A super technical post + an update

I am still here in Denver plugging away at this IVF thing.  Things are going great except that I miss my girl, my husband and my bed.  Hotel beds are awesome for about 3 days.  The "me time" is great but now I feel pretty yuck and I don't really want and to get out and do anything.  I am trying hard not to mope.  

A little recap of the last few days.  

I had an ultrasound and lab on Tuesday.  All of that still looked good.  I had about 5 follicles on the left and about 9 on the right.  I was told to come back for a recheck on Thursday.  I also had a physical that day.  It seemed unnecessary but what do I know.  They did prick my finger to check a hemoglobin level and mine was a little high.  I was told to drink more water but it should be fine.  I can't not even tell you how much water I am drinking.  I am peeing every 5 minutes it seems.  

On Wednesday I had to go to a class all about the genetic testing (CCS) of our embryos.  I DID NOT want to go.  I was dreading it so much.  I just found out about the class the day before so I was not prepared.  The thought of going and listening to all of the risks and bad things that could happen to our embryos sounded like zero fun.  It took me 3 months to even decide to do the testing.  Sitting through a class that was going to make me doubt my decision was not on my list of things I wanted to do.  

As it turns out the class made me feel better about it.  Imagine that?  They went over the process, we had a little biology lesson and then she answered any questions.  A few things that stood out to me.

• 90% of their patients do CCS.  (A lot of people come here specifically for this testing)
• Less than 1% chance of damage/destruction of the embryo during the biopsy
• Less than 2% chance that an embryo will not survive the freezing/thawing process
• CCS is 95% accurate.  
• 1,200 healthy pregnancies via CCS
• They have had 9 misdiagnoses.  9 embryos that tested normal but they ended up not being normal.  7 of those ended in miscarriage and the other 2 were found at prenatal testing.  

Here is how the process works.  I know this is technical but, to me, it was interesting and it helped me to feel less stressed about the process.  

The day of my egg retrieval is considered day 0.  The eggs are injected with a sperm (ICSI) about 4 hours after the retrieval.  The next day (day 1) I will get a phone call from the embryologist telling me how many embryos were created.  They will then monitor the embryos for the next several days.  When the embryos get to the blastocyst stage (either day 5 or 6) they will then take the biopsy.  Little note here about the blastocyst.  They look for 2 things to determine if an embryo has reached the blastocyst stage.  1) they need to be 80-100 cells and 2) there needs to be differentiation of those cells.  This differentiation is when there becomes a ring of cells around the outside of the embryo which becomes the placenta and a mass of cells in the middle which becomes the baby.  Okay, so the biopsy takes 3-5 cells off of this outer ring.  Once the biopsy is done they freeze the embryos.  

They use a method called flash freezing.  Many years ago they used a method called a slow freeze and the embryo loss rate was 30%.  They have found that flash freezing is much better and the embryos tolerate it well.

Soooooo.  And this is important.  I will then receive a phone call (on day 5 or 6 after the embryos have been biopsied and frozen) telling me how may embryos we had that made it. I will hear from them on day 1 and not again until day 5 or 6.  OMG.  When I first heard this I was worried.  I have always been updated each day on how my embryos are doing.  The more I thought about it the more I came around to this idea.  First of all, hearing every day is a freaking emotional roller coaster.  Just read this post from my third IVF.  And then this one from the very next day.   I was a WRECK.  It seems on day 2 our embryos are never growing super fast and all I ever hear is bad things.  But then on day 3 they are always doing better.  So yeah, we will avoid that roller coaster of emotions.  I will be anxious for those 5 days no doubt.  But I did ask them and they said if all of the embryos arrest earlier than day 5 then they will call me immediately and let me know.  No news during those days is good news!

So that is the process.  I will learn the results of this testing 3 weeks after the test so 4 weeks after my retrieval.  Then I will be able to do a frozen transfer of the embryos that are available.  I can do a frozen transfer 8-12 weeks after my retrieval.

Moving on from that.  I had my recheck of labs and ultrasound yesterday.  Things are still looking good.  5-6 on the left and 8-9 on the right.  I talked to my nurse and she thought I may be on the stimulation meds a day or so longer than we thought.  This is normal but I only have enough meds until Saturday.  They wanted me to bring in my used vials of meds since there can be a little left in the bottom.  They drew up all that was left and were able to get another dose!  That saves be from dropping another grand at the pharmacy.  I still have to get my other medication from the pharmacy so that is what I am going to do as soon as I hit publish.  Drive into downtown Denver and try to find the pharmacy!  Awesome.  

I go back on Saturday morning for another recheck.  We are tentatively looking at an egg retrieval on Tuesday instead of Monday.  Lonnie is just waiting for confirmation before booking his flight.  

Sometimes (like right now after writing this) I feel like this is all so crazy.  There is just so much and it is overwhelming at times.  But, in the end, I know I am doing the right thing for us, for my family.  I would ramble on here about why it is right for us and how bad I want to make Blakely a big sister (and how much I miss that girl!) but then I would just cry and not be able to stop.  These hormones are no freaking joke.  

Again, I really appreciate each and every one of you for reading and supporting me.  I seriously don't know what I would do without this space and the friends I have made here.  All of the prayers, well wishes and good vibes being sent my way are working!  Love y'all!  

Also, feel free to ask any questions.  I am an open book!  Aaaaaaand just a reminder that I am documenting this on insta.gram @mile_high_mama if you want to follow me there.  

Beach recap

If you've been reading this blog for some time then you know that my family does an annual Florida beach trip.  For many years it was just me, my mom, my aunt (Jenni) and Casey (close family friend who is basically fam).  Some years we got to go twice and we would take my grandmother.  I remember when I was finally old enough to go with the girls.  I was so excited!  

2005 was the first year they let me take any pictures.  They hate pictures.  Dumb.  Anyway.  It literally rained the entire week we were there.  So we sat on the balcony tucked under the awning and played cards and drank bloody mary's every single day.  We talked the realty company into letting us stay 2 more days but we had to move to a different condo.  We threw everything into the car and drove next door to get our 2 extra days!  That one is definitely one of the most fun times we've had, even though we didn't get much beach time.  

2009 my cousin Jan started coming with us.  

In 2010 we changed things up a little bit.  When my mom, Jenni and Jan were little their parents brought them to the beach.  A few months before our trip, Jan's dad, my great uncle passed away.  We decided it was time to return the favor and take my Aunt Jerry (Jan's mom) to the beach.  She hadn't been in many many years.  So we made a much bigger girls trip out of it.  We got a large 4 bedroom condo and all 7 of us went.  (recap here)

2011 recap here.

In 2012 we did the unthinkable.  We invited Lonnie!  Ha!  That recap is here.  Pretty sure he is the only male who has or ever will be invited.  Unless, of course, I get pregnant and I have a little man.  :)  

2013 recap here

So that brings us to this year.  My Aunt Jerry couldn't make it.  The drive down is just too tough on her and she will not fly.  Hopefully next year she will feel better about it and want to make it with us.  

The second day there was Mother's Day.  This is my new favorite picture of me and my pea pod.  

2 generations

3 generations

4 generations

Blakely had a ball as can be imagined.  She loved the sand and the beach.  At first she loved the water.  Then she got splashed pretty good and for a day or so she was totally freaked out and would not go near it and did not want any of us to go near it either.  "No Mommy!  Stay up here!"  On about the third day Lonnie and I took a walk with her on the beach.  She realized that she could find seashells if she got a little closer to the water and her fear of the water ended there.  After that, she wanted to kick or jump over every wave when it came in.  We half buried her in the sand, we waved to the helicopters and airplanes that flew over low, we built sand castles, and we made "sand soup".  I really wish we lived closer to a beach!  She still plays with all of the seashells she and Jan collected.  

BIG STRADDLES!

We went to dinner almost every night.  Blakely loved trying new foods and she especially loved learning how to eat fried crab claws.  One night after dinner I wanted to take her out on the beach and get some pictures with my good camera.  I didn't take it to the beach everyday because, hello, sand.  Our dinner lasted a little too long so the lighting wasn't what I wanted and Blakely would NOT stay still but I did get a few that I like.  I also didn't really take many pictures with my phone because I was wrangling a 2 year old.  Lonnie only went to the beach a few times because he was still feeling rough and the medication he was on made him very sensitive to the sun. But he did make it down some so we at least have one picture of all three of us!  

wild woman

She napped loooooong every day and she slept in the pack n play at night.  She is too big for it but since she was so tired she just passed out right when we put her down.  

She slept in a pull up at night but woke up dry every day we were there.  She typically does that when she isn't in her own bed.  I thought when we got home we would go for it and try night time in panties.  But then I was leaving just a few days after we got home from the beach and I didn't want to leave my mother in law with possible dirty sheets in the mornings.  We will try later this summer.  

All in all it was a great trip, as usual.  Blakely did really well on the 10+ hour drive.  Lonnie still felt pretty bad until the end of the trip but at least he got to rest and relax.  I think that helped him to heal.

This picture is sooooo out of focus but it is the only one I have of everybody!  

My mom rode down there and back in the back seat with Blakely.  We hadn't even left my mom's driveway after dropping her off when the trip was over and Blakely went hysterical.  We literally had to turn around so she could give GranDi "once more hug and tiss".  She DID NOT want to leave GranDi.  It was so sweet.  I look forward to going again next year!  Or maybe again this August?  :)

Girl's Day

The Thursday before I left to come to Denver, Blakely and I had a girl's day.  I had about a million things I needed to do to get ready for my trip but I blew it all off and focused on my girl all day long.  Which is probably why I was up all night Firday night preparing everything for me and for them while I was gone.  Worth it.  

I told Blakely that we were going to have a super special day but I didn't tell her what we were going to be doing.  I told her it was all a surprise because, of course, she loves surprises.  

The day started off with a big bubble bath.  

After her bath I got her dressed and told her the first thing we were going to do was to go get fitted for some new tennis shoes.  She has needed new ones for about a month and I have been putting it off.  

We all know my girl loves shoes so she wanted about 5 pairs but we settled on these colorful ones.  Hopefully they will last through the summer.

When we left there she asked where we were going.  We drove for a while and when I was in the turning lane about to turn into the bowling alley, I stopped and asked her if she saw something fun we could do.  I snapped some pics of this little scenario.  

We took her bowling for the first time on my birthday a few months back and she talks about it a lot.  Every time we dive by there she wants to go in.  We had a blast.  She calls it the "bowling ball game".  She isn't as concerned with knocking down the pins as she is with rolling the ball as many times as possible.  

Miss Independent wanted to carry the balls by herself.  

Then we ate some greasy bowling alley food for lunch.  It was awful and awesome at the same time.    

After that it was getting close to nap time but I had another place I wanted to take her.  When we pulled in the parking lot I told her we were going to get her toenails painted by a professional.  She kept saying, "Mommy?"  I was like no.  This is where Mommy goes to get her toenails painted.  Oh!  I wasn't sure how she would do.  She is a total wiggle worm when I paint her nails.  I didn't want to do the whole pedicure the first time.  I wanted to see how it went first.  It went well.  She picked out orange first but at the last minute she changed her mind to neon pink.  She has showed them off to anyone that will look.  We will definitely be doing this again when I get home.  

We ended the day with family movie night, her pick.  All day she said she wanted to watch Froz.en.  But, my indecisive little thing, changed her mind to The Littl.e Mer.maid at the last minute.  Like riiiight when Frozen got started.  Ha!  

It was a great day.  At one point she told me that she really liked girl's day and wanted to do it again.  I can't wait to get back so we can plan another girl's day together!  

Here we go.

IVF #6 is officially underway.  

It actually started while I was at the beach since I started taking some medications there.  But the hard core stimulation meds started last Thursday.  I arrived in Denver Saturday and I will be here for 12 or so days.  This post is going to be a bit technical but I want to document the details and this is my place for documenting!  

My protocol this time around is different from any that I have ever done.  My previous 5 attempts were all basically the same.  Take birth control pills for a month or so.  Take lupron towards the end of the bcp's.  Stop bcp's.  Have a period and then start stimulations meds.  

This time around we skipped the birth control.  The reason you take that is basically to suppress all your hormones, mainly estrogen.  I have felt like my body doesn't respond right away to the stimulation meds the last 2 IVF's because maybe I am too suppressed?  Or maybe since I was so suppressed it took my body a few extra days to kick into to gear?  Anyway, no birth control pills this time.  This time I...

-had a period.  

-tested for ovulation 

-then started taking medication 10 days after ovulation.  

-had another period right at the time my body would normally have a period

-then started taking the medication that stimulates your ovaries to produce lots of follicles. 

To me it seemed more in line with what my body is already trying to do on a monthly basis.  I don't know?

Here is the rundown of my medications.  

-On Thursday May 15th I started taking Estra.diol (a pill) morning and night.  

-On Friday May 16th I started taking Cetro.tide (injection) in the evening

-On Sunday May 18th I stopped taking Cetro.tide

-On Tuesday May 20th I stopped taking Estra.diol

-On Wednesday May 21st I had an ultrasound and labs at home to make sure I didn't have any cysts on my ovaries and to make sure my estrogen, LH and progesterone were normal. (It was all good)

-On Thursday May 22nd I started taking Meno.pur (2 vials, injection) in the morning before 830 and Foll.istim (300 units, injection) in the evening, 12 hours after the Meno.pur and a dexametha.sone tablet before bed.  I will continue this medication everyday until it is time for retrieval.  

When we got the results of my appointment Wednesday we frantically booked my flight and my hotel room.  We didn't want to do it before just in case everything got postponed.  Luckily there was still a direct flight and I got a great deal on a hotel for being a patient of this clinic.  

I had my first lab and ultrasound here in Denver yesterday.  Everything looked good and I go back on Tuesday morning for another check.  I had about 5 follicles on my left ovary with a couple smaller ones that may or may not catch up.  And I had about 7-9 follicles on my right ovary.  They are all around the same size and that is really good.  We want them to grow at the same rate so we can get the highest number of mature eggs possible.  

A major thing that is different this time is that we are not doing a fresh transfer.  That is what we have always done.  That is where 3-5 days after the embryos are made the best ones are put back into the uterus.  This time, we are having all the embryos cultured until day five (5 days after retrieval) and then they will be frozen and genetically tested.  Once those results come back we will do a frozen transfer with the "best" embryos (not genetically abnormal).  This was a major source of stress for me that last few months, basically since we came out for testing in March.  They recommended we have this testing (called CCS).  Lonnie thought we should.  I didn't want to do it.  Here were my reasons why.  

• We have only ever had 3 embryos make it to day 5.  Blakely and 2 that were frozen on her cycle.  (We have had 8 embryos total, ever)  The thought of going through all of this and none making it to day 5 and being left with nothing makes me want to vom.  
• I didn't like not having the opportunity to transfer them on day 3 if they weren't growing well.
• I have always heard/thought frozen success rates were lower than fresh success rates
• I just felt like it was another major thing for the embryos to have to be put through that could harm them or destroy them.  Case in point...one of the embryos that made it to day 5 to be frozen during Blakely's cycle "disintegrated" during the freezing process.  Yeah...

Here were the counter points to my points (per Lonnie, my nurse and my doctor, Dr. S)

• They have one of the best labs in the country.  This was one of the reasons we decided to come here.  We felt like they could do more with whatever I gave them.  So hopefully they could culture the embryos "better" and more would make it to day 5.  (Lonnie)
• This clinic actually has better frozen success rates than fresh success rates.  (nurse and Dr. S)  Now, part of that is because they do this testing so they are only transferring genetically normal frozen embryos.  But if the reason we have had failures was due to genetically abnormal embryos then at least we would know.  (Lonnie and Dr. S)  Also, Dr. S feels like the body is not as well prepared to accept an embryo after just going through weeks of hormones and then a surgery.  He feels like a month or two after the retrieval when the body is back to normal it is better equipped to accept a pregnancy.  
• They have actually never damaged an embryo with this process.  And, not only that, it is extremely rare for them to lose an embryo during the freezing or thawing process.  My nurse couldn't even recall a time it had happened.  (nurse and Dr. S)
• One of the main reasons we changed clinics was because we wanted something different.  This is something different along with other things this cycle.  We need to trust their expertise.  That is why we chose them.  (Lonnie)

Lonnie left it up to me to decide and I decided to do the CCS testing.  I literally waited until the absolute last day possible to notify my nurse of this.  I just kept going back and forth.  But, in the end, I decided on the CCS testing.  I feel like Lonnie is right when he said we came here to trust the experts and to try something different.  I also have faith in their lab that they can get me some good day 5 embryos and this will all work out.  I told myself once I made the decision that I was not going to look back so that is what I am doing.  No what if's and no shoulda, woulda, coulda's.  This was the decision and we are going with it.  Now let's get lots of good quality eggs that can turn into good quality embryos!  

I am feeling pretty good.  I have headaches but I always do when I am on hormones.  I had one every single day I was pregnant with Blakely.  I can already feel my ovaries aching a little bit but nothing painful just something I am aware of.  I really like the place I am staying.  There is a lot of shopping nearby and that is what I did all day today.  Lots of Memori.al Day sales!  I know after a few more days I won't feel like doing anything but laying around or sleeping so I am exploring my area while I feel good.  I have a kitchen so I went to the grocery store so I wouldn't have to eat out every meal.  Although I have already seen so many new-to-me restaurants that I must try!  I brought some books and will probably find a bookstore and get more.  So far everything is good!  I am not too bored yet!  Ha!  I am sure that will come.  

Of course I miss Blakely and Lonnie like crazy already.  I know they miss me too.  I have already gotten quite a few sweet texts from the husband and I've talked to B a few times.  I can tell she is trying to be big girl.  I told her to take care of Daddy while Mommy was gone and she said, "don't worry, Mom.  I will."  Swoon.  

Also, I have decided to document this little trip of mine with a new Ins.tagram account.  I wanted to be able to update my friends and family without having to send a bunch of texts each day.  Plus, it gives me something to do!  If you would like to follow along the account is @mile_high_mama 

First trip to the dentist!

The week before we left for Florida Blakely had her first appointment with the dentist!  I was a little nervous and had been putting it off for months.  But recently she became really good with brushing her teeth and actually wanting to do it multiple times a day (thank you Bubb.le Gup.pies).  So I bit the bullet and made the call.  

We talked about it a little the week of the appointment but nothing too major.  I actually had an appointment to get a filling fixed a few days before her and I told her all about it and made it sound like a freaking carnival.  I certainly didn't show her this picture of me with fear written all over my face.  

I survived.  

She jumped right up in the chair and when Ms. Tammy laid it back she said "this is so fun!"  I think Ms. Tammy was expecting to only count her teeth and be done but since Blakely was so good she got to do the full exam. 

They brushed them, polished them, flossed them and even took X-rays.  Then Dr. Brien came over to check them out.  

He told her she had perfect teeth and then let her pick out a new toothbrush, toothpaste and a toy from the toy box.  

I took Shannon's advice and showed her some yo.utube videos on our way there.  She loved them.  I really think this is what helped us to be successful at the dentist.  She knew what to expect.  From the chair to the water sprayer she knew what was coming.  Another thing I think that helped was that I just sat over in my chair and didn't enter in.  I didn't really tell her what to do I just let Ms. Tammy talk to her.  She usually listens to other people better anyway!  A few times when she glanced at me I would open my mouth really wide so she would do the same and she did.  

In between brushing and flossing, Blakely looked over at me and said "I being a big girl, Mommy".  My heart just melted.  I was so proud of her.  Not just because she was being good at the dentist but because she is my little girl.  Not my baby.  My sweet little girl that is growing up so fast right before my eyes.  

Hello there! And a survey...

Hi peeps!  Ahhhh.  It feels good to be home.  Don't get me wrong, the beach was great but there is just something about sleeping in your own bed.  We had a great time which you know I will recap in a post all its own.  Lonnie is finally feeling back to normal.  He was still sick through most of our vacay but I am just thankful he is back to normal today.  It took him some time to recover all of his strength but I sent him off to work today in a good mood and he was ready to tackle this long crazy stretch he has coming up.  

I am busy unpacking, doing laundry, organizing everything so the house won't fall apart while I am gone and getting everyone in line who is going to help take care of Blakely (and Lonnie!) while I am out of town.  I'm a little nervous....

I have so much blog catching up to do.  I left my phone dead for many days while we were away and I didn't really get on the computer much so I am so behind.  Hoping to catch up today!  

I have a few posts I want to get up this week so hopefully that will happen.  But for today I decided to post this little survey that I saw on Shannon's blog yesterday.  Blakely answered each question and she thought is was so fun and wanted me to ask her more questions when we were through.  So I came up with a couple more at the bottom. 

Name:  Bakey Ann Wite (At least we've moved on from Boppy)

Age:  2

Favorite Color: Orange.  NO!  Pink

Favorite Toy:  Grocery cart

Favorite TV Show:  Mickey

Favorite Fruit:  Apples

Favorite Breakfast Food:  Eggs in a hole  (every single morning)

Favorite Lunch:  Sandwich  (which she pronounces "sammich")

Favorite Snack:  Apples

Favorite Drink:  Apple juice (???)

Favorite Animal:  Horse

Best Friend:  Mommy  

Favorite Thing to Do:  Play with my toys

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up:  A grown up (Ha!)

Favorite Thing to Wear:  Shoes

Which Shoes:  Princess shoes (I have no idea which ones those are)

Favorite Song:  Head Shoulders Knees and Toes  (We have to sing it slow, medium and then super fast!)

Favorite Book:  Tiger Book (Thanks Bridget!)

Favorite Flavor of Ice Cream: Pink  (means strawberry)

Favorite Thing About the Beach:  SAND TOYS!  

Apparently she likes apples and apparently someone is sneaking her some apple juice!  Hope everyone is having a great Monday.

My honey.

I just typed out this post in about 15 minutes this morning.  I haven't really even re-read it.  It is quite wordy and medical.  If you are like my friend, Sarah, then you totally shut down when medical terminology is used (although she is getting better since she married a nurse!)  So, I put a small summary at the bottom if you just want to skip to that.  Hoping this makes sense!

This is so completely random.  I will start from the beginning.  

When I got home Friday night at 2 am Lonnie had accidentally locked me out.  He had to come upstairs and unlock the door for me.  When we went back down to bed he was shivering and said he had the chills.  He sleeps with no sheets or blankets so I knew this was weird.  I covered him up and turned the heat up.  I knew he had a fever because he was so hot.  The next morning he woke up to go to work, took some Tyl.enol and felt better. In fact he felt good so we went on with our plans to go have a fun family day.  

About half way through our great day I could tell he was uncomfortable.  He mentioned that his muscles were hurting, mainly his neck and his back.  Like I said before, I thought he just slept wrong.  He went on home while I took B for ice cream.  

While we were watching the movie that night he was moaning and groaning pretty frequently.  His fever had returned earlier in the day and Ty.lenol was not getting it to go down.  As he progressively got worse we started to get a little bit worried.  He kept saying that his back and neck hurt so bad and this is coming from the guy who never complains about pain.  He has had a few injuries since I have known him and he just has a high tolerance for pain.  Around 8:00 pm is when he told me to call my mom to watch B so he could go get checked out in the ER.  I tried not to freak the eff out but I'm pretty sure I failed.  I knew that if he thought he should get checked out then he was really feeling worse than I even knew and he was worried.  

Saturday night in the ER....no bueno

At this point I think we were both worried about it being meningitis or something and giving it to Blakely.  That was our main concern heading in to the ER.  He had a fever, chills and severe muscle pain.  None of which was getting better with medication.  They worked him up and everything was normal.  We were there only a couple of hours but he was so uncomfortable.  I have never seen him like that.  

Keep in mind.  He was on call all weekend.  So he worked Saturday but Sunday he felt so awful he decided he wasn't going to go in unless they called with an emergency.  Thankfully they didn't.  He was worse Sunday.  Still had the fever and severe muscle pain.  

Monday morning rolls around and he heads to work.  He told me that morning that his muscles were very weak.  It was hard for him to move his hands and arms.  At about 11 he called me from his cell phone.  Something he never does from work.  He told me he had called his partner in (from his vacation!) and he left work and was headed to see our doctor.  He couldn't hold the wires and needles for his cases.  He said that his muscle weakness had gotten much worse over the last few hours.  

They ran some labs and then Lonnie came home to wait for the results.  Dr. W called and said that one of his labs (CK) that measures the breakdown of muscles was high.  (It was not high yet when we were in the ER)  He wanted him to hydrate as much as possible and come back in the morning for repeat labs.  They were thinking it was some sort of myositis (inflammation of the muscles...this can be caused by about a million different things).  But there were also a few scarier things that it could be and if the labs were abnormal the next day we would start ruling those out.  

That afternoon and evening we started to get really worried.  In 15 years Lonnie has never missed a single day of work.  He laid on the couch and shivered and groaned all evening just getting worse.  The next morning (yesterday) he could barely get out of bed.  He hurt so much and his muscles just would not work, they were so weak.  He forced himself to get in the shower thinking it would make him feel better.  He had to go to work!  I got up as he was trying to brush his teeth. Trying and failing.  He couldn't even squeeze the toothpaste out.  I told him there was no way he was going to work.  Absolutely not.  My foot was down.  He agreed and called his partner who knew he may not be able to make it.  

Once that was settled we sat down to figure out what in the hell to do.  We were getting worried about a couple of really serious illnesses.  I mean how random to have rapid onset of severe muscle pain, muscle weakness and a fever?  He called one of the neurologists and he agreed to see him immediately.  I drove him up there and the neurologist worked him over.  They ordered a few tests and ran a few tests in the office.  The one they ran in the office ruled out the most serious illness (Guillain-Barre).  It would have been really random for him to have that so I was happy to know it wasn't that.  We moved on to the MRI to rule out the next most serious illness.  Right after it was done Lonnie went and looked at it and it was normal.  Wonderful.  Then we went for more labs.  

We were at the hospital all morning.  Once we were done there we went to our regular internal medicine doctor...let's call him Dr. W, the one Lonnie saw the day before.  We talked to him about things and the labs still weren't back.  He sent us home and the plan was for him to call us with the results.  If his CK was higher then he wanted to admit him to the hospital.  The problem with high CK is that it can build up in your kidneys and cause kidney failure.  So they would want him in the hospital to pump him full of fluids to try and prevent that.  Dr. W made me feel a little better while we were there.  He told me that this is not a mystery.  He still thinks it is an infectious myositis and rhabdomyolysis.  We just don't know what caused it.  

We came home and waited.  Dr. W called a little later and said that his CK had gone up significantly.  Like more than quadrupled.  BUT!  He had talked to an infectious disease specialist and since his kidney function labs were normal she thought it would be okay to recheck the labs in the morning (Wednesday).  As long as he hydrated as much as possible and went to the ER if he got any worse.  

This made me nervous but going to the hospital didn't sound all that awesome either.  I made him lay on the couch all evening and forced him to drink a ton of water and Gat.orade.  When he woke up yesterday morning he felt a little better.  That was the first time since this started that he wasn't getting worse.  His labs came back yesterday and his CK had gone up but only slightly.  Dr. W thinks that he has plateaued and is turning the corner.  So we go back in a few minutes for another recheck and HOPEFULLY it will have started to come down.  

He was definitely feeling better yesterday afternoon.  He still can't write his name with a pen or text (his fingers just will not work right) but he does not have as much pain and he feels somewhat stronger.  I am so so happy he is starting to feel better.  We are supposed to leave for the beach soon!  Now that he is on the mend (please let that be the case) we are still planning on going.  I have been on hold with packing and getting things ready because I wasn't sure it was going to work out.  And I've also been super busy taking care of him and driving him to all these places and just stressing out about his illness in general.  So now I have to get on it!  

I love this husband of mine so very much.  We had a few scary days there but I am glad we are past that.  I respect him so much for being such a hard worker.  He has told the partner that worked for him a hundred times how much he appreciates it.  He keeps telling me things that we need to get or do for the doctors that helped him and took care of him.  He has told them numerous times how grateful he is to have them.  He just does not like being the patient!  I am so thankful for his partner that came in to work for him this week.  If he had been out of town I don't know what we would have done!  We may never know what caused this.  More than likely it was just the way his body reacted to a virus that he had.   Who knows.  All I know is that I am happy he is getting better!  His official diagnosis is infectious myositis (inflammation of the muscles caused by an infectious process and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of the muscle tissue).  

*short version*  Lonnie started having severe muscle pain and weakness along with a fever 5 days ago. We spent a few scary days worrying that it could be something life-altering since he only continued to get worse.  We have been in and out of the doctors office for tests and planning to be admitted to the hospital but, thankfully, we have avoided that.  Yesterday was the first day he felt a little bit better.  We are going back for more labs this morning and hoping that he is on the mend!  His diagnosis is infectious myositis (inflammation of the muscles caused by an infectious process) and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of muscle tissue).  So freaking random.