Tuesday, June 30, 2009

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY...











Happy Father's Day! It has became a tradition with the Hamann's to take a Father's Day photo every year of Don, Nick and the boys... Here the Hamann guys are this year looking good! :) Hope you both (Don & Nick) had a super Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Grandpa Wilson too... I love you! :) Hope you had a special day!

Brad's B-day Outing...















Saturday we celebrated Brad's birthday by having a SURPRISE golf outing at Beaver Creek during the day! Nick and I opted to just do 9 holes since I am not a huge fan of golf! Not to mention I had a headache too... so I didn't do much golfing! :) - - hole #1 and a few swings after that. Sorry golf lovers... I have a hard time keeping my eye on that little ball... and then searching for it so I can hit it again??? - I used to really like golf, guess age is not helping things! :) Maybe again someday! :) I will leave it to Nick for now!!!
After golfing we headed out to Rock Bottom for a SURPRISE party! - Nicole outdid herself! It was tons of fun!! Great company, great food, drinks... and a day/night out without kiddos!! :) Nick's parents came for the weekend and stayed with the boys on Saturday so we could have some fun!! - THANK YOU Nina and Papa!!
I didn't take my camera to the restaurant... but here is a picture of Nick and I on the gold cart! :)

Monday, June 29, 2009

Vacation Bible School 2009

This year VBS was "The School of Rock" at our church! We invited our friends Corbin, Cooper and Lily to come again this year... and it was another GREAT week! :) I volunteered to help again... only this year not in the kitchen, I worked with the 4th grade boys! - talk about CHALLENGING! :) They were great kids... I loved their questions, they got pretty rowdy at times... and all I could think all week was "really, 8 boys???" God must have thought I needed more work on my patience! :) hehehe! :)
We planned to have a sleepover on Friday again this year too... but Parker had a rough week with being in the hospital all weekend the weekend before and then Owen got a fever and ear infection... so we just did ice cream instead! I took the kids all to Dairy Queen and Amy came along too! The kids had fun and were goofy... :) Here are a few pictures...




Friday, June 26, 2009

Iowa City Visit...

Today we got up bright and early (I even beat Nick up!!!) and headed to Iowa City for Parker's consultation! The hospital was a bit overwhelming... but we found our destination without too much trouble! :) They are SOOOO technologically advanced... we did all of our 'paperwork' on the computer!!! - WOW! I must say, I was impressed! The staff were all very friendly and helpful!! We saw Dr. Morcuende (the pediatric orthopedic surgeon) and was VERY impressed! He was wonderful!!! - - seriously... I was amazed at how thorough he was! He went through all of the details of the surgery and explained EVERYTHING in detail to me... and I even understood it! :) hehehe! I always hate it when doctors don't explain things in basic terms... and he did GREAT!
Dr. Morcuende showed me the x-rays and MRI that was done at Blank... and I am still shocked at what I saw! They told us the bone cyst was medium in size... but it was not, it was LARGE!!! The cyst covers the entire width of his femur. Seriously... it was as bad as the "BAD ONES" on the Internet we saw! It freaked me out a little... He showed me how it was right up to the edge of the left side of the femur and how it was weakening that section of his bone - - again very scary! He showed me on the MRI how it was a CLEAR fluid... which is good! He wanted to have a radiologist double check the MRI to be sure there was no infection... and there was not, which again is good!
For the procedure...
They will be doing the procedure 'OUTPATIENT'!! {smile} Which is great considering Parker hated "sleeping at the doctor's" !! :) It will consist of sedating him and then giving him an IV... once that is complete they will inject a needle into his leg and suction out the cyst, fluid and membrane. Once out they will inject another needle which will fill the cavity with a calcium substance to help rebuild the bone. Once he is out of surgery they will prescribe pain medication (he said it is a painful procedure since they go directly into the bone) for him. He will have pain for 4-5 days but will be able to resume all activities (minus swimming) as long as they don't risk getting the incisions dirty or wet to avoid infection. In 2-3 months after surgery we will have to go in for another x-ray (here in D.M.) to ensure the calcium is rebuilding the bone. If it is... then we are done!! :) (PLEASE PRAY) If not then we will have to look at other options that don't sound as easy as this one - - this procedure is pretty successful... however there is still a chance it will not take the calcium like they want.
The doctor told Parker that he needs to be VERY careful over the next few weeks to prevent a break! He told him NO JUMPING either... he said that if he were to jump on it just right he would break it! - - -again, a little freaked out here! He said to try to keep activity as simple as possible. He said t-ball was fine, but we are debating still! Fortunately it is just a few weeks... but I do NOT want him to break his femur... not only would it be super painful for him... but he will be starting kindergarten this year so I don't want him to have to battle a broken femur along with a whole 'NEW' experience.
We will continue to put this in God's hands and pray for the best. Thank you again for all of you concern, prayers and support... we appreciate it and are so grateful!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Parker Update...

Finally got some news today!!! Parker has a consulation this Friday in Iowa City with a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. He will be having surgery for the bone cyst. I have started a list of questions for him... but in the meantime have been told that the procedure will be similar to Bone Grafting. They will inject a bone substitute into his bone. It is like a calcium substance they will put directly into the bone to help stimulate bone growth for this area.
My questions are... will they actually remove the cyst then or inject this onto the cyst area??? I would also like to know why they chose this option versus the least invasive one - steroid injections??? And... will this take care of the cyst... what is the success rate from this procedure and what will the result be??? - - - I am sure I will have many more questions by Friday! :)
Also... Dr Taylor did say that this is a painful procedure... so prayers are still needed. He wasn't sure if the surgery would be outpatient or not at this point so I will find that out on Friday as well.
So... we will be venturing to Iowa City bright and early Friday morning and will have more answers on Friday afternoon! :) I will update when I know more... and hopefully get to blog some of our HAPPY things that have been going on lately! :)
THANK YOU for your concern and prayers... we are grateful!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Frustrated... with NO NEWS!

We just got back from Parker's Appt.... GRRRR! They have not heard back from the Iowa City doctors... so we really have no more news. I told her I was concerned about the cyst growing since everything I have read says they can continue to grow until they are 12 years old and she was unsure but thought that it could continue to grow. She did want to run some more blood tests to make sure everything looked good now... since he no longer has the virrus in his system. They did 3 tests! (not sure what they all were though). She also tried to call Dr Taylor (the Orthopedic dr) while I was there and left him a message to get back with her about his treatment. I was a little pushy and said I would like some answers no later than Monday... and she said she would call me Monday. I just don't want to take a chance of him breaking his leg while we are waiting to start treatment!!!!!! - So we will have to wait again!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

THANK YOU....

We wanted to THANK everyone again for their kind words, prayers, visits, calls, emails and gifts! We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

Parker asked me to blog all of his gifts... and even though I didn't get a picture of all of them... I thought I would still blog it for him! :) hehehe! - Robyn sent Parker this HUGE basket of goodies... and we are ALL enjoying it!! :) THANK YOU!! All of his gifts were great and very much appreciated!!!

We are so happy that he had so many visitors at the hospital... those of you who were able to come visit - THANK YOU!!! Parker felt pretty special having so many visitors!! THANK YOU Cooper and Lily for letting Parker borrow your DS too... he had lots of fun with it!! :) - how sweet of you two!

THANK YOU Ryan & Candi for watching Owen Saturday night... and Brad & Nicole for watching him on Monday! You guys were a HUGE help and we really appreciate it! - - and THANK YOU to all of you who volunteered to watch Owen.... you know who you are and we appreciate you all as well!!!

Really.. this post could go on and on... we truly are very GRATEFUL! Words can't express our gratitude! Although our stress isn't over yet... (we should know more soon) we are confident that with GOD and the support of all of our family and friends that we will get through whatever lies ahead!

THANK YOU all again... :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

THANK YOU for your PRAYERS!!!

GOD IS GOOD... he has answered our prayers!

The orthopedic doctor came in around 4pm... he examined Parker and then told us that he absolutely did NOT have the bone disease the others were talking about. PRAISE GOD!!! :) He said that MRI's are notorious for making things look like they are there when they are not! He said if Parker had this bone disease he would have so much pain, it would hurt to walk (continuously) and it would be extremely sensitive to touch! So no bone disease for Parker... again, PRAISE GOD!!!

He did however say that the cyst on his leg is one he himself has never seen. He has dealt with many on the humorous bone, but has never had anyone with one on their femur. So because of his lack of experience he wants to consult with doctors in Iowa City so we can do the most effective treatment. (I am SOOO THANKFUL that he is taking the necessary steps to do the BEST treatment possible!!!)

We are scheduling an appointment with our pediatrician for Friday and will have more answers then as to what treatment the orthopedic doctor and our doctor will do for him.

We then were released around 5 pm!!! He is wore out... but is doing better and is so happy to be out of the hospital.

I have tons of people to THANK.... all of our visitors... Don & Jane, Nina Wilson, Uncle Bubba (Matt), The Chiafos family (thanks for bringing the DS too!!!), and Lindsay & Josh (thanks for the activity sets... he loves them!).

THANK YOU to everyone who called, emailed, sent a message on FB, said a prayer, and/or thought about us.... we feel very lucky and very blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. We know our battle isn't completely over but we are grateful for all of you and appreciate the support we have received this far!! THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU all!!! :)

I can hardly stand how amazing it is that God is so active in our lives.... we would have NEVER caught this if God didn't give Parker this viral illness he had to get us to the hospital! We would have no reason to x-ray his leg....it just amazes me. MY faith grows stronger EVERYDAY! - - - We truly do have an AMAZING, WONDERFUL GOD!!!

Here are a few pictures at the hospital...
We had a visitor while we were in the hospital... the THERAPY DOG!! :) Scout was AMAZING! He was a German Shepard and was so smart! A therapy dog and a police dog. He received commands for the police in GERMAN and commands for the hospitals in ENGLISH! WOW... he was so much fun and the kids LOVED him!! :)

Please Pray for Parker...

This post is going to be a hodge podge... I have been trying to keep everyone updated on Facebook but thought I better post on the blog so everyone who doesn't have FB can know what is going on.
It all started Friday night after Parker played a GREAT game of soccer!!! He started complaining that his legs hurt and then he got a fever. He fell asleep on Nick's legs at the restaurant and we carried him to the car and then put him to bed when we got home. He woke up in the middle of the night crying for me... I ran into his room and he needed to go potty... I told him lets go and he cried that he couldn't walk. :( I carried him in and sat him down and then let him sleep with us in bed. In the morning he still wasn't able to walk and complained of pain in his arms and legs and still had a fever. Saturday was spent alternating tylenol and ibuprofen to break the fever. Around 12 or so his eyes started turning red and were getting all mattery (pink eye??)He felt a little better around 1 and was trying to walk on his legs... he said the right hurt worse than the left so he would hop or crawl (or crab walk - his first choice :)) to get places. He had us carry him everywhere still too. Nick and I both thought he was just sore from soccer. Then we went to Ryan and Candi's for a BBQ for my birthday and my brother came over to sit with Parker at our house. He was sleeping when I called to check on him and when he called back he was crying and complaining that his legs, arms and hands were hurting him.I called Urbandale's walk-in clinic (they are opne until 8) and took him right in.
While in the clinic he had a temp of 103.9... she gave him tylenol again and said that she was very concerned about his right leg. She thought he could have a virus or that possibly something was wrong with the legs she wanted us to go to Blank Children's Hospital for x-rays and blood work. She wanted us to go by ambulance (which I asked if this was necessary) but said as long as we went right over that it was fine to drive him. We drove (of course) but it freaked me out that she would even ask that!
When we got there we had a nice long 2 hour wait until we were able to be seen by anyone (this is not uncommon - we've waited longer)! At this point he had a temp of 100.7... so it was going down! Once we were seen they started him on an IV for fluids and then took 4 or 5 containers of blood for testing. The doctor looked him over and didn't think x-rays were necessary at this time.
As the night went on they told us they would be admitting him... we didn't get into our room until 3am. Parker woke up when we were transporting him upstairs and he freaked out about having to stay... poor little thing. I told him I would stay with him so that calmed him down a little.
Through the night they gave him a small amount of morphine for the pain he was having. I forgot to mention... during this whole time his legs have been bended up against him... he would NOT extend them for anything!
By morning his fever was gone his pain had lessened... the doctor came in and said his leg x-rays are good and they are pretty sure it is viral. The virus they think is causing the pain is TOXIC SYNOVITIS.
The nurse asked him to try to walk to the bathroom and he did pretty well!! A little later the doctor came in (Dr. Mclury - who was GREAT) and said that he heard Parker was walking and wanted to see if he could see him walk too!! - Parker likes him!! :) He walked up and down the halls for him... all on his own! He said his legs weren't hurting anymore! So... fever gone, legs better but still a little matter on the eyes at this point. He was pretty much back to himself!
About an hour or two later.... the nurse just came in and now says that the doctor was not saatisfied with te x-ray of his LEFT leg. There is a cyst on the bone they think and they have now ordered an MRI to get a closer look. The cyst they found is what they think is a Unicameral Bone Cyst and it is on his left upper leg (on his femur). It is BENIGN (praise GOD!) but they want an MRI to see how agressive it is. They don't believe this cyst is related to any of the issues with Toxic Synovitis but want a closer look.
It is about 1pm or so... he is scheduled to get an MRI pretty soon - they are thinking around 4!
It is about 3 and now the MRI has been moved to 7.... and no food or drink until after the MRI - poor kid!
He went in at 7 for the MRI... he was very scared but they did sedate him. They had 3 viles of sedation medicine and said they would use a little as possible depending on how he did - - it took 2 viles to get him out! During the MRI he started to wake up and they used the last vile. It took about 1.5 hours until he came out. He was of course still sleeping and was very graugy (sp). They thought we could go home after he woke up this evening..... but he slept all night!
This morning right when he woke up he the doctors came in and checked him out again and asked him to walk for them.... he wouldn't.... he was tired and didn't want to do anything! They said they would be back later... and never came back! I ordered him breakfast from the cafeteria... even though he said he wasn't hungry. He was eating a piece of bacon.... and bam, puke everywhere!!!!!! I guess it is my own fault for pushing him to eat! Needless to say breakfast was over!
After a bath... Parker, Daddy and Owen went for a litle walk around the hospital while I stayed in the room hoping to get the MRI results! Nothing! After they got back Parker ate an apple and took his first dose of his antibiotic for his eye infection. It is an oral drug. We were supposed to have the MRI results this morning at 8 and then were going to get released later today.......... things have changed!
The doctor finally came in around 1 (after me chasing down several nurses and complaining enough) to let us know that they don't have a final reading on the MRI... well.... no news is aparently not good news... :( They are waiting to get another set of eyes (the Orthepedic doctor)to look at it. He said that it is definitely a cyst that is in the bone (femur) and he said and that is not their biggest concern... their is also fluid on his hip/pelvic area and they are concerned that there may be some type of a bone disease or something like that. They will not release us now today until they know... also... he said if it is what they are thinking Parker will have to start treatment (not sure what that is yet???). Not the news we are hoping for... I know this is in God's hands, so PLEASE send up more prayers for my baby!
He did stop back by to say that the Orthepedic Doctor will be in later today to see Parker and look at the MRI... he has other patients first.
I will update more as we know it.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Me! :)

Happy Birthday to me.... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeee! I actually
did manage to squeeze in a great birthday before my little Parker got too sick! That morning I got up and decided to bake my favorite cupcakes... strawberry with strawberry frosting! - yum! Owen of course wanted to help me!! :)
Then around 1 Nicole came over to take me out to lunch and out for a pedicure! We toasted the day with a glass of wine..........sorry, but wine was not for me - Nick finished it for me! :) Then Laci joined us and we were off to lunch at Graze!!! Graze was YUMMY!!! - it is in West Glenn for anyone interested... and I definitely recommend it! It was farmers market in West Glenn so we checked that out first and then sat outside at Graze to watch the band! What a GREAT atmosphere and a nice day too! :) Then we headed right down the road to get pedicures!

During our pedicures I did get a bad text from my friend Dawn... and that was just the beginning of things to come! Poor Dawn - she had paralysis in her face and later found out that she has Bells Palsy! Then a lady walked in and was talking about her cancer (it was sad)! I turned to Cole and Laci and said, "this is really strange how all of this bad stuff is happening right now... I feel like God is trying to tell me something." - - I am not kidding... I felt this and said it!

We left the salon and headed over to the mall for a quick COLD STONE treat - my favorite!! :) - - thanks Laci for the idea!! :) It was very yummy!! :) They made me wear a nice little (ok BIG)birthday hat and the entire staff sang me HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :) hehehe! I may have looked a little crazy... but at least the ice cream was good! :)


As soon as we got home Parker wasn't feeling well still so we had my brother sit with him while we ran over to Candi and Ryan's for a b-day BBQ! :) - didn't want anyone to catch whatever he had! When we got to Ryan and Candi's... Candi and the girls had made me a FARMTOWN birthday cake..........hehehehe! :) It was pretty darn cute! :) Unfortunately I didn't get to have any since our night ended in the hospital! We did get to enjoy a GREAT supper with the Ladwig's before having to take Parker in... and they were nice enough to keep Owen for us too! Owen said he had a great time swimming with the girls!!! - - THANK YOU so much for all of you help and for the great dinner guys!! - you guys are the best! Take a look at this cake..........
















Here are a few other pictures I wanted to post... my flower door hanger I made for me... finally! I never get time to make anything for myself so I am pretty excited to have a new door hanger! :)








And here are my pretty flowers I planted on Mother's Day weekend! :) I love them!







Friday, June 12, 2009

"Safety City"

During this past week Parker took a class called "Safety City" to help prepare him for school! This class is offered by the Waukee police department... and it is a GREAT class!!! They teach kids about tons of stuff... such as bullying, bus safety, pedestrian safety, bike safety, McGruff the Crime dog, drugs, guns, car safety, etc. etc. On their first day they get paired up with a "buddy" who is in middle school and they are with them all week!! - Parker thought that was very cool! - His buddy was Brett and he even gave him a hug on graduation day! :) There was lots of GREAT, useful information for the kids! The class met M-F from 9-11:30 for one full week and they graduated on Friday! Parker really liked the class and saw some friends he already knew and met some new ones too! Here are a few pictures from graduation day!










Sunday, June 7, 2009

Soccer Practice #2

What a practice!!! It was absolutely georgous out... and the kids all did great playing! :) Check out the pictures...





















See anything different....



















really different...














you should be able to see it by now....




















Yep.... that is PARKER!!!! - our new soccer player! :)




















Owen just couldn't hack it! An hour of following directions was too much for this little guy! He is on to bigger and better things! :) hehehe! If you recall from last week he loved it... but got tuckered out after about 40 minutes! This week... we got to the fields and he didn't even want to start! So we talked to him and made sure he was sure (all the while Parker begging us to let him play for Owie)... and he was SURE! In fact... here is his seal of approval....



















He had to sit with us (no running around) and watch Parker... and he did! He enjoyed watching, just didn't want to play! So I think we will wait until next year to try soccer again! :) - - We are still shocked considering he LOVES to play soccer every day at home!?!?!? Go figure! At least they let us switch Owen and Parker... the team is 3-4-5 year olds, so Parker will get to be on the 5 year old team and will fit in just great! Who would have thought... Parker to be our little sports junkie... we were convinced it was Owen! :) -- guess a few more years will tell! :)

Let the Games Begin...

Parker started t-ball this week! He has t-ball on Thursday nights with his friends Corbin and Cooper!!! - YEAH! I say YEAH because Parker was SOOOO shy last year and hardly played at all... and now this year his first practice was EXCELLENT!!!! He was so involved and had a GREAT time!!! He got in there and played so well! :) We were so excited!!! So excited infact that we took NO pictures of him! ---GRRR! Idid get one of the little boys with their Daddy's watching their big brothers play though!! - :)

Monday, June 1, 2009

Fun in the Sun...

After the birthday party... the boys spent the afternoon playing in the sprinkler! They had fun... but the water was FREEZING! :) They are "SHARING" the present Meredith got Owen! They each have half of the Batman swimming set on in some of the photos! hehehe! :) Here are a few pictures!

















Owen's 3rd Birthday Party!

On Saturday we celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday with our family! We had everyone over for lunch, cake and banana splits! Owen had a great time and got some great presents too... presents are always lots of fun!! :) Here are some memories from our day...
the invitations (handmade by me :))
















the cake... (again made by me)






























Nina Wilson & the birthday boy...


















Aunt Mere & the birthday boy (god mother) - :)


















presents...


















our 2 monkeys... :)

















THANK YOU everyone for all of the GREAT gifts!!! :) Bummer that the Ladwig girls weren't feeling well... we missed you!