Out with the Old, In with the New

Last week is not one I would choose to repeat although the results of it are. All in less than a week Andrew had major surgery on his kidney, we paid thousands of $ for landscaping, and Aaron had a bad case of flu that sent him to the ER. But the good outcome? Andrew has a healthier kidney and is recovering excellently, Aaron is almost over it, and we have a much better looking and way more fun backyard.

The old backyard (some of it)-

The entire back and side yards looked like this- nothing except small rock throughout. Not much fun for twin 2-year olds (I mean, the mom-they had a great time!) who love throwing rocks.

The new back & side yard (part of it, anyway)-

Pictures are from the same point.

The patch seen before the grass will include a swing set with a slide, sandbox, and tree house. Assembly not included. :( The paved area around the grass is a 3 foot wide racetrack. The boys are already begging to go, "owside."

One of the side yards. The path seen leads to a newly paved side courtyard with a door into the front hallway. The front yard is on the other side of the fence with a newly paved front courtyard.

Andrew's new kidney

Although Andrew didn't receive a kidney transplant (thank goodness!) the surgery resulted in a healthier, better working right kidney. This surgery was almost identical to the one he had at 7 weeks old on his left kidney. The left kidney was opened up a little and received a stint in the ureter along with the stint his right ureter received. Andrew is a golden patient. He was almost always happy, smiled, 'chattered' with the nurses, and never cried when anyone came in the room. He was in the hospital for 2 nights and so did I! We are grateful to our friends who helped watch Aaron each day and meals we received. Oh, and I should mention I got pulled over on the way to the hospital for speeding. I was going 75 in a supposedly 45 zone on the freeway but maybe the cop actually believed me when I told him I was on my way to the hospital! It must've been my lucky day because I thought for sure I'd be getting a hefty ticket on top of the huge hospital bill. The cop was feeling nice that day and I learned I'd still be there in plenty of time even if I hadn't been speeding.

We had to be there at 6 a.m. Andrew handled it much better than I did. This is the pre-op. Andrew was very curious and the waiting area was very kid-friendly. His doggie and 'knetnee' went through the entire process with him.

Sunrise Hospital has a superb staff, very comfortable room, and a great play room we could take toys from. Andrew had the IV in his foot so he wasn't able to do any walking but he kept easily entertained with crayons, trucks, and his "Bah bah booh" (Bob the Builder) and Signing Time videos.

His 'watch' is a security band to make sure we didn't try to escape with him. He became almost as attached to my cell phone as he is to his knetnee and his doggie.

Andrew's "big owie". You'd never know it's there the way he's been jumping, running, rolling, and climbing.

Bad case of the flu

Soon after Aaron went to bed Friday night he began vomiting that continued until we took him to the ER. He eventually was dry heaving but we feared he'd have to hooked to an I.V. like he did last November. He was released at 4:30 once he was able to keep the meds and the liquid down. But he awoke that morning with a burning fever of 103.9 and no appetite for a few days. He's much better now but it didn't add to our already stressful week.

Which makes us all the more excited to leave for California this weekend! We'll be staying a couple of days with my Aunt Nancy and then a few days at Lake Tahoe. We've been looking forward to this trip for months.