March Madness!

March definitely came in like a lion... Kellen was hospitalized again. I was counting, he has been hospitalized 6 times in the last 15months. This time it was another seizure at home. Kellen was taken to St. Joesph's hospital for workup. He had 2 more seizures while he was in the hospital. They did an MRI, EEG, EKG, and some lab work. Dr Johnsen our neurologist said the best case scenario was all the test would come back normal and we would not have an answer for his seizures. Thank goodness everything did come back normal and Kellen was put on an anti-seizure medication called Keppra. Here is hoping we have no more seizure!!
Because of Kellen's hospitalization and new onset seizures, I had to cancel my girls trip with my friends Christy and Luna. I was able to meet up with them for some dinner and drinks before they left. It was so nice to see them and spend some time with them even if it was shorter than I had planned.
March was full of sick kids. First Kellen would get sick then Owen, then Kellen again... on and on this whole month. However, I am hopeful that March is leaving like a lamb.. the boys are finally healthy and I had a great birthday thanks to my husband, boys, and my family and friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wanted to say thanks to the 2 best boys and husband a girl could ever want. They surprised me with some flowers and a charm for my braclet. Well, I should say the charm was a surprise. Owen did tell me 2 days ago..." Mom, we are getting you some red flowers for Valentine's day". What a little ham. I love you more than words can ever say. My heart is filled because of these 3 special men in my life.
We had a blast on sunday baking and decorating cookies with auntie Cherie and Jenna. We also celebrated Cherie's birthday with a special cake that Owen helped to make. Happy Birthday Auntie. You continue to get more beautiful every year!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy birthday to grandpa Paul!! We miss you and love you very much. We wish we were there to celebrate with you. Owen has been singing happy birthday to you all morning.

Happy New Year's to everyone. I am not usually a resolution girl but this year I thought I would make some simple and attainable resolutions. My first resolution is to blog at least once a month to keep family and friends updated with our life here in AZ. I am happy to say I am already on my way to keeping this one since this is my first blog of the year. Secondly, I will smile more and laugh often. Not sure how to really measure this, but I will enlist the help of my husband. I tend to be a girl whose cup is half empty instead of half full. So, I thought by smiling and laughing more I will shift to be a more positive person, and at the end of the year my cup will be half full. Finally, I will lose the rest of my baby weight. Easily measured by stepping on the scale.

Our family hopes 2011 is full of health and happiness for all our friends and family!!!

The holiday season

Auntie Shel and Auntie Cherie
Kellen and grandpa Bob

The Engen-Thatcher family x-mas

Cute cousins

Daddy and Owen with the same tools

X-mas morning at the Engen house

Christmas came and went way too fast this year. We spent x-mas eve at Auntie Cherie's with Steve's family. On Christmas morning the boys opened their gifts and we ate our traditional

x-mas french toast. After a short nap, we headed over to our good friends the Thatchers for some more yummy food.

Heres hoping 2011 brings the Engen family less trips to the ER, no hospital stays, answers to Kellen's problems, and lots of health................

What a weekend!

Kellen being transferred from JCL to PCH hospital

So, our discharge from the hospital on Friday evening was short lived. It is hard to imagine from the last picture this happened to Kellen when he looked so happy. Friday night I went to check on Kellen to find that he vomited all over himself and his bed. We cleaned him up and put him in bed with us where he vomited one more time.

On Saturday morning he woke up sluggish but otherwise fine. Steve left with his dad to run some errands for the house, so the boys and I were hanging out together. This is when things took a turn for the worse. I was helping Owen get undressed when I saw Kellen fall to the floor. At first I thought he was puking, but when I picked him up his lips were blue and he was not breathing. I called 911 and just kept thinking I am going to give my child CPR. Kellen's eyes rolled back and one of his hands was drawn up to his chest. I would guess the whole incident lasted less than a minute but it felt like a eternity. Kellen was breathing when the paramedics arrived but was not responsive. He was gray and limp and would not open his eyes. To say I was hysterical is a understatement. The one thing that kept me sane was Terry. Terry is a fireman and a first responder. He is also the husband of Connie, the lady who watches the boys when I am sleeping after work. I was shocked when he walked through the door. Terry had just seen Kellen the night before, he kept saying he looked so good last night. Terry was wonderful. He was patient with me when I was hysterical and told me everything they were doing to help Kellen. He Kept reassuring me Kellen would be ok. Also he helped with Owen so he wasn't so scared. Owen knows Terry well and so he thought Terry was just there to visit. We all rode in the ambulance together to JCL hospital. Shorty after arrival Kellen was more responsive. We were then transferred back to PCH hospital for a neurological consult.

After 2 days, some lab work, an IV and fluids, and an EEG we were able to go home. Thank goodness the EEG and lab work were all ok. The doctors think Kellen had a vagal response to his reflux. This means when your vagas nerve is stimulated it causes your heart rate to drop and you pass out. I wanted to jump across the room and strangle the neurologist when she told us everything was normal and we should chalk it up to WBS. What is WBS? I was wondering that as well. She said WBS is weird baby stuff. How reassuring...

Yesterday, Kellen had lots of loose stool and was still vomiting. The good thing, he was drinking well. Finally, today I think he has turned the corner. Knock on wood, but he has not vomited and he had no loose stools. He is still not eating well and has lost over a pound since getting sick. However, I think this will come in the next couple of days when his stomach has more time to settle down.

Thanks again to all our family and friends who help out with Owen, brought us food, and were there for emotional support. Lets hope this is the last visit to the hospital for the Engens FOREVER!!!!!!

Happy to be home!

Our happy boy.

Snuggling with gramdma in the hospital!

Yeah, we were discharged from the hospital today. Kellen is not quite a 100% but well enough to go home. The results from the sweat test were not back yet, we will get them when we follow up with our pediatrician (Dr.Lisa) next week. They also did some more blood work today and that came back normal. Kellen is eating and drinking a little better but not back to his norm. He had no vomiting today and not as many loose stools.

The plan is to continue to see Dr Mccomber our GI (gastrointestinal) as well as a new doctor, Dr. Caspers. He is an immunologist. Our doctors think it would be good to pick Dr. Caspers brain to see if he has any thoughts or suggestion regarding Kellen's condition. The doctors said Kellen's situation is so rare that they can only speculate why it is occurring. Their theory is that Kellen is very sensitive to vaccinations. When vaccinated, Kellen's immune system is sent into overdrive causing the lymph nodes in his gut to swell. This reaction causes inflammation in his gut and is possibly why he gets the intussecption after vaccines. Again, this is only a theory. For now, we will hold off on Kellen's immunizations until his gut heals. In the future if we vaccinate him, he will need steroids prior to the vaccination and after to help decrease the inflammation in his gut caused by the vaccine. This will hopefully prevent an intusseption.

Thank you to everyone for all you prayers and concerns. We are so happy we did not get any bad news today. The Engens

Not again...

Finishing the CT scan. Kellen was

a trouper holding really still!! His

prize, a cute cuddly bear.

One of his rare perky times

Kellen was hospitalized yesterday with his 3rd intussecption. (This is when part of your bowel telescopes into itself, causing a blockage.) I thought this nightmare was over. We are currently at PCH and have been running test to figure out why this keeps happening. Everyone, including the doctors, are shocked that this has occurred again. So far, his CT scan showed no abnormalities or obstructions. We are set to due a sweat test to r/o cystic fibrosis. His lab work show that his is fighting off some kind of infection or a stress response. His ultrasound yesterday showed 3 spots where his bowels were intussepting. The second US, from today, showed that they resolved on their own. Yeah some good news today. Kellen is still pretty irritable and has a hard time getting comfortable. He is not really eating or drinking yet, and is having lots of stool loss. My poor bubba, I hate seeing him in pain and so lethargic. He is like a wet noodle when you hold him. However, he did have a few times when he felt a little better and would perk up for a short time. Hopefully tomorrow will hold some much needed answers.