Conrad's Tonsillectomy

 Remember when I talked about Conrads fevers here? Well, we finally figured out what was wrong and a possible solution which brought us to having his Tonsils and Adenoids out. He was diagnosed with something called PFAPA...which is random fever syndrome.  There is not a lot of research that has been done about this, but they have found that by hopefully taking out the tonsils, it will eliminate his fevers. We had to leave our house at 5 am on August 12 to be up to Primary's by 6.  We had to have him checked in, prepped for surgery which was to take place at 7:30.  I was a little worried he would want to eat but he stayed busy with toys and all the nurses that were helping prep him.  One of the nurses came to give him pain meds to help with surgery before they took him back and of course he spit it back in her face...He doesn't like liquid medicine.  The anesthesiologist came to talk to us about what he would do and then the Dr came to talk to us.  At his original consult they were contemplating putting tubes in his ears, but when he came to talk to us, I told him I didn't think he needed them, he hadn't had an ear infection in over a year, so he didn't end up getting tubes.

We were able to take him back to the double doors of the operating room and that's where the anesthesiologist took him from us...he went with him pretty well only because the 2nd we handed him over the Dr. asked him to look for a kitty on the wall...but before the doors could close  we heard him start crying saying "Mommy"

We went back to the waiting room and about 45 minutes later the Dr came back and said everything went well...Clint said he wasn't worried about the surgery, he said he was more worried about how they got the mask on him to knock him out, and the Dr. just laughed and said it took them a bit of time.  He said he is a tough little guy.

About 10 minutes later when he woke up they brought me back to the recovery room to help console him.  He had a really hard time coming out...he had a really croupy cough so they had to give him breathing treatment which really helped.  His tongue was super bruised and he was in a lot of pain.  Once they felt like he was stable they moved us to a room which I like to call a "fish bowl"  It was like a 20X20 room with a glass door that was right in front of the bathroom and the nurses station.  

We were set to stay over night but he did so well that we were able to take him home that evening which made me super happy.

He did really well when he came home and then all day Tuesday he was awesome, but by Tuesday night things turned pretty bad.  He came down with a fever and it spiked to 103 pretty quick.  I called the nurses station up at Primary's at midnight just to ask them what I needed to do.  They said to watch it for 12 hours and if he still had it to call back...That next day was pretty miserable...He literally layed either on my bed or the couch sleeping for 24 hours.  My kids went to my parents house all day wednesday and Thursday so I could give Conrad all of my undivided attention.  I couldn't get his fever to break because he wouldn't take any medication because it hurt his throat.  I still gave it to him every 4 hours and shoved it down his throat or I will put it in a drink that I would try and get him to drink.  It really was super stressful watching him so miserable for 2 days.  By Thursday evening his fever broke and he has been fever free since.

 I think what happened was, this was just part of his episodes.  His body hadn't adjusted to not having his tonsils yet and his fevers came back right on schedule.  

Saturday and Sunday his scabs fell off and he was pretty miserable and didn't sleep.  But since they came off, he has been great.  

I am really hoping this surgery works because boy can I tell you these fevers he has are pretty miserable.

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

Ok, soooo I can't believe I am going to post about this because honestly, it is not something that I was super proud of it, until several days later when a comment that my friend Lisa's mom said to me and honestly I am very grateful she said it. So, Let me back up...So I had just come off a really hard week with Conrads tonsils coming off 5 days before.  When things like this happen, I hold my emotions in until I know everything is in the clear.  I hadn't slept all week, and I was just starting to get sick.  I know I shouldn't make excuses, so I will stop.  

We got up early, rode to Mapleton, jumped on the buses, rode up the canyon, jumped in the lines for the bathrooms and then went and lined up for the race and waited for the "GO."  I could tell the 1st mile that this was not going to be an easy run!  I had to use the bathroom at mile 3 so that killed 5 minutes of my time, but whatever, that's life.  I hoped back on the road and started off...Man that was hard to get back on the road again.  The first 5 miles seemed like an eternity.  I stayed with a lot of the same people for a long time and talked with them a few times and became friends with 2 old guys that were really nice. 

About mile 8 things started getting a little harder when the hills started and it began going up and down a bit.  Mile 9, I stared getting a little tired and just thought ok keep trucking on..Through mile 10 I was about 4 minutes ahead of my goal.  I was frustrated, but though alright well I can still do this.

That's when things went bad...I mean really bad!  I was following a lady who we had pretty much been together most of the race.  We had been playing leap frog most of the race...well at this point she was a head of me so I just followed her...the wrong direction...down a hill!   Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!  I seriously just ran the wrong direction, down a hill.  Somebody had to come running after me and turn me around to go back up the hill and point me in the right direction.  

At this point I think I mentally checked out...which was really bad, I mean not a good thing to do in the middle of a race.  By the time I came out of the canyon it was really hot, I was water logged, tired, beyond exhausted.  You would think that the last 3 miles you can just truck through...well ya that's what I did...I literally felt like I was crawling.  I was running through peoples yards into their sprinklers, through all the shade I could find.  It. was. mentally. exhausting. Pushing through those last 3 miles The last 2 miles alone took me 16 minutes each.  By the end it was embarrassing coming to the end watching other runners who had been done for a long time getting in their cars and and leaving.  I felt like a loser.  I felt bad because I knew my friends had been waiting for me for a long time.  I feel like I failed myself...Which is a huge fear of mine.  It really was great to see my friends and especially my Husband and kids at the finish line.  It REALLY does mean a lot to know they were there to support me.

Ok, back to the reason I changed my perspective.  After the race my friends kept telling me to go get my official race time, and I just kept telling them no I really don't want it...I was really disappointed with myself..I was angry with myself.  That's when Lisa's mom looked at me and said "you should go get it...I really wish I could have done something like this but I can't."  That really touched me, because there are a lot of people out there that have things taken away from them that don't deserve it.  So thank you Suzanne for doing something for me that you didn't even realize you did.

Callie's in 2nd Grade

 Callie was really excited to start 2nd grade!  She hasn't had any reservations at all except when we couldn't find her classroom because little did we know it was out in the trailers.  But she was pretty excited about that little fact once we found it.  Her Teachers name this year is Mrs. Murry. She seems extremely nice and Callie already loves her and it has only been 2 days. She has some good friends in her class Lizzy and Reece and she was pretty excited about that.  Callie is not afraid to make new friends though, so I really haven't worried about that.  She loves seeing Aubrey at recess and lunch, which she tells me is her favorite time of day.

I am a little nervous about the school year.  I am really hoping we can make some big strides with her this year and get her the proper help she needs so succeed.  I have a great friend that used to teach 2nd grade that said she would help in tutoring her this year.  I am just really hoping that the reading and the activities we did with her over the summer payed off. 

1st Annual Family Reunion

 We had our first annual Gwilliam Family Reunion.  It was Seriously SOOOO much fun!  On Friday night we just had dinner and hung out.  We we roasted Hot Dogs around the campfire and then ate smores' and played with glow sticks. I think the best part was staying up until really late around the campfire with my brothers.  Callie slept on the tramp with her 2 cousins Clara and Olivia.  This was her first time sleeping on the tramp and she did awesome.

The next morning I got up and ran the Strawberry Days 5K with 2 of my brothers, my sister-in-law and my niece.  It was so fun!  I did one of my best runs I have done for a 5K.  I did a 10 minute mile which for me is pretty good.  I am hoping I can get them to run it with me again next year.

Next, we headed to the parade where we got to enjoy some great time together.  So in the picture below with the Motor Cops,  My brother just recently became the Chief of Police in Alpine and Highland and the Officer that leads this group of guys works for my brother.  My brother told him where we were sitting and so they all lined up right in front of us and saluted my brother...Imagine...15 motorbikes lined up, in unison, in front of you...It was pretty darn cool!!!

After the parade we headed back to my parents and ate lunch.  After lunch we did a picture scavenger hunt.  I chose 3 team captains, Brian, Jeff and Jourdan to be the captains and they drew names out of the hat for players on their team.  My team was my Brother Jeff, Ally, Garrett, Candler, Ezequiel, Daxen and Olivia.  Clint was on a different team as me and Callie and Curran, but Callie and Curran were on the same team.  They both said they Loved it.  In fact their team won!!!  We had an hour to find the 25 things on our list and every item you took a picture of, had to have your entire team in the picture.  Can I just say this was the most fun activity in the entire world.  Here are a the pictures we took from our group.

A Church

The "G"

The oldest Headstone we could find

A Pyramid

Fire Hydrant

The #8

Our Choice

Green Car

Mimicking a statue

Water

Menu

In a shopping cart

Dancing with a stranger

Reading Books

Tractor

Rodeo Grounds

Horse

Your group on a slide

Old Norton's Store

Reflection

Old V&S Store

Historical landmark

Whole group off the ground

Purple Turtle

Most bizarre animal (bearded dragon)

After the scavenger hunt we did a fear factor activity (which I didn't get pictures of and I am so mad I didn't).  Some of the items they had to eat were, lemons, intestines, baby food peas, chocolate covered crickets, tomatoe paste, sea weed, shrimp and a creation the Jeff made called sludge.  Anyway...so gross!  Jeff, and clint both tied and my mom came in 2nd.  She couldn't chew some of the food because she doesn't have back teeth...hahahah kind of silly.

The last activity we did was a frozen T-shirt contest.  Basically I got some T-shirts wet and rolled them up and froze them.  So what you had to do was unroll it and put it on.  So funny to watch...It was kind of hard too.  Clint ended up winning the contest! ( I think he cheated...hahahahah)

Over all the reunion was a blast, and I am so glad we did it.  I look forward to next year to see how well it goes and the fun things somebody else will come up with.