said without the meds Ellyn would probably be having seizures as often or even more so now that they have begun). I'm sure now that I'm feeling better and Ellyn is as healthy as she can be and Mike's parents are coming I will start feeling better about life. I love you all. Thank you so much for your fasting and prayers. Love, me