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 What a week! Last Wednesday night Braden started complaining that his foot was hurting. We said we'd check it in the morning and by that evening we decided to go to Urgent Care. They did an x-ray, but didn't find anything. He did have a slight fever so they gave him an antibiotic and chalked it up to a UTI (which our pediatrician later said is basically impossible for a circumcised 3-year old!). Thursday night was rough as he was in a lot of pain. After going to Dr. Sotelo in the morning, he sent us to SHC Shea. That was the last Braden was outside until a week later! So crazy since he was just riding his bike and playing t-ball on Wed afternoon! Long story short, he ended up with an infection in his right foot. We still have no idea how he got it (there was no cut or place of entry) or what it was (they cultured it, but after he had started antibiotics, so nothing grew). Hopefully we never will because it will never happen again. He was the bravest 3-year old I've ever seen and lots of other people told him the same thing. He had to go completely under 2x's, once for an MRI to make sure the infection wasn't in his bone and another time to do an ultrasound and extract fluid from his ankle joint. The anesthesia nurse said he was one of the best patients ever. Unfortunately on day 6 we had a rough go of it because his IV stopped working at the exact time some guy came in to fit his sore little foot into a boot. Let's just say it was the perfect storm of awfulness at a time when we were all pretty much through anyway. I hope he never has to have an IV again. Finally, his fever broke and the pain reduced enough in his foot that we were able to go home after 7-days and 6 (long) nights in the hospital. Thank you, God.  

 

Here he is in the ER. His trusty bear stayed with him through every up and down! Nurses would ask him who is friend was, referring to bear. He would say "Kyndal and Toby are my friends. Oh and this is bear."

 We did have some fun, too. Sitting on top of the pillows...

Eating Gina's (our wonderful neighbor who came over and sat with Hunter for us one night) homemade cake pops...

 going to the playroom and seeing the fish tank...

 riding in the wagon and visiting Hunter in the lobby...

 a scavenger hunt around the floor...

 2 trips to the prize closet (I now know the importance of Child Life Specialists like our first nanny Sarah!)...

 watching for Kyndal to come for a visit...

 a visit from Kyndal...

 and SOOOOOO many hours on the iPads and watching movies.

We are so thankful that my parents were here through all of this. They were lifesavers. And we are so thankful for the prayers, calls, notes and everything from everyone. They meant a lot, especially in the toughest times. And there were some tough times when we honestly didn't know what was going to happen. I had just posted about being so thankful for having such healthy kids. I'm even more thankful for healthy kids after all of this. I can now answer about Braden having "no known drug allergies" for more than just one thing, that's for sure! 

The prayer now is for him to continue to heal and the infection to go away. Specifically, he has to take his antibiotic (Clindamycin) 3x's a day for 3 weeks. This stuff is AWFUL... I mean really, you would think the people who make it could spend a little money on making it palatable, but such is not the case. It's so important for him to keep it in his little system.

I read this Bible verse one night when I was at the hospital and I thought it was very appropriate so I wanted to share John 1:16,

⁶ For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

I didn't get to see Hunter much during the time in the hospital, so he, Mimi and I headed out to enjoy the weather today. We thought we were going to the Zoo, but it was packed because of Spring Break I think. So we went to the Botanical Gardens instead. The butterfly exhibit had just started and it was lots of fun. Especially because Hunter has a thing for "bugs" these days!