Taylor

I apologize in advance that this post is really long.

So this past week was Spring Break at UVU. It is the first time I have had spring break in four years. It was soooo nice to not have to go class. Unfortunately Karl didn't get a break. He still had to be responsible and go to school. So for spring break I went home to Nevada to visit my family and try to help out with everything that was going on. So for those who didn't get the whole story I thought I'd do an update on how Taylor is doing. At least what I know, which isn't tons.

In 2008 Taylor was diagnosed with Celiac disease (which means he can't eat glutten which is in flour and makes things hard) and Graves disease (hyperthyroidism). This all happened just before me and Karl got married and on top of that Tay ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. My parents are amazing for pulling all that off. Anyways, Tay has been on medicine to try and regulate his thyroid but whenever he goes on meds to slow it down he would flip to hypothyroidism, so they would try to speed it up and he would go back hyper. His turn over rate was way faster than it should be so they decided to try and do radioactive iodine (hereafter refered to as RI) therapy to just kill his thyroid so it would be easier to regulate his condition.

He was able to get this done last week while I was down there. I am such a nerd. I thought it was so cool that I got to watch Tay's scan and practice taking heart rates and blood pressures that weren't 120/80. That was a little scary though. Tay's heart rate was around 120 every time I took it and his blood pressure it was around 160/70. But I am really starting to think that I like nursing so that is good. Anyways.We went into Vegas on Wednesday to do a scan, then again Thursday morning for another one. After waiting around for a few hours (good thing March Madness had started) they were able to give him the RI to kill the thyroid. The dose was just low enough that he could come home (29.9 mg and max dose is 30 mg). He would just have to stay in his room so he wouldn't contaminate everyone else.

We got him home and he was doing really well. Then on Friday he started dry heaving (apparently nausea is a very rare side effect that no one told us about and Tay was lucky enough to get it). He wouldn't eat or drink anything. He just layed in bed all day (which is not normal for Tay. He didn't even want to play America's Funniest Home Videos, which is his favorite game.) By the end of the day he was throwing up, still wouldn't eat and ended up in the hospital. He came back Saturday morning super hydrated from being on an IV all night. He did a lot better, even managed a bite of apple sauce. But then that night he started throwing up again. All night. In the morning my dad was trying to get him to drink something. He told that that if he didn't drink and eat his ice chips he was going to have to go to the hospital. Tay just looked at him and said "Dad, those are two really bad choices." So he ended back in the hospital to stay Sunday afternoon.

But after being in there he started doing a lot better. They were able monitor him, keep an IV in so he wouldn't throw up everytime he took a sip of water, and give him meds to slow his heart rate and regulate his blood pressure. The official diagnosis--Thyrotoxicosis. Not for sure what that is but I am assuming he has toxic levels of thyroid hormones. Once they figured that out they were able to help him more.

He had to stay a little longer than expected because his blood pressure wouldn't stabalize but he is home now. Just got back this afternoon. He really is such a special kid. He never complains. Whenever I would ask how he was feeling it was either "Just great" "I feel better now (even when his didn't)" or "I'm ok". When he was constantly throwing up he just kept telling my mom that he was so sorry. I am so grateful he is a part of my family. He is just amazing.

So he is home now and he is doing a lot better. It was quite the Sping Break. I'm hoping the next one isn't quite as eventful.