4 TENDER SOULS... Their Story - PART III
2009
Before our trip to Hawaii, Stacie had to go to the urgent care dentist where she had to get a root canal. A few days later she was still having some problems and they realized that they hadn't removed everything and they had to go back in to fix it.
While in Hawaii, Stacie started to get sicker with the tooth she had fixed in December. We called Reed’s uncle (a dentist) who was able to give us some advice, but it got to a point where he told us we needed to go to the ER. It took a while because there was a big storm, but we found one in Honolulu. Just as we started to register to be seen, the power was knocked out. We finished the registration by hand-writing the information, and they took Stacie to a room using a flashlight. When the doctor came in he had to check Stacie out using just the emergency flood lights and a flashlight; it was quite the experience. They were unable to get any testing done because they had no power, but he was able to start her on an antibiotic so that we could at least make it back home. We did and Stacie ended up having to have an apicoectomy. When it didn't work they decided that they just needed to pull the tooth to actually fix the problem.
It was also in January that we decided that with Stacie’s increasing endometriosis and health problems we had some decisions to make. The doctors had cautioned us that the chances of Stacie getting pregnant were minimal but if we wanted another child we needed to do it soon, otherwise it may not happen for us. We already knew that it was going to be a challenge as we had actually been trying to have another baby for almost two years, but if we wanted to have another child and a sibling for Payton, we needed to find a way to make it happen.
Also Reed started to have increasing numbness & pain in his lower back & legs. He underwent several transforaminal nerve root blocks and facet injections in hopes that it would help ease the pressure & numbness in his legs. They seemed to help for a few weeks, but eventually the symptoms returned. In April, he had a MRI of his spine and found that his disc degeneration had continued to progress, but surgery was not recommended.
We also felt blessed that we had listened to our instincts and received a second opinion. We were extremely happy with the results even when the doctor discovered during the follow up visit the next day that a tube had pushed through the eardrum and into his ear canal. They had to go back into surgery to retrieve the tube and replaced it with a larger tube. The doctor commented that she had never seen that happen before. We just laughed thinking to ourselves that if only she knew how normal ‘abnormal’ was for our family!
By June, Stacie had developed another cyst and we went to see our family doctor. He, being a close friend by now, felt that Stacie needed to find someone that could give her some additional care and referred us to a new OBGYN, Dr. Haskett. After having a consult with Dr. Haskett, he felt that with Stacie’s increasing symptoms, and to increase our chances of getting pregnant, Stacie would need to have another surgery. We proceeded and Stacie went in again for what would be her 8th Laparoscopy. It was during the procedure that we found that Stacie had Grade 3 (out of 4) severity of endometriosis.
Payton had also started playing soccer, and loved it. He started out when he was three years old playing at Timpanogos indoor soccer, then he played in the Lindon City league and then we tried North Utah County. He was a natural athlete, and loved playing soccer; it was a fun way for him to get through the stresses of our life. Payton wasn’t the only one to try new things though. Starting at the beginning of August, Stacie started Clomid in hopes that it would increase her chances of getting pregnant again.
In September, Reed started to have swelling that surrounded the area around his back incision. His Dr started to run several tests and they found a pocket of fluid that had collected in that area, but were unsure about how or why it was happening.
Also in September, Stacie started to have some lower abdominal pain, and when it had become too much for her to bear, the doctor ordered an ultrasound. They found yet another cyst but it was not large enough to risk going in for another surgery, having just recently had a surgery just two months earlier. We planned on following up 5 days later with a follow up ultrasound. When they completed the follow up ultrasound, they discovered that the cyst was a large complex cyst that was still growing; in fact it had doubled in size within a week. They planned the laparoscopy to remove the cyst, and prepared us that it could be an endometrioma; and due to how quickly & how large it had already grown, there was a possibility that they might have to remove Stacie’s ovary. So for the second time within two months, Stacie went in for her 9th laparoscopy to remove the cyst. The doctor also removed several endometrial implants that were found throughout her pelvis. The surgery went well and we were relieved when the doctor told us that he was able to save Stacie’s ovary. She stayed in the hospital for a couple days and was happy that she was able to make it out & to her sister Danielle’s wedding a few days later.
Due to how quickly Stacie was growing cysts and how much pain she was having while being on Clomid, the Dr advised us to stop the Clomid and go back on birth control to help manage her endometriosis. By starting the birth control, it meant that we had to take a break on trying to get pregnant. We were told that we would not likely be able to have any more children, and that we needed to prepare ourselves for the idea of a hysterectomy if we were ever going to give Stacie a chance at a normal life.
2010
Winter was proving to be a hard time for Payton, when in January he came down with pneumonia. He was put on an antibiotic and started some breathing treatments. Payton would sit on Stacie’s lap and they would cuddle as he would receive his breathing treatments. Although it was not much fun, Payton was a trooper and would bravely endure them.
Also in January, Reed went to see a neurosurgeon at the University of Utah to get a second opinion about his increasing back problems. They found that the degenerative disc disease had progressed, but they were worried that any surgical intervention would only accelerate the disease. He suggested that Reed consider the option of getting a spinal cord stimulator implanted in his back. The stimulator is a small pulse generator that sends electrical pulses to the nerves in the spinal cord. These pulses interfere with the nerve impulses that make you feel pain. Reed started the process of getting approved for it.
Enduring afflictions was quickly becoming a family motto as we continued to endure trial after trail. It quickly became a joke that with all the doctor appointments we were having, we thought of them as our date nights. Stacie had stopped the Clomid in hopes that it would limit the number of cysts she was growing, but her body had its own way of doing things. In late January she had another pelvic ultrasound done, and discovered that she had several small ovarian cysts and a small amount of adjacent free fluid, suggesting that she recently had a cyst that had ruptured. We held off from surgery & hoped that her body would reabsorb the cyst and allow Stacie to recover without adding the trauma the body goes through with surgery.
Winter was proving to be a hard time for Payton, when in January he came down with pneumonia. He was put on an antibiotic and started some breathing treatments. Payton would sit on Stacie’s lap and they would cuddle as he would receive his breathing treatments. Although it was not much fun, Payton was a trooper and would bravely endure them.
Also in January, Reed went to see a neurosurgeon at the University of Utah to get a second opinion about his increasing back problems. They found that the degenerative disc disease had progressed, but they were worried that any surgical intervention would only accelerate the disease. He suggested that Reed consider the option of getting a spinal cord stimulator implanted in his back. The stimulator is a small pulse generator that sends electrical pulses to the nerves in the spinal cord. These pulses interfere with the nerve impulses that make you feel pain. Reed started the process of getting approved for it.
Enduring afflictions was quickly becoming a family motto as we continued to endure trial after trail. It quickly became a joke that with all the doctor appointments we were having, we thought of them as our date nights. Stacie had stopped the Clomid in hopes that it would limit the number of cysts she was growing, but her body had its own way of doing things. In late January she had another pelvic ultrasound done, and discovered that she had several small ovarian cysts and a small amount of adjacent free fluid, suggesting that she recently had a cyst that had ruptured. We held off from surgery & hoped that her body would reabsorb the cyst and allow Stacie to recover without adding the trauma the body goes through with surgery.
Following the surgery, Dr. Haskett
suggested that we try a couple rounds of artificial insemination (IUI) up in
Sandy at a fertility clinic as a way to increase our chances of becoming
pregnant, as the door on our chances to have a baby was quickly closing. He said that he would follow Stacie with blood
work and ultrasounds to make sure she was not having more cysts develop, and it
would also allow some of it to be covered by our insurance. In May, we tried our first round of IUI. If there was ever going to be a time for us to
get pregnant, it was now. Stacie had
just had surgery to remove the implants of endometriosis, and he had flushed
out the fallopian tubes to make sure they were clear of any obstructions. Her blood
work showed the optimal levels to suggest getting pregnant and there were no
other signs of illnesses to interfere with a pregnancy.
Unfortunately it was not meant to be as we found out that in our first attempt with IUI resulted with an early miscarriage. We were extremely sad and very discouraged but told ourselves that it was only our first time and that we needed to dust ourselves off and keep going. We decided to try it again the next month hoping that this time it was going to work. Unfortunately, it did not work and our hope of having another baby was quickly slipping away. It had become physically, emotionally and mentally draining to keep getting our hopes up only to experience disappointment and failure each time. We know that we were not alone in the struggle in getting pregnant; in fact we have many family & friends who continue to fight this exhausting battle. What made our experience a little different was the fact that we were running out of time for which we could continue to even try for another child.
As hard as it was to continue to try and fail, it was even harder for us to think about having the hysterectomy and losing the ability to even try for another child. Payton was the biggest blessing in our lives and one of the greatest sources of happiness in our family. We had always felt that our family was not complete yet and we knew Payton felt the same way as he was constantly asking if he could have another brother or sister, even putting it on his Christmas list as something he wanted for Christmas. We wanted Payton to have a sibling, someone to bond with and someone to grow up with. It is why we continued to endure this hardship and try for another child. Stacie told Reed that she had a feeling that they should try it on our own without using IUI for the next month to see if it would happen.
Stacie started Femara, a medication like Clomid, along with progesterone & we just prayed that this time would be the time that we would get pregnant. We decided that we would give it another month, and then if we were unable to get pregnant, we would then proceed with the hysterectomy.
During this time Reed continued to have increasing weakness in his legs and found it harder to walk and even sit. Reed was referred to an orthopedic specialist in Salt Lake City to be evaluated. After several tests, the doctor found that Reed had some new changes with a central spinal stenosis as well as bilateral foraminal stenosis on more than one level. He also found that Reed has some fibrosis and scarring that had grown around his nerve roots and they were starting to impinge on the nerves. He still felt that with Reed’s diffuse degenerative changes, the best course of action was to try a series of selective nerve root blocks around the areas being impinged to see if it helped with the pain & numbness.
After trying for over 3 years to get pregnant and not succeeding we were all prepared to have a hysterectomy, which was scheduled to be done towards the end of the year. Stacie’s disease and symptoms had become too severe to wait any longer & it was putting Stacie at more of a risk for complications. Stacie had been to the doctor who took some blood work to follow up on some more symptoms that were increasing. The stress & emotional strain that comes with trying to have a baby had become overwhelming and one afternoon Stacie decided to go for a drive to see her Grandma and to take her mind off the situation.
When she came home that day, Reed was there to greet her at the door. Reed shared what happened that day when Stacie came home. “While Stacie was gone I looked up the results of her blood work and was astonished at what I was seeing. Just then Stacie walked into the door and before she could shut the door I had her in my arms and broke the news to her. One of the greatest moments in my life was when I held Stacie in my arms and told her that she was pregnant! We just stood in the doorway, with the door wide opened, held each other and cried. I just kept repeating “we are pregnant babe, we did it. We’re going to have another baby, we did it”. It was a moment and feeling that we will never forget.”
We went to the doctor the next day and he confirmed the pregnancy with another blood test and an ultrasound two days later. Our due date was April 10th, which happens to be Stacie’s mom and dad’s anniversary (we were hoping that it meant good luck for us and our baby). The doctor was overjoyed to finally be able to share some good news with us, since he had been there with us through so much. That is why it was hard for him when about a week later he had to share some more bad news with us when after a follow up ultrasound they found that the pregnancy was being threatened due to not one but two cysts that had grown on Stacie’s ovaries. The concern was that the cysts were quickly becoming too large and could cause the ovary to twist over itself, cutting off the blood supply to the ovary and possibly causing Stacie to bleed internally. Having an ovarian torsion would threaten both the baby & Stacie’s life.
It was too early in the pregnancy to be able to go into surgery to remove the cyst as it could cause Stacie to miscarry the baby. After carefully weighing our options we made a plan to get Stacie and the baby to 17 weeks before having the surgery. At 17 weeks they thought they could remove the cysts without risking the safety of the baby. We would watch her closely and had many ultra sounds to keep an eye on the cyst and keep Stacie and the baby healthy. With all of the ultrasounds we were having we found out early that we were definitely going to be having a sweet baby boy! It was fun to imagine Payton with his little brother and how much fun it would be to watch them grow up. Knowing that this pregnancy would most likely be the last, we tried to take it all in and enjoy as much of it as we could. We were more than excited to meet out new little boy & we prepared ourselves the best we could for what was ahead of us but we had no idea just how hard it was going to be.
Right away Stacie was put on bed
rest and continued on progesterone to help minimize the chance of her losing
the baby. The doctor watched her very closely and she was in the office usually
more than once a week. To make matters
worse, Stacie had severe morning sickness and would quickly become very
dehydrated and weak. The doctor had Stacie sent over to the ER several times to get
IV fluids and to be monitored. Then, when Stacie was about 12 weeks along, we
received some heart breaking news. Stacie’s grandma, who she was very close to,
sadly passed away. To say that her
grandma loved Payton was an understatement, and his feelings for her were the
same. We went to visit her regularly and
would take her out and about often. When
we found out we were going to have another baby, Stacie and Payton went to tell
Grams. Stacie still remembers just how
excited she was to hear that we were pregnant.
As they were pushing her down the hall in her wheelchair at the assisted living place where she lived, she was telling everyone in sight with a huge smile on her face that she was going to be a grandma again. It was a moment that Stacie still holds close to her heart. We know that Grams, along with all of our other loved ones who have past, were up in Heaven preparing our new little one for us.
The pain from the cyst, constantly throwing up, and losing her grandma and close friend had become too much for Stacie to handle, so starting at about 14 weeks into the pregnancy Stacie was having to be admitted to the hospital every other weekend for usually 2- 3 days to receive IV fluids and to monitor the baby. She was so sick that even by the 5th month of pregnancy she had only gained about 6 lbs and was hardly showing. Stacie even had to celebrate her birthday while in the hospital.
We were praying and hoping that the cysts would go away on their own, so that we didn't have to risk having surgery and losing the baby. Our prayers were answered when just before the 16th week, the ultrasound showed that the cysts had stopped growing and were actually beginning to get smaller. It was just what we needed to have happen and it made all of those long weeks of pain and suffering worth it.
We were so humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our wonderful family and friends. We had so many people helping us through this hard, but exciting time. So many meals, shoulders to cry on and so many people helped with Payton. Payton was 5 years old and in Kindergarten at the time and we had wonderful friends from our neighborhood, who would take him & pick him up from school every day. It was such a blessing to us! There are not enough ways to thank everyone for all of the help that we received throughout the whole pregnancy; we feel very, very blessed.
The baby had been found to be breech in several follow up visits, and after an ultrasound on the 22nd, the doctor felt it was time to have the baby and scheduled Stacie to have a C-section on the 28th of March. During that same visit, they found that Stacie’s BP had increased to 150/99 mmHg and the doctor ordered some labs to check for any other problems. The following day, Stacie came back in to the hospital to finish her lab work and test. We were instructed to wait at the hospital until the results came back and then we would be told what to do at home. But things changed when after getting the results back they discovered that Stacie had developed HELLP syndrome. HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening liver disorder thought to be a type of severe preeclampsia. HELLP syndrome can be life-threatening for both the mother and the baby, and with Stacie’s increasing blood pressure and medical history, they admitted her right away and planned to have the C-section as soon as possible.
We were used to being sent home after every hospital visit,
so we were happily surprised to find out that we were going to have the baby
that night. It seemed unreal that the moment we had been waiting for was
finally here, and we were finally going to meet our sweet little baby boy. We
called our family and told them what was going on and to come to hospital as
soon as they could. As Stacie was
getting set up and checked in she started to have pretty hard contractions and
after another assessment they noticed that she was starting to have tremors, a
complication from HELLPS Syndrome. The doctor came in and talked with us about
what was happening and started Stacie on magnesium, which is used to prevent
seizures, but it comes with awful side effects.
She had started to get a really bad headache & become very swollen,
flushed and was very miserable and ready to have the baby. As luck would have it, the hospital had five
women come in after 5:30 pm that needed C-sections which, according to the
staff, never happens. Of course!! Stacie was in full blown labor, having
contractions every 1-2 minutes, swelling and feeling horrible because of the
medications but we had to wait our turn like everyone else. Reed felt so bad
for her because he knew she was in pain and feeling so miserable and there was
nothing he could do to help her. But Stacie stuck it out and finally, after a
few hours of anxiously waiting with our family, they had Reed change into a
cute white jumpsuit and started to prep Stacie for the C-Section.
It was all a
new and kind of scary process but the last several months had been such a fight
that it made us so much stronger. It apparently made our boy stronger to
because he didn’t want to come out just yet. He was definitely breech and stuck
high up in Stacie’s ribs and hard to get out but after pulling and tugging he
finally came.
Camden Mark Kennington came three weeks early, but weighed a healthy 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19 ½ inches long. It was a beautiful thing to hear his sweet little cry as it signaled to us that the fight to get him here was finally over. Suddenly the past few years of physical & emotional struggles seemed to diminish as all that mattered was that our perfect little boy was finally here, and he was so dang cute!
The best part was when Payton, who had tried to stay awake throughout the whole ordeal, was finally able to meet his new brother as we wheeled Camden down to the nursery.
Stacie had a rough first night as her body was
still adjusting from the medications given to her earlier for HELLP syndrome and the surgery and she started throwing up. You can imagine how much fun that is when you just had your stomach cut open. During the delivery Stacie remembered hearing the doctors discuss the amount of endometriosis that they could see on her uterus and in her abdomen. There was so much to think about, especially about a hysterectomy, but all that mattered was that Camden was here and we were doing well. We were so happy, our little family was perfect!
Camden became jaundice after the first day and had to be
under the lights for the next three days, which was hard because he had to
spend most of his time in the nursery. By
the time we were ready to come home, his weight had dropped to 7 lbs and his
blood levels were still high. He was sent home with lights and we had to bring
him back to the hospital every day to check his levels. At first, the levels kept going up almost to
the point of re-admitting him to the hospital. Luckily after one week on the
lights, his levels were low enough so that he did not have to spend his days
and nights on the lights anymore. As luck would have it Heather, the one who
would draw Camden's blood test, would later marry Brandon, one of Reeds best
Friends!
During the first few weeks after the birth, Stacie continued to have pain and cramping that came from getting so sick and then having the C-section & it became unbearable. Stacie still continued to follow up with her doctor often and the decision was made that when she had made it to six weeks postpartum, she would have the hysterectomy. This was such a hard decision to make, but with a lot of praying and priesthood blessings from Reed and Stacie’s dad, we felt like this was the only way to stop the disease from progressing and allow Stacie to have somewhat of a “normal” life again.
As the surgery date got closer and closer, it was becoming harder to grasp the thought of losing the ability to ever have another baby, especially the possibility of a daughter, and we started to wonder if we were making the right choice. Deep down, we both knew that Stacie needed to have the Hysterectomy in order for her to hopefully feel better. Our doctor explained all of the benefits and risks to us and the surgery was scheduled for May 9th. Stacie tried to enjoy every minute with her boys and did not take one moment for granted with their new little family.
May 9th came, and it was a day we will never forget. It has been hard to write about and recall all of the details of this tough event in our lives because it has been something so personal, and we have realized that we still have not fully recovered from it yet. We have never gone into too many details with many people and we feel a little vulnerable opening up with so much detail with this part of our lives, but to be honest it has been therapeutic in a way. We have tried to make something of this trial and realize just how lucky we are to be surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends that we could have ever asked for. It is because of their continued love and sacrifice that we have been able to get through all of these trials. We have always known, but now to a larger degree, just how much our faith plays a huge role in the way we choose to look at these trials. We know that the Lord is there for us and will never let us walk alone.
Stacie finished eating her dinner and sat her bed up to pump, when she started to feel like she was going to pass out. Luckily, the night nurses walked into her room right then and asked her if she was ok; we know for a fact she was being watched over. Stacie says she remembers telling them that she was not feeling very good and then the next thing she remembers was seeing white lights. Her blood pressure had dropped to 47/23 and the nurses ran in and kept trying to talk to her & asking her if she was ok. They said that she looked grayish and her pulse was very faint.
They called a rapid response code and all Stacie remembers was that it was like an out of body experience, seeing white lights and thinking “oh no, not now”. She said she couldn't move and all she could do is think about her boys and Reed and that they needed her. They had waited for so long for Camden that this couldn’t be happening! Primary songs were going through her head and she was praying so hard that things would be ok. Meanwhile, lots of people where in her room trying to stabilize her. Her only IV line had blown and they could not get another one in, they were poking all over her arms, hands and even tried to get some into her feet but they could not get another IV started. She said she remembers praying that they could please just get an IV in. They finally decided to try to get an IV in her neck and that finally worked!! They pushed the fluids, and were able to put in another IV in her arm as a backup, but by that point her body had started to shut down.
After a couple of days we were finally able to bring Camden in so that Stacie could hold him since she had been asking to see him ever since she had been awake. She was also able to come home after a few more days of monitoring.
The hardest part for Stacie was when she finally realized the severity of what had just occurred. It happened when she got home and had her two boys surrounding her that she realized just how close she had come to not making it and how close she had come to losing her boys and husband. It was almost too much to handle and all that was on her mind. This event caused her to have PTSD and she struggled with that for a while. She even continued to have an extremely low blood pressure and heart rate, especially at night. It got the point that she wouldn’t dare to go back to sleep in fear that she wouldn’t wake up. She would wake Reed up and ask for a priesthood blessing often and that helped calm her down enough for her to sleep.
Our opportunities for making hard decisions kept coming as we now had to decide on what we needed to do to help Reed. It was another hard decision we had to make because they knew that an additional surgery could speed up the degenerative disease and could cause more problems for Reed. With all that could go wrong, we still felt that it was the only answer right now to give Reed some relief from his numbness and pain. With careful thought, some wise counsel, and a lot of prayer we proceeded with the surgery and on August 19th, Reed went in for his 3rd back surgery. We quickly found out why we felt so comfortable with our choice to go into surgery as the doctor discovered a surprising reason for Reeds symptoms.
As soon as the surgeon got through the scar tissue and fascia, he found that Reeds’ L4-5 interspinous ligament and all his facet ligaments were completely torn apart and had made that level extremely unstable. He reported that with just a little bit of pressure on his L4 disc the interspinous space would open enough to let his finger slide down to the dura. He was so impressed with how torn it was that he took several pictures of it just so he could show us and have it on record. He also located the cyst compressing on Reed’s spine, but it was hard to remove due to the amount of scar tissue which had grown around it. He was eventually able to remove the scar tissue and cyst, and fuse the levels with screws and bolts. He was confident that the surgery was successful and that it would help Reed feel much better. Reed started to notice the difference with numbness and weakness almost right away, but he was having a lot of pressure around his incision. The pressure continued to increase, and then when it started to bleed, we knew it was a problem.
We called the doctor's office and they tried to ease our fears by telling us that a little blood was normal. It wasn’t until we showed up at the doctor's office and showed them in person that they finally realized just how bad it was. They found that a large hematoma had developed under Reed’s incision and that the pressure was pushing the blood out where the staples were. We kept the staples in for a week longer so that the hematoma would have a chance to resolve and so that incision would not split open under the pressure. After the week, all 35 staples were removed and Reed couldn’t have been happier.
After the staples were removed and swelling started to go down, Reed was starting to feel a little better and we were hopeful things were slowing down for us. But if our past had taught us anything, it was that when things started to go well it often meant that something was just around the corner.
Stacie was still having problems with her blood pressure, her hormone levels, and increasing pain. After consulting with the doctor we determined that the best option for Stacie was to remove the other ovary and see if there was any endometriosis still growing. We were hoping that the endometriosis would be all but gone after the hysterectomy, and that the removal of the ovary would be the final step to get rid of the disease once and for all. So with mixed emotions Stacie had her 11th laparoscopy to remove her left ovary and any remnant of endometriosis found.
We were surprised to learn from the doctor that during the surgery he found that the endometriosis had spread throughout her abdomen and pelvis. It was shocking just how much had grown, especially since Stacie had been off her hormones which should have kept the tissue from growing. The doctor said it looked like a cancer patient or that a bomb had gone off inside her with implants spread everywhere. He had never seen it that severe, especially having a patient who was recently pregnant and off her hormones. He removed as much as he was able to and then removed Stacie’s ovary. The surgery went well, and after a few days Stacie was able to come home.
Since Stacie now had both ovaries removed, she had to start hormone replacement therapy. She was referred to a wonderful hormone doctor to help get her started. They ordered a lot of blood work and tests. When the results came back, we learned that Stacie had even more going on than we had thought. It was then we learned that Stacie had Hasimoto disease, an autoimmune condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid gland, and Sheehan syndrome, a condition in which severe bleeding during or after childbirth causes damage to the pituitary gland. We started to treat and manage the symptoms that Stacie was having, but she still had to go into IV therapy almost twice a week.
After a few weeks, we were allowed to continue to run the treatments at home, and Reed was able to give her IV fluids which saved a lot of time and travel. It also gave Stacie a chance to own her very own IV pole which she loves!!
Having problems with the ears seemed to be shaping up to be a genetic problem, as both Reed & Payton had to have surgery on their ears at a young age. Now Camden wanted in on the fun, and in December, Camden went in for surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He had been having problems with croup and ear infections and the doctor felt that it was time to get the tubes put in to help with the infections. He did great with the surgery and after waking up from the anesthesia he was back to his cheerful happy playful self.
The last few years, particularly this year, had really taken a toll on us. We were left to feel discouraged, broken and tired as we came to the end of the year. But we also realized that it was at this time that we would have been having our hysterectomy if we had not been blessed to have our precious new little boy. We could see the tender mercies that were given to us along the way and that they came at the moments when we didn't know how to go on.
As usual, our wonderfully amazing family and friends were there to pick us up at times when we thought we couldn't do it anymore. We grew stronger as a family and closer to the Lord as our faith had been tried and tested. We feel so extremely lucky to know of the many sacrifices that so many people have made and continue to make in our behalf. The continued love and support that has surrounded us has made us feel stronger and we felt a new found hope that no matter what trials would come our way, we knew we were never going to have to go through it alone. It would be a necessity for what was ahead of us over the next few years.
Unfortunately it was not meant to be as we found out that in our first attempt with IUI resulted with an early miscarriage. We were extremely sad and very discouraged but told ourselves that it was only our first time and that we needed to dust ourselves off and keep going. We decided to try it again the next month hoping that this time it was going to work. Unfortunately, it did not work and our hope of having another baby was quickly slipping away. It had become physically, emotionally and mentally draining to keep getting our hopes up only to experience disappointment and failure each time. We know that we were not alone in the struggle in getting pregnant; in fact we have many family & friends who continue to fight this exhausting battle. What made our experience a little different was the fact that we were running out of time for which we could continue to even try for another child.
As hard as it was to continue to try and fail, it was even harder for us to think about having the hysterectomy and losing the ability to even try for another child. Payton was the biggest blessing in our lives and one of the greatest sources of happiness in our family. We had always felt that our family was not complete yet and we knew Payton felt the same way as he was constantly asking if he could have another brother or sister, even putting it on his Christmas list as something he wanted for Christmas. We wanted Payton to have a sibling, someone to bond with and someone to grow up with. It is why we continued to endure this hardship and try for another child. Stacie told Reed that she had a feeling that they should try it on our own without using IUI for the next month to see if it would happen.
Stacie started Femara, a medication like Clomid, along with progesterone & we just prayed that this time would be the time that we would get pregnant. We decided that we would give it another month, and then if we were unable to get pregnant, we would then proceed with the hysterectomy.
During this time Reed continued to have increasing weakness in his legs and found it harder to walk and even sit. Reed was referred to an orthopedic specialist in Salt Lake City to be evaluated. After several tests, the doctor found that Reed had some new changes with a central spinal stenosis as well as bilateral foraminal stenosis on more than one level. He also found that Reed has some fibrosis and scarring that had grown around his nerve roots and they were starting to impinge on the nerves. He still felt that with Reed’s diffuse degenerative changes, the best course of action was to try a series of selective nerve root blocks around the areas being impinged to see if it helped with the pain & numbness.
After trying for over 3 years to get pregnant and not succeeding we were all prepared to have a hysterectomy, which was scheduled to be done towards the end of the year. Stacie’s disease and symptoms had become too severe to wait any longer & it was putting Stacie at more of a risk for complications. Stacie had been to the doctor who took some blood work to follow up on some more symptoms that were increasing. The stress & emotional strain that comes with trying to have a baby had become overwhelming and one afternoon Stacie decided to go for a drive to see her Grandma and to take her mind off the situation.
When she came home that day, Reed was there to greet her at the door. Reed shared what happened that day when Stacie came home. “While Stacie was gone I looked up the results of her blood work and was astonished at what I was seeing. Just then Stacie walked into the door and before she could shut the door I had her in my arms and broke the news to her. One of the greatest moments in my life was when I held Stacie in my arms and told her that she was pregnant! We just stood in the doorway, with the door wide opened, held each other and cried. I just kept repeating “we are pregnant babe, we did it. We’re going to have another baby, we did it”. It was a moment and feeling that we will never forget.”
We went to the doctor the next day and he confirmed the pregnancy with another blood test and an ultrasound two days later. Our due date was April 10th, which happens to be Stacie’s mom and dad’s anniversary (we were hoping that it meant good luck for us and our baby). The doctor was overjoyed to finally be able to share some good news with us, since he had been there with us through so much. That is why it was hard for him when about a week later he had to share some more bad news with us when after a follow up ultrasound they found that the pregnancy was being threatened due to not one but two cysts that had grown on Stacie’s ovaries. The concern was that the cysts were quickly becoming too large and could cause the ovary to twist over itself, cutting off the blood supply to the ovary and possibly causing Stacie to bleed internally. Having an ovarian torsion would threaten both the baby & Stacie’s life.
It was too early in the pregnancy to be able to go into surgery to remove the cyst as it could cause Stacie to miscarry the baby. After carefully weighing our options we made a plan to get Stacie and the baby to 17 weeks before having the surgery. At 17 weeks they thought they could remove the cysts without risking the safety of the baby. We would watch her closely and had many ultra sounds to keep an eye on the cyst and keep Stacie and the baby healthy. With all of the ultrasounds we were having we found out early that we were definitely going to be having a sweet baby boy! It was fun to imagine Payton with his little brother and how much fun it would be to watch them grow up. Knowing that this pregnancy would most likely be the last, we tried to take it all in and enjoy as much of it as we could. We were more than excited to meet out new little boy & we prepared ourselves the best we could for what was ahead of us but we had no idea just how hard it was going to be.
As they were pushing her down the hall in her wheelchair at the assisted living place where she lived, she was telling everyone in sight with a huge smile on her face that she was going to be a grandma again. It was a moment that Stacie still holds close to her heart. We know that Grams, along with all of our other loved ones who have past, were up in Heaven preparing our new little one for us.
The pain from the cyst, constantly throwing up, and losing her grandma and close friend had become too much for Stacie to handle, so starting at about 14 weeks into the pregnancy Stacie was having to be admitted to the hospital every other weekend for usually 2- 3 days to receive IV fluids and to monitor the baby. She was so sick that even by the 5th month of pregnancy she had only gained about 6 lbs and was hardly showing. Stacie even had to celebrate her birthday while in the hospital.
We were praying and hoping that the cysts would go away on their own, so that we didn't have to risk having surgery and losing the baby. Our prayers were answered when just before the 16th week, the ultrasound showed that the cysts had stopped growing and were actually beginning to get smaller. It was just what we needed to have happen and it made all of those long weeks of pain and suffering worth it.
We were so humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our wonderful family and friends. We had so many people helping us through this hard, but exciting time. So many meals, shoulders to cry on and so many people helped with Payton. Payton was 5 years old and in Kindergarten at the time and we had wonderful friends from our neighborhood, who would take him & pick him up from school every day. It was such a blessing to us! There are not enough ways to thank everyone for all of the help that we received throughout the whole pregnancy; we feel very, very blessed.
2011
Once Stacie hit 34 weeks, our doctor decided to take her off
the terbutaline and wait to see what would happen. It only took a few days off of the medicine
for Stacie to start back into Labor. We
went back to the hospital when the contractions became closer, and sure enough
she was in labor. Our doctor decided to
give her a shot of terbutaline and monitor the baby to see what would
happen. The contractions slowed down and
they felt ok sending her home on bed rest.
Our goal was to make it to at least 37 weeks so that our sweet baby boy could grow and develop more. We had been counseled many times by the social workers, nurses and our doctor that we needed to be prepared just in case the baby needed to go to the NBICU, because it had been such a hard, stressful pregnancy. It was only about a week later she started having the same type of contractions, so back to the hospital we went. This time, the doctor on call decided to try the shot again to try to stop the labor. When the shot didn’t help, they decided to give her one more shot and monitor us.
It was frustrating, but we knew that the longer she was able to keep the baby inside, the better off he would do. The second shot seemed to help and back home we went with strict orders to stay down.
Our goal was to make it to at least 37 weeks so that our sweet baby boy could grow and develop more. We had been counseled many times by the social workers, nurses and our doctor that we needed to be prepared just in case the baby needed to go to the NBICU, because it had been such a hard, stressful pregnancy. It was only about a week later she started having the same type of contractions, so back to the hospital we went. This time, the doctor on call decided to try the shot again to try to stop the labor. When the shot didn’t help, they decided to give her one more shot and monitor us.
It was frustrating, but we knew that the longer she was able to keep the baby inside, the better off he would do. The second shot seemed to help and back home we went with strict orders to stay down.
The baby had been found to be breech in several follow up visits, and after an ultrasound on the 22nd, the doctor felt it was time to have the baby and scheduled Stacie to have a C-section on the 28th of March. During that same visit, they found that Stacie’s BP had increased to 150/99 mmHg and the doctor ordered some labs to check for any other problems. The following day, Stacie came back in to the hospital to finish her lab work and test. We were instructed to wait at the hospital until the results came back and then we would be told what to do at home. But things changed when after getting the results back they discovered that Stacie had developed HELLP syndrome. HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening liver disorder thought to be a type of severe preeclampsia. HELLP syndrome can be life-threatening for both the mother and the baby, and with Stacie’s increasing blood pressure and medical history, they admitted her right away and planned to have the C-section as soon as possible.
Camden Mark Kennington came three weeks early, but weighed a healthy 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19 ½ inches long. It was a beautiful thing to hear his sweet little cry as it signaled to us that the fight to get him here was finally over. Suddenly the past few years of physical & emotional struggles seemed to diminish as all that mattered was that our perfect little boy was finally here, and he was so dang cute!
The best part was when Payton, who had tried to stay awake throughout the whole ordeal, was finally able to meet his new brother as we wheeled Camden down to the nursery.
Stacie had a rough first night as her body was
still adjusting from the medications given to her earlier for HELLP syndrome and the surgery and she started throwing up. You can imagine how much fun that is when you just had your stomach cut open. During the delivery Stacie remembered hearing the doctors discuss the amount of endometriosis that they could see on her uterus and in her abdomen. There was so much to think about, especially about a hysterectomy, but all that mattered was that Camden was here and we were doing well. We were so happy, our little family was perfect!
We were in heaven with our new little guy, and time seemed
to fly by. He was such a good baby and
Payton was the best big brother. Payton
was constantly around Camden helping to take care of him, holding him and even
reading books and singing songs to him. It seemed that all the stress and
hardship we had just gone through was erased, and happiness was the only thing
we felt. Camden came to our family at a time where we needed it the most. There
is no doubt in our minds that it was a way for our Heavenly Father to show us
that we were not forgotten and that he knew what we needed at the time we
needed it.
During the first few weeks after the birth, Stacie continued to have pain and cramping that came from getting so sick and then having the C-section & it became unbearable. Stacie still continued to follow up with her doctor often and the decision was made that when she had made it to six weeks postpartum, she would have the hysterectomy. This was such a hard decision to make, but with a lot of praying and priesthood blessings from Reed and Stacie’s dad, we felt like this was the only way to stop the disease from progressing and allow Stacie to have somewhat of a “normal” life again.
As the surgery date got closer and closer, it was becoming harder to grasp the thought of losing the ability to ever have another baby, especially the possibility of a daughter, and we started to wonder if we were making the right choice. Deep down, we both knew that Stacie needed to have the Hysterectomy in order for her to hopefully feel better. Our doctor explained all of the benefits and risks to us and the surgery was scheduled for May 9th. Stacie tried to enjoy every minute with her boys and did not take one moment for granted with their new little family.
May 9th came, and it was a day we will never forget. It has been hard to write about and recall all of the details of this tough event in our lives because it has been something so personal, and we have realized that we still have not fully recovered from it yet. We have never gone into too many details with many people and we feel a little vulnerable opening up with so much detail with this part of our lives, but to be honest it has been therapeutic in a way. We have tried to make something of this trial and realize just how lucky we are to be surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends that we could have ever asked for. It is because of their continued love and sacrifice that we have been able to get through all of these trials. We have always known, but now to a larger degree, just how much our faith plays a huge role in the way we choose to look at these trials. We know that the Lord is there for us and will never let us walk alone.
Reed and Stacie’s dad gave her a special priesthood blessing
the night before, that gave her a peace and comfort that she needed to go on
with the surgery. We gave the boys a big
hug and kiss and off we went to the hospital early that morning. It was hard
not to be a little sad, this was a life changing surgery, even though we felt
like our family was complete with our two beautiful boys. The main reason for
this surgery was for Stacie to finally feel good again and for her to feel like
the wife and mother she wanted to be.
Reed already knew she was a wonderful wife and mother, but he wanted her
to feel well again and to able to live the life she deserved to live.
Stacie was brought back and prepped for the surgery; they
even gave her an epidural to help with the pain after. The plan was to try to do a Laparoscopy, but
when they got in there they quickly realized that she would need to be cut open
through her C-section scar because her uterus had adhered to her bladder. They also removed her right ovary and they
were surprised with the amount of endometriosis that had grown. They did their best of getting all of the
endometriosis that they could, but they couldn't get it all. The doctor came
out after and told Reed about the surgery and that it had gone well and that she
would be in the hospital for a few days for them to watch her very
closely. He mentioned that they kept her
left ovary and he hoped that it would prevent Stacie from having to start
hormone replacement therapy.
Originally, the plan was to immediately put an estrogen patch on her to help in regulating her hormones, but since she had so much endometriosis, she would have to be completely off any hormones in order to hopefully kill it off. Endometriosis continues to grow as it feeds off estrogen, so the idea was to limit the amount of estrogen Stacie produced in hopes that it would starve the endometriosis and it would eventually die off. The doctor said he knew it would be really hard for Stacie, but this was the only way to hopefully get rid of it all. He also told Reed he would be in daily to check on her.
Originally, the plan was to immediately put an estrogen patch on her to help in regulating her hormones, but since she had so much endometriosis, she would have to be completely off any hormones in order to hopefully kill it off. Endometriosis continues to grow as it feeds off estrogen, so the idea was to limit the amount of estrogen Stacie produced in hopes that it would starve the endometriosis and it would eventually die off. The doctor said he knew it would be really hard for Stacie, but this was the only way to hopefully get rid of it all. He also told Reed he would be in daily to check on her.
Stacie remembers waking up as she was being wheeled to her
room, and Reed was walking by her side. At the hospital they put their women
post op patients on the Pediatric unit, which also happened to be where she was
admitted many times during her pregnancy and became friends with the nurses
that were going to be taking care of her after this surgery. As the day went on, Reed and Stacie noticed
that her heart rate was slowly increasing and her blood pressure was getting
lower. Reed mentioned it to the nurses,
but they didn't see any immediate danger and were not overly concerned about it. Having worked around critical patients every
day, Reed knew that it wasn’t a good sign and again expressed his concern about
what was happening. They said they would
watch her closely as Reed left to go pick up Payton so that he could come to
see Stacie. Although he was a little
worried to leave, Stacie assured him that she would be ok.
Stacie finished eating her dinner and sat her bed up to pump, when she started to feel like she was going to pass out. Luckily, the night nurses walked into her room right then and asked her if she was ok; we know for a fact she was being watched over. Stacie says she remembers telling them that she was not feeling very good and then the next thing she remembers was seeing white lights. Her blood pressure had dropped to 47/23 and the nurses ran in and kept trying to talk to her & asking her if she was ok. They said that she looked grayish and her pulse was very faint.
They called a rapid response code and all Stacie remembers was that it was like an out of body experience, seeing white lights and thinking “oh no, not now”. She said she couldn't move and all she could do is think about her boys and Reed and that they needed her. They had waited for so long for Camden that this couldn’t be happening! Primary songs were going through her head and she was praying so hard that things would be ok. Meanwhile, lots of people where in her room trying to stabilize her. Her only IV line had blown and they could not get another one in, they were poking all over her arms, hands and even tried to get some into her feet but they could not get another IV started. She said she remembers praying that they could please just get an IV in. They finally decided to try to get an IV in her neck and that finally worked!! They pushed the fluids, and were able to put in another IV in her arm as a backup, but by that point her body had started to shut down.
A few min after they called the code, Reed arrived at the
hospital with Payton, who was so excited to see his mom. We have thought, and cannot imagine, what would have happened if it was Reed and Payton that came
into Stacie’s room and found her first instead of the nurses. Reed said when he called to the nurses
station to give them the code to buzz him in he noticed something was different.
They told him to stay there and that they
would meet him at the door. Reed knew at
that moment that something had gone wrong. The nurse met Reed at the door and
explained that something had happened to Stacie and that she needed to escort
Reed and Payton to another room where she would explain everything. As they
walked passed Stacie’s room, Reed’s heart dropped as he saw Stacie lying in
bed, motionless and with her bed tilted head down. He saw a several nurses in
the room running around and working at her side, her feet and at her head
trying to get a line started in Stacie. It is a scene that Reed was very
familiar with and often experienced working around critical patients.
The nurse took Reed & Payton to a toy room where she explained to Reed what had happened as Payton was playing with the toys. Over the last several months Payton had become very protective of Stacie and would become very worried whenever Stacie was sick or in the hospital. It was all Reed could do to hold back his tears as the nurse went through the events so that Payton would not find out what was happening. Stacie’s mom, Debbie, came to see Stacie right at that moment and remembers passing Stacie’s room and having a very sick feeling. She saw all the commotion around Stacie and then saw Reed talking with a nurse in the next room. By the look on Reeds face she knew something had happened and she started to tear up. But Reed hugged her and told her that we needed to be strong so that Payton would not get scared. It seemed like hours before they allowed Reed to come in to see Stacie while Debbie played with Payton, and when she was awake enough that they felt it wouldn’t scare him, Debbie brought Payton in so he could finally see his mom.
They had our doctor on the phone throughout the entire event and he felt that she was too unstable to take her back into surgery. Instead, they kept her fluids running and took lots of blood work. Her kidneys were not working well and her hematocrit had dropped extremely low. When she was stable enough they sent her down to get a CT scan, of course Reed went with her, to locate where she was hemorrhaging and to check for blood clots in her lungs. It was determined that Stacie had started bleeding internally, most likely coming from one of the surgical staples used to clamp off the artery leading to her ovary coming loose. They started a blood transfusion and she ended up having to have three units of blood to replace the blood she had lost.
The nurse took Reed & Payton to a toy room where she explained to Reed what had happened as Payton was playing with the toys. Over the last several months Payton had become very protective of Stacie and would become very worried whenever Stacie was sick or in the hospital. It was all Reed could do to hold back his tears as the nurse went through the events so that Payton would not find out what was happening. Stacie’s mom, Debbie, came to see Stacie right at that moment and remembers passing Stacie’s room and having a very sick feeling. She saw all the commotion around Stacie and then saw Reed talking with a nurse in the next room. By the look on Reeds face she knew something had happened and she started to tear up. But Reed hugged her and told her that we needed to be strong so that Payton would not get scared. It seemed like hours before they allowed Reed to come in to see Stacie while Debbie played with Payton, and when she was awake enough that they felt it wouldn’t scare him, Debbie brought Payton in so he could finally see his mom.
They had our doctor on the phone throughout the entire event and he felt that she was too unstable to take her back into surgery. Instead, they kept her fluids running and took lots of blood work. Her kidneys were not working well and her hematocrit had dropped extremely low. When she was stable enough they sent her down to get a CT scan, of course Reed went with her, to locate where she was hemorrhaging and to check for blood clots in her lungs. It was determined that Stacie had started bleeding internally, most likely coming from one of the surgical staples used to clamp off the artery leading to her ovary coming loose. They started a blood transfusion and she ended up having to have three units of blood to replace the blood she had lost.
After a couple of days we were finally able to bring Camden in so that Stacie could hold him since she had been asking to see him ever since she had been awake. She was also able to come home after a few more days of monitoring.
The hardest part for Stacie was when she finally realized the severity of what had just occurred. It happened when she got home and had her two boys surrounding her that she realized just how close she had come to not making it and how close she had come to losing her boys and husband. It was almost too much to handle and all that was on her mind. This event caused her to have PTSD and she struggled with that for a while. She even continued to have an extremely low blood pressure and heart rate, especially at night. It got the point that she wouldn’t dare to go back to sleep in fear that she wouldn’t wake up. She would wake Reed up and ask for a priesthood blessing often and that helped calm her down enough for her to sleep.
In June Reed was now to
the point where he was unable to sit, stand or even lay down for a long period
of time without having his legs go numb. It was decided in July that it was
time for a discography of his lumbar spine to look for a cause of his symptoms.
During the test, it was determined that his disc degeneration had progressed
and that there was a problem with his L4-L5 lumbar disc. He had an MRI the next
day & it was confirmed, as well as a spinal cyst was discovered. He met
with his neurosurgeon and they scheduled a surgery in August to have his 3rd
back surgery and 2nd level fused.
In August, we returned once again to the operating room when
the doctor discovered that Stacie had developed a hemangioma that was growing
quickly. The surgery to remove the hemangioma went well and we were relieved
when the pathology came back & that it was benign.
Our opportunities for making hard decisions kept coming as we now had to decide on what we needed to do to help Reed. It was another hard decision we had to make because they knew that an additional surgery could speed up the degenerative disease and could cause more problems for Reed. With all that could go wrong, we still felt that it was the only answer right now to give Reed some relief from his numbness and pain. With careful thought, some wise counsel, and a lot of prayer we proceeded with the surgery and on August 19th, Reed went in for his 3rd back surgery. We quickly found out why we felt so comfortable with our choice to go into surgery as the doctor discovered a surprising reason for Reeds symptoms.
As soon as the surgeon got through the scar tissue and fascia, he found that Reeds’ L4-5 interspinous ligament and all his facet ligaments were completely torn apart and had made that level extremely unstable. He reported that with just a little bit of pressure on his L4 disc the interspinous space would open enough to let his finger slide down to the dura. He was so impressed with how torn it was that he took several pictures of it just so he could show us and have it on record. He also located the cyst compressing on Reed’s spine, but it was hard to remove due to the amount of scar tissue which had grown around it. He was eventually able to remove the scar tissue and cyst, and fuse the levels with screws and bolts. He was confident that the surgery was successful and that it would help Reed feel much better. Reed started to notice the difference with numbness and weakness almost right away, but he was having a lot of pressure around his incision. The pressure continued to increase, and then when it started to bleed, we knew it was a problem.
We called the doctor's office and they tried to ease our fears by telling us that a little blood was normal. It wasn’t until we showed up at the doctor's office and showed them in person that they finally realized just how bad it was. They found that a large hematoma had developed under Reed’s incision and that the pressure was pushing the blood out where the staples were. We kept the staples in for a week longer so that the hematoma would have a chance to resolve and so that incision would not split open under the pressure. After the week, all 35 staples were removed and Reed couldn’t have been happier.
After the staples were removed and swelling started to go down, Reed was starting to feel a little better and we were hopeful things were slowing down for us. But if our past had taught us anything, it was that when things started to go well it often meant that something was just around the corner.
Stacie was still having problems with her blood pressure, her hormone levels, and increasing pain. After consulting with the doctor we determined that the best option for Stacie was to remove the other ovary and see if there was any endometriosis still growing. We were hoping that the endometriosis would be all but gone after the hysterectomy, and that the removal of the ovary would be the final step to get rid of the disease once and for all. So with mixed emotions Stacie had her 11th laparoscopy to remove her left ovary and any remnant of endometriosis found.
We were surprised to learn from the doctor that during the surgery he found that the endometriosis had spread throughout her abdomen and pelvis. It was shocking just how much had grown, especially since Stacie had been off her hormones which should have kept the tissue from growing. The doctor said it looked like a cancer patient or that a bomb had gone off inside her with implants spread everywhere. He had never seen it that severe, especially having a patient who was recently pregnant and off her hormones. He removed as much as he was able to and then removed Stacie’s ovary. The surgery went well, and after a few days Stacie was able to come home.
Since Stacie now had both ovaries removed, she had to start hormone replacement therapy. She was referred to a wonderful hormone doctor to help get her started. They ordered a lot of blood work and tests. When the results came back, we learned that Stacie had even more going on than we had thought. It was then we learned that Stacie had Hasimoto disease, an autoimmune condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid gland, and Sheehan syndrome, a condition in which severe bleeding during or after childbirth causes damage to the pituitary gland. We started to treat and manage the symptoms that Stacie was having, but she still had to go into IV therapy almost twice a week.
After a few weeks, we were allowed to continue to run the treatments at home, and Reed was able to give her IV fluids which saved a lot of time and travel. It also gave Stacie a chance to own her very own IV pole which she loves!!
In Oct, Reed had finally given into the fact that he was not
able to hear things very well. Reed had some hearing problems when he was young
and had to have some tubes put in his ears which helped him hear again. But he
had noticed that he was unable to hear people speak to him and finally went to
see a specialist. They ran a hearing test and found that he did in fact have
some hearing loss. After an MRI and additional testing, they found that he had
conductive hearing loss most likely due to the amount of scar tissue that had
formed on his ear drums. The loss was significant enough that Reed qualifies
for hearing aids, but Reed has yet to decide if he wants to give up his only
excuse to get out of things he is asked to do!!
Having problems with the ears seemed to be shaping up to be a genetic problem, as both Reed & Payton had to have surgery on their ears at a young age. Now Camden wanted in on the fun, and in December, Camden went in for surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He had been having problems with croup and ear infections and the doctor felt that it was time to get the tubes put in to help with the infections. He did great with the surgery and after waking up from the anesthesia he was back to his cheerful happy playful self.
The last few years, particularly this year, had really taken a toll on us. We were left to feel discouraged, broken and tired as we came to the end of the year. But we also realized that it was at this time that we would have been having our hysterectomy if we had not been blessed to have our precious new little boy. We could see the tender mercies that were given to us along the way and that they came at the moments when we didn't know how to go on.
As usual, our wonderfully amazing family and friends were there to pick us up at times when we thought we couldn't do it anymore. We grew stronger as a family and closer to the Lord as our faith had been tried and tested. We feel so extremely lucky to know of the many sacrifices that so many people have made and continue to make in our behalf. The continued love and support that has surrounded us has made us feel stronger and we felt a new found hope that no matter what trials would come our way, we knew we were never going to have to go through it alone. It would be a necessity for what was ahead of us over the next few years.
“The tests of life are tailored for our own best interests,
and all will face the burdens best suited to their own mortal experience. In
the end we will realize that God is merciful as well as just and that all the
rules are fair. We can be reassured that our challenges will be the ones we
needed, and conquering them will bring blessings we could have received in no
other way.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
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