2016 Started out pretty rough for the Shackletons
First Kinley took a pretty bad fall hitting her head on the edge of our wooden bed frame. It looked pretty awful for quite awhile - poor girl!
We took a little trip up to Big Bear to experience the record snow fall up there while we stayed in Dan's Aunt's cabin. It started out fun building snowmen and enjoying the view but Dan quickly became very sick. I ended up taking care of everyone and soon Dan's head was hurting so bad we decided to go back home. Once there we became increasingly concerned about Dan's condition. It was the worst pain he had every experienced. The girls were asleep and he was debating if he should go to the ER. He decided to drive himself which ended up being a big mistake. He passed out in the ER and was promptly admitted after many painful tests for Viral Meningitis. He is looking fairly perky in this picture after spending nearly a week in the hospital.
A few weeks later just as Dan was getting back on his feet, Lena's fever shot up to 106 degrees and she couldn't breathe and was throwing up everything. We dashed her to the CHOC ER where she was admitted for complications from asthma. She stayed in the hospital for two days getting care from the pulmonology department. We had the hardest time getting her to eat...ANYTHING! We tried everything from hamburgers to M&Ms. Finally she began to eat and drink little by little and she was released. Since she has been on her new medicine regimen her asthma as been much better.
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| Getting the IV in was a pretty horrible experience! |
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| The Child Life Specialists were great about giving Lena fun activities to do. |
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| Lena called her stay at CHOC the "Doctor's Palace". Despite the fun activities she would rather not go back. |
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| When she returned home a kind neighbor who bakes brought her double chocolate princess cupcakes to continue to tempt Lena to eat. It worked. |
