Nearly six months to the day of her hospitalization last fall, poor Scarlett ended up back in the hospital with another bout of rhabdomyolysis (rapid breakdown of the skeletal muscle tissue). We took her to the ER on the morning of Sunday the 18th as soon as we saw symptoms similar to last time. The good news is that we got there much more quickly, treatment got started right away, her "numbers" (measuring the muscle breakdown and kidney function) got to less than half of what they were back in September, and they never had to put a breathing tube in. It was still terrible, but a bit less terrible than last time. The bad news is that it happened again, indicating that it was not just a one-time fluke, but rather is the result of some underlying genetic condition. Scarlett's doctors here in Dallas are working with geneticists at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston (home of the largest pediatric genetics laboratory in the country) to try to get to the bottom of it. Scarlett was released from the Pediatric ICU at Medical City on Wednesday after a 10 day stay, was on the regular pediatric floor for two more days, and then moved today to Our Children's House at Baylor for in-patient therapy to get her muscle strength back up again. She's much stronger this time around, so we hope her stay at OCH is a relatively short one. There is no "magic pill" to treat her condition for now, but the key to preventing future episodes seems to be hydration.
Scarlett is in generally good spirits and is talking up a storm again. "Who are you?" and "What are you doing?" are asked of nearly every medical person who walks in the door. She often proclaims "I go night night now" and will close her eyes and pretend to sleep in an effort to get them to leave her alone. If she's feeling gracious, she might ask "you go bye bye now?" If she's feeling not-so-gracious, she'll simply announce "you go away now."
Just like last time, Scarlett's grandparents have have gone to heroic lengths to help us during Scarlett's hospitalization, including helping out with Max. (Scarlett's love for baby brother has not waned, and his visits up to the hospital have been highlights for Scarlett, who characteristically announces, "I want to hold him" pretty much as soon as she lays eyes on him.) Many other family members, friends, and colleagues have also gone above and beyond with their help and support. For that we are so grateful.
Scarlett has proven to us once again what a tough little girl she is. She's an awesome combination of feisty and sweet, and we can't wait to get her back home with us.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Bridging the Gap
Fireworks lit the sky the first weekend in March over Dallas' newest landmark -- the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge designed by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. We were just four of the over 40,000 people who walked, raced, and partied on the bridge over the course of the weekend.
Pre-kids, our visit would almost surely have been at night, looking something like this:
[So, the guy who took the picture I previously had here apparently found that I had included it on my blog, notified Blogger (the host site for this blog), and demanded that I remove it. So I did. I am fairly amused that the photographer -- whose name was on the photo; I certainly wasn't trying to pass it off as my own -- bothered with my little blog. So instead of admiring his lovely photo, you'll have to imagine it. It looks like the ones below, except it was taken by a professional photographer at night, with the bridge lit up beautifully, and amazing fireworks in the background being reflected off the waters of a rain-swelled Trinity River. So never mind. It looks nothing like the photographs below.]
Post-kids, our visit was during the day and looked like this:
Still lots of fun, even if there were no fireworks, dignitaries, celebrity chefs, or Lyle Lovett. (We live so close that it sounded like the fireworks were going off in our backyard, which was a bit of a tease, but we sadly couldn't see them because of the trees. Hey, I'm a poet and didn't know it.)
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is just one of three Calatrava-designed bridges that will one day grace the skyline. It connects the Woodall Rogers Freeway, which runs adjacent to downtown, to West Dallas, which is a notoriously neglected and underdeveloped part of Dallas. Hopes are high that the bridge will literally and figuratively bridge the gap and spur economic development in the area. The bridge is part of the larger Trinity River Project, a major public works project aimed at redeveloping portions of the Trinity River that run near downtown Dallas. The goal is to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trails, nature centers, and other recreational opportunities.
I suspect that when Scarlett and Max are older, they'll marvel that there ever was a time that the bridge did not exist, and will be interested to learn that they walked (or strolled in Max's case) on it during it's grand opening. (I remember when I discovered as a kid that I-10 did not always exist, and it blew my mind to learn that it was built in the 1960s when my parents were in college. I also remember my grandfather talking about watching the UT Tower being built, another icon that is hard to imagine not existing.)
Here are some more photos from our visit.
Looking up from underneath the central arch.
Scarlett pushing Max's stroller. ("I want to push him.")
Scarlett dancing with her shadow.
Scarlett and her shadow discussing the bridge's impressive architecture. Or Scarlett looking at a rock. Hard to tell.
Pre-kids, our visit would almost surely have been at night, looking something like this:
[So, the guy who took the picture I previously had here apparently found that I had included it on my blog, notified Blogger (the host site for this blog), and demanded that I remove it. So I did. I am fairly amused that the photographer -- whose name was on the photo; I certainly wasn't trying to pass it off as my own -- bothered with my little blog. So instead of admiring his lovely photo, you'll have to imagine it. It looks like the ones below, except it was taken by a professional photographer at night, with the bridge lit up beautifully, and amazing fireworks in the background being reflected off the waters of a rain-swelled Trinity River. So never mind. It looks nothing like the photographs below.]
Post-kids, our visit was during the day and looked like this:
Still lots of fun, even if there were no fireworks, dignitaries, celebrity chefs, or Lyle Lovett. (We live so close that it sounded like the fireworks were going off in our backyard, which was a bit of a tease, but we sadly couldn't see them because of the trees. Hey, I'm a poet and didn't know it.)
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is just one of three Calatrava-designed bridges that will one day grace the skyline. It connects the Woodall Rogers Freeway, which runs adjacent to downtown, to West Dallas, which is a notoriously neglected and underdeveloped part of Dallas. Hopes are high that the bridge will literally and figuratively bridge the gap and spur economic development in the area. The bridge is part of the larger Trinity River Project, a major public works project aimed at redeveloping portions of the Trinity River that run near downtown Dallas. The goal is to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trails, nature centers, and other recreational opportunities.
I suspect that when Scarlett and Max are older, they'll marvel that there ever was a time that the bridge did not exist, and will be interested to learn that they walked (or strolled in Max's case) on it during it's grand opening. (I remember when I discovered as a kid that I-10 did not always exist, and it blew my mind to learn that it was built in the 1960s when my parents were in college. I also remember my grandfather talking about watching the UT Tower being built, another icon that is hard to imagine not existing.)
Here are some more photos from our visit.
Looking up from underneath the central arch.
Scarlett pushing Max's stroller. ("I want to push him.")
Scarlett dancing with her shadow.
Scarlett and her shadow discussing the bridge's impressive architecture. Or Scarlett looking at a rock. Hard to tell.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Get me out!!!
Here is Scarlett this morning when she woke up. The girl knows what she wants ... out! You can also hear her calling me Mom.
(In case it's not obvious, this was recorded off of our baby monitor, so that's why it looks like it came from a convenience store security camera.)
(In case it's not obvious, this was recorded off of our baby monitor, so that's why it looks like it came from a convenience store security camera.)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Pone* Pics
Here are some photos I took on my iPhone over the past few weeks using a new app I downloaded (Instagram). I'm going to try to do this once a week or so. Enjoy!
* Scarlett says "pone" instead of "phone," and now she's got us doing it too.
* Scarlett says "pone" instead of "phone," and now she's got us doing it too.
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