Thank Goodness for Great Neighbors!

June 27, 2010

Dear Family,

This week's been so exciting, it leaves us longing for a boring life! Maddie was gone to Girls Camp for the week, and the bishopric and wives were invited down the last night for dinner and bishop's fireside. Spencer had been sick all week, we all had dentist appt.s throughout the week, and I, was the ONLY one w/ a cavity (which would make it seem that regular brushing is detrimental!!) Brian's “Check Engine” light had come on (just in time to pass his emissions), and I was rather looking forward to a long night out together. The bishop had offered to drive all of us together, so off we went Thursday afternoon to drive past Evanston, WY, 2 hours away, to the cabin the girls were staying in.

Brent felt okay about staying home in charge, and I had called a few neighbors to let them know we'd be far away (and maybe out of cell phone range), so I left their #'s with Brent along w/ supper and a show, and we took Lucy w/ us. We made it to camp all right, saw happy Maddie right in the thick of things, having a fabulous time, ate, and then got a call from our neighbor telling us Anne had just had a seizure, and the ambulance, etc. was there ready to take her to the hospital. I felt like I may as well have been on another planet hearing the news, for as far off as we were! What could we possibly do 2 hours away, and the bishop needed to give his fireside, etc.??!!! We are SOOOO grateful for so many wonderful neighbors that we were able to rely on!!! We DID all leave camp, fireside rescheduled, and got back in time to basically check Anne out of the hospital. Brian's brother had gotten to the hospital to be with her too. It turns out she was just playing with Emily—being dragged on a towel around the house, and fell back on hit her head. Just like her first seizure last January, she started crying really hard, went to catch her breath at one point, couldn't, and then started slight convulsing. DEAR Brent immediately RAN (four sidewalk squares at a time, he later told me!) down to our neighbor Robin, who I knew would be home, and she got here and had Brent call 911, and had Emily run get our neighbor Dean across the street. The Merritts soon joined in, and even a couple of other brothers about to go home teaching, and there was soon quite a crowd w/ 2 cops, the ambulance, and a fire truck. By the time the paramedics arrived, her seizure was over, and she was having her own (healthy) fit over being strapped to a board. We tried (over the phone) seeing if our neighbor could just be the one to drive her, but the EMT's had to finish the job at that point, so off she went (alone!!) in an ambulance, with neighbor Robin following behind, and Dean (and later Heidi) staying here with the other children. Once the medical team heard she hit her head, they treated everything pretty seriously, but by the time she got to the ER, they couldn't even find a bump. (It wasn't too far of a fall—from sitting on the floor to lying down on it). They did another EEG, and everything looked fine on her brain, so the Dr. let us check her out right after we finally got there, and Nathan took us all home to report to all the very caring and concerned people calling to check on us the next couple of days. The Dr. also said the seizure did no damage, and wasn't the epileptic kind (?), and just said that it can be a reaction to not being able to catch her breath, etc. Some children cry until they pass out, Anne cries until she has a seizure. I'm still not sure I see it as normal, but at least we're not as panicky as before. Miraculously, Brent, Emily, and Spencer were able to be calmed too, and were all asleep by the time we got home around 10. Quite a bit of hubbub!!, and we're SO grateful everything has turned out all right. Once we could relax, Brian was a bit bummed about the bill (but at least her other seizure was still part of this year's deductible!) and I was sad those EMT's cut apart her cute little shirt, but really, none of it matters in comparison to what might've been (see above picture with her hospital bracelet and torn shirt). Brian said later this weekend, “I was kind of down about the whole thing at first-just after we've had all these things breaking and falling apart, to have an emergency like that, but then I remembered that these things just remind us how fragile our lives really are, and how we just ALWAYS need to be relying on the Lord.” So we do!

  This is Maddie and I on the zipline up at Girls Camp.  Everyone at camp was amazed at how shy Maddie ISN'T, and this zipline was one of her favorite things--she apparently lived on it, and seldom went down on it alone

We weren't sure that night if we would make it, but Brian's check engine light went off long enough at least for him to get his car registered, Spencer actually started feeling better Friday, we got the house cleaned (even carpets washed!) and everyone packed up in time to head up to Idaho. Grandma Stewart turns 80 tomorrow, so on Saturday, there was a nice Open House at their home to celebrate. The cousins had fun sleeping in a tent @ G&G Duncan's, and it was nice to spend some time w/ Nate and Stacey's family. They live about 3 miles away, and we still have spurts sometimes, of a month or more where we don't see them at all! We were sad it coincided w/ a Usana convention Brian's parents were in charge of on Saturday, so we didn't get to see as much of them, but I took the kids over to the school playground while I ran the track for a while (in PERFECT Idaho summer weather!), and Grandma looked great! We had a deflated tire on the way home (we were carpooling w/ Nate and Stacey, thank goodness), and from the looks of it, nearly had to stop right there to replace them all, but they managed for the rest of the ride home—sad when you almost get USED to emergencies! Instead, we came home, got all the kids bathed, and then watched the "Syracuse Days" fireworks from the van in a nearby church parking lot.  Poor Maddie is trying to normalize back to boring real life (I so remember those Saturdays after!) and catch up on sleep. We have swimming lessons starting this week for Brent, Emily, and Spencer, and on Thursday, I've got an appt. for Anne w/ a “Witch Dr.!”--no, an alternative Health clinic is where I'm taking her, to see what they can do for her eczema and general health issues! (I was so sad w/ her hospital visit, thinking, “Oh, PLEASE stay alive at least until I can try this other Dr!!---give me a chance!” THEN—Mom and Dad will be driving in Thursday afternoon for this 4^th of July weekend, so we are SO excited to see them, and once they leave, we'll be heading down to Zion's National Park for our family vacation, so lots of fun!! Love, The Duncan's