I'm almost a month behind on this post...
On May 22nd Cameron turned 8!

He is such a great kid and to me it seems much longer than 8 years that he has been around.  Maybe it's because he is pretty mature for his age and is my right hand man (don't know what I would do w/o him).

He will be getting baptized the first weekend in July and is so excited! 

I guess it's a rite of passage for every boy (at least all boys I know) to get a BB gun. 
Best birthday present EVER!

SeVeN

CAM turned 7!

The weekend was a little hectic for us, but Cam declared it a success.  His celebration started on Friday night at the Father's & Son's camp out.  Now let me just remind you that it is still snowing up here in UT so Mark wasn't all to excited about camping in a tent in the snow.  Being the good guy that he is though, he packed up the tent and all of the things they would need to camp overnight just in case it didn't snow.  When I heard the garage door open at around 11pm I wasn't too surprised.  In walked two boys with very sad faces, who were both ready to tell me their sad story about having a mean dad!  After venting to me for a minute they were both ordered to bed because they were going to get up early and head back up to the camp out to eat breakfast.  Mark wasn't sad in the least bit, in fact he was quite pleased to be at home in a warm dry bed.  Mark made good on his promise and woke the two sleeping boys at 6:30am so they could get up there in time for breakfast.  You would think that when they looked out the window and saw that it was in fact snowing that they would've been grateful they had come home, but I guess when your a little boy even snow doesn't dampen the fun of camping!  When they got up to the camp site and saw that there was 2 inches of snow on the ground and still snowing, Mark was pretty happy with his decision to come home. 

They spent a couple of hours up at the camp out then came home to get the Birthday celebration started.

I love the look on Hayden's face as he sees that Cam is opening a gun, a paint gun to be exact.  I had spent an hour in Target wondering what to get Cam.  When I saw the paint guns I thought they would be perfect, I even got two of them so that Colby and Cameron could both play with them.  I was pretty proud of my find and thought that they would have a good time outside playing with the paint guns.  When I showed them to Mark he wasn't so sure about my decision.  "What were you thinking April?"  he asked me.  "Don't you know that they are just going to fight about these and that someone is going to get shot in the face." 

I tried to defend my decision by saying, "yeah but think how much fun they will have, and they don't have to shoot each other, the guns come with targets so they can have contests and stuff."  The more I thought about it though, the more I knew Mark was right.  I guess I hadn't really thought about all of the implications of getting paint guns.  Paint all over the yard and house and cars and clothes.  Boys "accidentally" shooting each other, or their friends, etc....  In the end though I didn't have time to go back to Provo and get something else so the paint guns it was.  Cam and Colb and even Hayden were pretty excited about the guns and couldn't wait to get outside and have a war. 

After lecturing them on the rules of paint guns which included
-NO shooting people above the waist

-NO shooting in the face at all

-NO shooting the house or the cars

-NO shooting people who don't have a gun

They were warned that the first time someone gets shot in the face that the guns would be gone.

As the boys head outside Mark looks at me shaking his head...

It wasn't five minutes later that Colby comes in the house looking like this....

(It's a good thing he wore the saftey goggles!)

 

Next comes Cameron looking like this.....

I am humbly admitting to Mark that he was right!! 
And we are both laughing pretty hard at the sight of these cute boys!

FYI: these are not high powered paint guns, they were in the Nerf toy section at Target.  They don't even have enough power to break if they hit your clothes, only your skin!  I didn't really have the heart to take the guns away so the boys spent the rest of the day shooting at targets!

This was the first family birthday for sweet baby sister.
Isn't she so stinkin cute?!

6 Years Old!

How is this boy already 6? Seriously this has been the fastest 6 years of my life!


Cameron is such a cool kid. He has the greatest personality and sense of humor. His favorite pasttime is quoting movies. You should test him out next time you see him.



Happy Birthday ROONSKI!! We love you lots.

For all of your thoughts and prayers........

Road to recovery

Cameron went back to the hospital today for his first follow up visit with the Docs there. At first he was excited and wanted to go in using his wheel chair and then surprise them that he didn't need it. When the today actually came, he was adamant about NOT going at all. Mark practically had to carry him to the car. I really think that he was nervous because he thought he was going to have to get a poke. He asked 5000 times if he was going to get any pokes. I actually felt bad for the kid.
The doctors and therapists were amazed at his progress and were very encouraging to Cameron. They all could not believe how fast he has recovered. Not only recovered but really gotten back to normal. He still does not have any reflexes in his arms and legs but his strength is coming back quickly and that is what is important for his recovery. It is hard to look at him and not recognize on a daily basis how blessed he really was. We have since heard some not to great stories about people who have had Gillian Barre' and it is evident that prayers and blessing really do work, and did work for our family.

Cameron's favorite days are rainy days so that he can catch worms. He has had this bowl of worms for a week now and he plays with them everyday! He gives them baths and new dirt and even built them a "Habitat". Thank goodness there is dirt on this earth to entertain boys!

Resident Grouch

One of the effects of GBS is mood changes. Cameron has this effect. HE IS A GROUCH! Since the first signs that something was wrong, it's been a month now, Cameron has been grouchy. Most of the time I am able to maintain my patience and deal with him. Sometimes though, like today when I am extra tired, it is really hard to put up with the GROUCH! To relieve some of my steam I blog about the Grouch instead of get mad at him. I really do feel bad for the Grouch, and he has had such a good attitude about his situation. I don't blame him at all for getting frustrated and angry. I would to if I had to rely on other people to do everything for me.

Since we have been home from the hospital Cam has kept a pretty low profile, he is embarrased to go anywhere in his wheelchair. He has had a couple of friends come over to play though and he loved that! On Thursday though I think his friend stayed a little too long because Cameron was totally worn out. Totally. He didn't get off the couch much at all on Friday because he was too tired. The doctors warned us that he would get worn out quickly. They weren't kidding. I guess that's why he took a three hour nap after our trip to Cabela's today! (Cameron asked us to take him there.) As far as getting better though, he really is. His balance gets better everyday, and he can almost walk totally unassissted for a few yards. Cam starts physical therapy again on Monday in Orem.

I still know that we/Cameron were so very blessed through this whole situation. In hindsight I am able to see even more blessings that have come our way before and since he got sick. The power of the Priesthood is real and God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful.

Tonight...........HE SLEEPS AT HOME

This was his GRIN when he found out that he would be coming home today! He did ask though if he could bring the hospital bed home with him because it is very comfy!

Since today was Cams last day they threw him a party! But first as part of his therapy he had to mix, bake and frost the cake! He made the cake in the morning and had to wait, very impatiently, until 4pm for the Party to eat the cake. All of the therapists at Primary Children's are great, I wish we could do all the rest of the therapy with them but they assured me that the new therapists are Great too.

This is Miss Lisa Cams Physical Therapist. She. Was. Great.

Under all of those Balloons is a HAPPY Cameron on his way out of the hospital today!

Isn't this picture so cute? I took it on Saturday while Cameron was home on his Ride Pass.

Mom??

Cam- mom do you have your camera with you?

Mom- yes

Cam- do you have any videos of me when I could walk? I want to watch one so I can remember when I could walk.

Mom- Oh, Cam, I don't have any videos like that on my camera, but I do at home, I will have dad bring them.

Cam starts crying. I really just wish I could walk
I want to be back to my old self.

Oh Cameron, I am so sorry. You will be your old self very soon. If I could take this away from you and have it be me instead I would.

But I don't want that mom. I don't want you to be sick.
I'm just the scaredest kid in the whole world.

Cam you are the bravest and you will be out of here so soon.

After rubbing his arms for a few minutes then going back to my bed...

Cam- Mom, I just feel kinda scared right now, can you come sit close to me so I can see you.
Sure Cam, I'm right here. And off to sleep he went.

This conversation was at 11:50pm Cam had fallen asleep at 10:00pm but the nurse had to come give him some meds at 11pm so we had to wake him up. It took about 20 minutes of convincing to get him to take the meds then he had a hard time going back to sleep.

I know that he really will be able to go home soon and my heart is joyful at the progress he makes everyday, but it breaks my heart to hear him say things like this. He is only 5.
Of course he is scared, of course he wants to go home, wants to walk again, and wants to be back to his old self.

PROGRESS

Cameron has been making AMAZING PROGRESS!! His spirits have been lifted with the help of fun visits from family member and from a higher power. Last night, at midnight, when I finally convinced him it was time for bed, I was rubbing his back and he said, "Mom, I wish no one couldn't walk and I wish no one got sick, even bad guys." Again his sweet spirit melted my heart. These tender moments with my son are priceless for me and I hate to miss one minute, so on nights like tonight when it's my turn to be home, my heart longs to be there. Although to be able to put my Hayder baby to bed and cuddle with him and watch wipe out video's with Colby was priceless too. No matter if I am at the hospital or at home, my heart it always tugged in two directions.

Also, there is no way I can ever thank my parents and Mark's parents enough, but I will say Thank You in every post so they know we don't forget how much they are doing for us and know we appreciate all of it. Marks mom kept Hayden today so that my mom and dad could spend some time at the hospital. Mark drove me home and so we got to have a little time together too. I am quite sure that Cam was totally spoiled by GMa and GPa! Some of Cam's friends from the neighborhood came by to visit today too. Cam asked if they could come back tomorrow! Thanks Jayne and Valerie for bringing your kids down! And tonight Cam's favorite Utah cousin came down from Ogden, Brandi brought Adrian and although I was not there I am sure Cam had a CRAZY time with Adrian! Oh, and Uncle Ryan brought Jacob back again this morning before they had to head back to AZ. Thanks so much to Ryan too for driving Jake to the hospital everyday this past weekend, Cameron loved every minute!

Cameron with the Physical Therapist. Despite being very nervous, he did great! Ms. Lisa was very impressed with his effort.

This is a picture of Cam's doctor/nurse poker. If they are hurting him he pokes them! In a children's hospital, the CHILDREN are in CHARGE!!

I am pretty sure that without Aunt Emily here to visit Cameron, that he would still be sick! She has a way of making his day every time she comes to town! Last night she brought a PARTY to Cam's room. They threw darts (plastic forks) at blown up rubber gloves, made party hats, had treats and played games! Thank you so so so so so so so much Emily. Are you sure you had to go back to Vegas?

When Cameron asked Colby to push him in his wheel chair,

I CRIED. It was AWESOME to see Colby serving his brother that way and having fun doing it.

Even though Cam wasn't at GMa's to have fun with Jake, they managed to have fun anyway in the hospital!!

Because one of the side effects of GB is double vision, which Cam has sometime, he got a SUPER COOL PIRATE EYE PATCH!!! You should hear his Jack Sparrow voice too!

It doesn't get any more touching than this. Finally asleep with his new Webkinz Gecko that he named RAMON after his favorite Nurse! I sit and stare at the heart rate monitor all night making sure he's ok, if I could hook all of my kids up to those things at night I would. Watching the lines and the numbers beeping across the screen... it really was a time of meditation for me. The human life is AMAZING and so fragile. How can anyone not believe that there is a GOD? Who else could make such intricate, delicate, perfect things as people?

Prayers for Cameron

In my last post I said that we thought Cameron had something called Toxic Synovitis, well, he doesn't have that.  After 11 hours in the ER at Primary Children's Hospital on Monday and an MRI yesterday and a visit with his pediatrician today, we are still not sure what's wrong with him.   He can't walk and is getting weaker everyday.  The pain in his leg that was hurting him so much seems to be gone, but now his legs are just weaker and more wobbly as are his arms and hands.  Tomorrow we go back to Primary Childrens to see a Neurologist and run more tests.  Seeing my once energertic, loud, crazy 5 year old not even be able to stand up on his own is so hard.

It has been three full days of doctors and who knows how many more to come.  I used to wish that my life were a little more interesting as per my "Am I Lazy" post last week!  But after this week and these three days of not seeing my baby or Colby (they have been staying at Mark's parents, we could not do this without them) I would give anything to have my normal uninteresting life back, to have all three of my boys tucked snug in thier beds at my house. 

As hard as this has been watching my child go through this and not knowing what is wrong, I have faith in the power of the priesthood and preisthood blessings.  I have faith that Cameron will heal and be ok.
To all of my friends and family that read this, please keep Cameron in your prayers, I know that prayers are answered.   Thanks so much.

Toxic Synovitis

Toxic synovitis
Toxic synovitis is an irritation and swelling of the lining of the hip joint. The condition causes pain and tenderness that may move down to the thigh and knee; it sometimes makes a person limp.
Toxic synovitis is the most common cause of hip pain in children. It occurs most often in boys between the ages of 4 and 10 years. It commonly follows a mild injury or an illness with low-grade fever, such as tonsillitis or an ear infection.
This condition usually resolves on its own, but treatment may be given for pain and inflammation.
Toxic synovitis is also called transient synovitis.

Self portraits by Cameron

WARNING: I wrote this for journaling purposes, read on if you wish but it's kinda lengthy!

My dear sweet little 5 1/2 year old Cameron has been sick this week. He has been complaining that his knee hurts, the first few days we wrote if off as growing pains and gave him Advil for the pain. But by Thursday when he was limping and had not been able to sleep for three nights I started to worry and let him stay home from school. He literally laid on the floor all day and kept telling me that he needed to go to the Dr. and get an x-ray. If he needed to get up, I had to help him. I took him to urgent care that night and the Dr. said that he needed an x-ray and blood work, Cam grinned at me and said, "see mom, I told you I needed an x-ray!"

After x-rays of his knees and hips and blood work we still didn't' know what was wrong. Dr. said it could be growing pains and just keep giving him Advil but if it's not gone by Monday to bring him back in. Yesterday, he was not any better, today, not any better. The night of ZERO sleep are starting to take their toll on Mark and I and Cameron too. The pain keeps up all night, he literally can't sleep, he lays there staring at the ceiling asking how long until morning. So by 4pm today when he could not go from the floor to the couch, we called the on call pediatrician. We were starting to get really worried and were ready to take him to Primary Children's. Dr. Larson called us right back and after listening to his symptoms told us exactly what is wrong. He literally hit the nail on the head with out even seeing Cameron. He said that he has what is called Toxic Synovitis. He said it is painful and the kids usually are pretty self limiting and that they shuffle around like and old man because it hurts to walk. He said that it lasts from a week to ten days. Well, we are in the 6th day so hopefully it turns around soon. OH THE RELIEF we felt to hear this news from the Dr. This has seriously been so hard to care for him this week. I felt so bad for him and frustrated at not knowing whats wrong. GOD BLESS Doctors and SICK Kids.

I'm really nice...

Yesterday morning this little boy, who is 2 in the picture below but is almost 6 now, was wanting a bowl full of water and some toy animals to swim in the water. I was busy (on the computer, yeah I know, dang computer!) So I told him to use whatever he needed, just don't make a mess. He kept coming up to me asking if he could use this and that and I would just say sure without even looking at what it was he wanted. I did clue in though when he said, "Mom you are being really nice today, like really really nice!"

AHH, thanks Cam, I am really nice aren't I?! And I was until Hayden grabbed the towel that Cameron had two huge bowls of water sitting on and pulled it off the table, I wasn't so NICE then! But I quickly realized that it was my own fault for ignoring him and leaving him to his own devices. So we laughed, the baby played in the water, then we cleaned it up!

DUCT TAPE will work on anything...

How to make a bike ramp using Duct Tape and a three ring binder.

look at all the tape under his bike on the end of the ramp!!!

I think we can add bike ramps to Duct Tape's list of a million uses. When Cameron came in this morning and asked for Duct Tape so he and Jaxton could build a bike ramp, I had to follow him outside to see how they would use the tape. You can't see to well in the pictures exactly what they used to build their ramp so I will describe; a few boards, a white three ring binder, and a sun shade. The ramp started out small and grew as they went adding more Duct Tape each time. Jaxton's mom and I had a good time watching them use their ramp which actually held up pretty well, we told them we were proud of them for using their imagination to which they replied, "we are boys that's what we do!'