School already?

It really seems like the summer has flown by this year. Faith starts the 1st grade on Tuesday. Seems like she just graduated Kindergarten! She's very excited about seeing all of her friends again, she hasn't visited them much this summer, so she's super anxious to talk to them all. Tomorrow night is open house, we'll get to meet her new teacher, who I have heard great things about. There hasn't been much going on around here, just the same old stuff. I've had a very encouraging couple of days and things are finally starting to fall into place. I'm getting used to the new routine, which is going to change a little when school starts, but not much. Josh has been gone for 5 weeks now, so he'll be preparing for Afghanistan next week. He's doing well, anxious to get gone, so he can get home again. So, things are going well right now. Nothing unpleasant to report. We'll be school shopping this weekend...which is the only kind of shopping I really enjoy, I love going with Faith and letting her pick out her new school things, it gets her even more excited about school. Let's hope that her excitement can withstand the next 12 years of school....and hopefully another four to six years of college after that. :)

Graduation

Faith graduated Kindergarten last Friday. Here is the cap and gown picture that was taken the week before, I don't have the graduation ceremony pictures at home yet. She looks so big here. She is a 2009 Kindergarten Graduate and if she continues to do well in school, she will be a 2021 High School Graduate. It seems so far away, but I know we'll be sitting in that crowd watching her get her diploma in the blink of an eye!

Symbicort

Faith's appointment went okay this morning. The doctor confirmed that it is pnuemonia in her lungs (and not damage from her asthma) and also that it is beginning to clear up a little. He switched her inhaler from Qvar to Symbicort (which has a steroid in it similar to pulmacort). He will see her again in two weeks to follow up on the pnuemonia and make sure it's all cleared up and also to see how things are going with the Symbicort. If she is feeling well by then, he's also thinking about doing another allergy test. He thinks she may have developed a new allergy since her symptoms have been worse this spring. So, that's what we found out today. She does seem to feel better. She went on a hike with her Girl Scout troop this afternoon and she did great. She was one of the few girls who didn't slow down for even a second and her asthma didn't bother her at all while on the hike, so she must be feeling much more like herself! :)

I did want to see if anybody who reads this has had any experience or knows anyone who has had experience with Symbicort. I haven't heard great things about it and I am kind of worried about her being on this inhaler. She didn't do well with Advair and this is a similar inhaler, so I'll be on my toes watching for side effects, but if you have anything to say about it, please let me know. Thanks!

Weekend

Faith was sent home from school on Thursday with a fever, which was only 101.5 at the time. By 2:00 am Friday morning it was reaching 105.0, which pretty much scared the daylights out of us! So, to the doctor we go on Friday. The doctor found an infection in her lung, which she wasn't sure was pnuemonia beginning or damage from her asthma (which has been worse lately). So, they did a chest xray and some blood work. The Xray confirmed that something is in her lungs and they started her on an antibiotic. We haven't heard back on the bloodtest yet, but I am sure it's fine. She started sleeping better this weekend, which was awesome. We go to see her asthma doctor tomorrow morning and I'm hoping that he'll have a better opinion on what is going on with her lungs. Maybe things will go well tomorrow and she'll be back to her typical self soon! We had a good weekend. Grandmaq and Grandpa came to visit Friday night and Saturday, then we headed to Springfield Saturday night to spend the remainder of the weekend with Sam, Susie and Little Miss Olivia. So, all in all..the weekend went great! Lots of fun visiting with family and Faith is getting more sleep, which means happy faces for us all! :)

Stinkin' Weather

I just need to vent for a minute...... This stinkin' weather has Faith's allergies/asthma all messed up. When all this green starts to grow back and it can't decide if it is going to be dry or wet outside, her body just doesn't seem to know how to react. She has been coughing non-stop and when she lays down at night it just gets worse. She is so tired all the time now. I called her doctor and he said there isn't anything he can do for her, so he referred her back to the allergy & asthma doctor is Springfield. He is a great doctor and will hopefully figure out a way to help her breathe easier without adding to her list of medications. I feel like I have been living in "zombie" mode for this past week, just going through the motions until I can lay down and try to get some rest again. With how tired I am, I can't imagine how exhausted Faith must feel. And, gosh, there are parents out there who only get a few hours sleep each night, I feel like such a wimp sometimes. Anyway, Faith will see the doctor next Tuesday, I hope we can all figure out how to get some rest until then.