Team Work

It's been nearly 2 weeks since the first Chicken Pox symptoms. Ron has improved tremendously and we are so thankful! He is still weak and frustrated by his lack of strength and ability to do what he would like to - especially with things piling up!

We are all pitching in and helping as much as we can! The kids and I did some yard work on Saturday to help him out. It made him a little frustrated that we "had" to do it, but I think he was pleased to have it done.

Then yesterday I filled the pulpit at both of our churches. It was very nerve wracking, but Jesus really helped. If nothing else, it definitely gave me a new appreciation for all that Ron does for his Sermon preps and all that he goes through on Sunday's!

We were so thankful that Ron's mom was able to come for those couple of days! It was a treat for the kids and a blessing for me! I have great in-laws!

We are relaxing on this Labor Day and looking ahead to a very busy week of catch up!

Thank you to so many of you who have carried us in prayer during this past month of illness in our family. We hope and pray that it is all behind us!

Praise the Lord, even for small Improvement

Praise the Lord for continued improvement.

Ron's mom decided to leave yesterday after the kids got home from school. Ron was doing better and things seemed to be much more manageable on my end. Ron was able to sit at the table for supper and then sat all evening in his chair (he hadn't done that since Wednesday evening).

We are also praising the Lord for sleep. Ron finally slept through the night last night - Thank you Jesus! He slept well and when I returned from taking the kids to school this morning, he had gotten up and showered on his own and was eating breakfast, again at the table! He was weak though and was soon back to the chair.

He is still very weak, still has a lot of leg pain, but as I mentioned seems to be improving.

He got to the table again for lunch today which makes a full 3 meals in a row, we missed him around the table!

He is frustrated. It is hard for him to be down at all, but now that he is improving (even if only a little) he wants to get to all that needs to be done! Please pray for patients for him! Pray for peace and no frustration. Jesus knows all that needs done and in His time it will get accomplished! Pray that I can be an encouragement!

Thank you for praying for our family!

Chicken Pox

If you've ever heard that adults get chicken pox worse than kids, let me just say - It's True! My handsome hubby is proof!

On Wednesday of last week Ron was feeling pretty yucky. He had flu like symptoms and just over all felt yuck, additionally he had what appeared to be blisters in his mouth. Then Wednesday evening we noticed a small little blister on his wrist. He thought it was from his watch rubbing. By Thursday morning he couldn't get out of bed. He was very weak and extremely miserable. I got him an appointment and by the time he got dressed to go to the doctor, he had blisters all over his chest. The doctor confirmed the diagnosis and started him on an antiviral and a pain medication. We came home and he spent the day on the couch, feeling crappy.

He didn't sleep much at all on Thursday night and by Friday morning things had gotten much worse. He had blisters developing very rapidly but the worst was chest pain. He was complaining of some serious chest pain. I was concerned and called the doctor again. I wanted to make sure this was something normal. The doctor was also concerned and wanted to see him right away for an EKG. So back to the doctor we went!

The EKG was normal and it was determined that the blisters were not only in his mouth, but down his esophagus and in his stomach. Yuck!

So home again with different meds and advice that we will need to allow this nasty virus to run it's course.

The rest of the day Ron spent on the couch and even the night. I slept in the chair nearby as he was so weak. Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep. If he had improved at all on Friday, (and that's a big IF) by morning things were once again worse. This time he was unable to keep anything, including meds down. He couldn't stand without my help and was very unsteady when he did get up!

It was early Saturday morning, but I knew I couldn't get through the day without help. I called Ron's mom and asked if she was still willing to come. She got on the road right away. Then I called Cathy, a very good friend, and asked her for help. I needed to get the kids out of the house - Ron was complaining of a bad headache and they were not helping it at all. Cathy took the kids to her house and about 30 minutes later I took Ron to the ER. He still couldn't keep anything down and he was so weak.

We were taken back right away and the doctor order a chest x-ray, blood work and got him started in an IV with pain and nausea meds. Ron was really out of it and couldn't answer any questions they were asking - it was very scary! Before long the pain meds helped him relax and finally get some sleep and the fluids helped too. The doctor said he was very dehydrated. The chest x-ray was clear and proved there were no blisters in his lungs (thank the Lord), the blood work checked out OK too. We were at the hospital for several hours, but by the time we were going home Ron was much improved. He was able to talk in complete sentences to the doctor and although he couldn't walk all the way to the van, he was looking much better.

We got home, and got settled before his mom arrived and the kids came back too. Just in time for me to collapse!

On Thursday when Ron was diagnosed, we decided I would do my best to fill his shoes on Sunday at our churches. After our Friday night and Saturday, I knew there was no way I could be prepared! We have some wonderful lay leaders and speakers that were willing to step up at the very last minute! I'm so thankful for our church family!

Sunday morning I took the kids and after missing 3 weeks was finally able to return to church -it wasn't the same though with Ron missing. Frances (Ron's mom) stayed with him. There was small improvement on Sunday, but still not able to keep food down. He was still so weak. We wonder now if perhaps the reaction was due to all the medication. Ron isn't big on meds, so when he does take them he tends to react pretty strongly.

Then Monday again there was still small improvement. A lot of head, neck and shoulder pain, which made us wonder if there were more internal pox that were causing it. He still couldn't get comfortable to sleep much, but we slowly began to see him improve.

Today again was small improvement. Tonight he is complaining of some sharp pains in his leg (we'll wait to diagnosis that)! He is however off the couch and onto the chair tonight for the first time in 5 days, and even attempting to read the paper as I type this!

We are thankful for small improvements and thankful that although it has been a very hard, emotional and painful couple of days - Jesus has protected Ron from serious long term injuries! He will recover from this and we are thankful!

There are mixed diagnosis as to where Ron got the chicken pox. Some doctors say that I could have given it to him, from the shingles. Other doctors say it would be a first they have seen in their careers. We have heard of other cases of chicken pox going around right now (even though it is not the typical season), but will probably never really know whether it was coincidence or I am the first EVER to give my husband chicken pox! (Not somthing I am proud of)!

The kids seem to be clear so far. The older 2 have both had 2 immunizations and should be fine. The younger 2 have had 1 of 2, so they too should be OK. It is possible for any of them to get them, but not likely that it will be bad or perhpas even that we will know if they do!

We aren't sure why we have been under attack as far as our health is concerned, but we are very ready to be healthy and have all 6 of us healthy!

I'll keep you posted as we continue to heal in the Adkins Home!

Out from Under our Hole!

If you frequent the Adkins Family Blog, you know the past couple of weeks have been anything but normal around here! Life has been so insane and I'll be honest with you this is one momma who is ready for school to begin and the lack of routine of summer to be behind us! We need some normalcy back in this house!

Nine of the last 13 days has found one of our family members at the doctor. That's not the kind of normalcy I like! I thought last week was bad, but the chaos just continued to this past week.

I think, although I'm a little scared to say this, that we are now ALL on the road to recovery.


Miraculously enough Maddie has remained unscathed by any of this. She is healthy and energetic and full of life!

I just love this picture!

Daddy (aka Ron) has been relatively healthy too! He has had some allergies issues, but has not been the one making trips to the doctor! He was asked to do a funeral this past week with an unchurched family. We continue to be amazed how the Lord puts new people in our paths! Ron has been asked to do 17 funerals in the last 3 years. Although these are not easy to do, we sense the Lord using him in mighty ways to minister to families grieving and in many cases seeking so much more!

Nathaniel too seems to be doing pretty good. We took him to urgent care last weekend and it was a virus not pink eye! He improved relatively quickly and was back outside in no time! His yearly exam was this past week and he did great with that too! He and Ronnie are both 51 1/4 inches tall, but Nathaniel has 5 lbs on his big brother!

Ronnie went to his PT follow up appointment yesterday and got a great report. Brenda, his Physical therapist, said that she could already tell improvement and praised him on how well he's done his exercises. He is strengthening this legs and she could tell. She sent him home with some of the same and some new exercises and said she would like to see him in another 6 weeks to keep track of how he's doing!

Eli was our crazy man this week. He broke out Tuesday evening with a rash that according to books and grandparents appeared to be chicken pox! By morning it looked more like hives to me, but I thought we better check with the doctor. By Wednesday evening he was broke out everywhere and by Thursday morning he was beginning to improve. The doctor did blood work to try to determine what was going on and after several days of assuming I was one of very few (if any) parents who had ever given their children chicken pox - the doctors office called and said, "No Chicken pox, must be a virus"! Eli and his viruses! He's got to stop this. He is much better and hopefully we can keep him that way!

My shingle pain is 100% better than last week and I am very grateful! Some of you have asked about the rash, it remains and I'm told by some could be as long as years before it's completely gone - who knows!

Then today I was diagnosed with both strep and an ear infection. Apparently my immune system is way down due to the shingles and that explains it. All I know is that I am ready for routine and not the kind that includes trips to the clinic!

We hope that things, not only on this blog, but in our crazy household will get back to "normal" soon! One thing I can't seem to get over is the fact that if we had moved this August, as planned - we had no plan for insurance. We would not have been covered for all of this.

Praise the Lord for His provision!

There is good to be found in all circumstances!