It is 5 minutes to 11 (am) and I just crawled out of bed. I had a minor surgery on Tuesday and now have been hit with a cold. This is very odd for me as I rarely get sick. I have a week off of work so I am going to take advantage of the stillness of the day to update our blog.
I realize that there are many faithful readers and I am sorry for my shortcomings with my blogs, but lately there has been little downtime in my life to sit and actually write. Of course no news means good news and in the first time in years in the Kujawa house life has settled down immensely!
Christmas was busy but fantastic! We went to Kelowna for a couple days prior to Christmas to spend time with my brother Meldon and family. We took advantage of the mild snowy weather and went tobogganing and tubing. Much to all of our surprise Kourtney joined us on the hills and was able to engage in these activities also! What an amazing sight seeing her squeal in delight flying down the hills ! I believe God sent out a squad of guardian angels to protect her! (what kind of parents are we?)
I worked Christmas and boxing day and the rest of my family spent time with Dave and Bev. I have not worked Christmas day since Todd and I started dating so I sucked it up and happily accepted the double time in a half pay. (it helped pay for the flat screen TV Todd bought me for Christmas;) The girls were disappointed not to have me around but were happy to know that 5 Christmas Baby's (or as Shae refers to it Baby Jesus's) were born that day.
We then celebrated New Years with Meldon and his family! We feel so blessed to have this special family so close.We even managed a shopping trip together, and everyone enjoyed themselves!
Kourtney is doing very well. In November she had an infection but we managed to "knock it out" quickly before it did too much damage! Since then her skin has been looking great.(keep in mind with the comparison of two years ago)! She is gaining weight and her hemoglobin for the last 3 months has been maintained at 112 (in comparison to 80). Kourtney gets iron infusion every 6 weeks and Epo shots every 2nd week. Dressing changes have been a breeze however time consuming and remain a two person job!
In November we met with a psychologist and psychiatrist, they both gave Kourtney and myself necessary tools to help her fight depression. In turn we took the knowledge and presented it to the teacher's at Kourtney's school. Kourtney was put on a new medication for sleep and pain as one of her biggest complaints is that she didn't feel like she was getting enough sleep at night. With this combination of understanding and medication Kourtney seems to have worked through her depression. We see her laughing a lot more, Shaelyn and Kourtney are allies and are found giggling together rather then fighting, she has worked through her friendship issues on her own and has owned her physio sessions.
Despite the progress Todd and I are faced with many meltdowns and find ourselves having to filter through normal teenage hormones and a mind and body afflicted by a disease. We try not to coddle her but on the other hand we want her to know she is being heard and understood. We walk the tight rope with her and try to be wise in the way we handle this unique age in life. She is learning that she has to own her disease, although difficult for us to watch it also it freeing for us to live this way.
We feel blessed by the people who have come into our lives to support and encourage us Angela, Jeff, Vanessa, Mona and Lorraine. We are never without love and attention from these people and enjoy having a support system.
We are looking forward to a spring getaway to Hawaii. We know it is imperative for our family to get some sunshine and spend some quality time together. Mom and Dad Kujawa are coming also which will be lovely and provide Todd and I time to spend individual time with Shaelyn snorkeling and Kourtney most likely shopping!
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