Miss Aubree

Well, this has been an interesting few weeks for Aubree and for me, the mother of an immuno deficient daughter.  This coming Friday, August 12th, Aubree will be having surgery to have her 3rd set of ears tubes put in her ears.  They will be doing T tubes which are more permanent than regular tubes and are expected to last 2 years.  The downside of the T tubes is that they may have to go in and surgically patch the hole if it does not close after the tubes fall out or are removed.  They will also be doing a sinus wash and massive blood work on her while she is under anesthesia.  We went to her regular pediatrician today because she has been having some serious tummy issues.  She has thrown up 3 times this week, 2 times last week and so on, dating back to June.  Dr. Simone is pretty sure that Bree has a peanut allergy.  They will be testing for that along with other immuno deficiency that her immunologist ordered when she has her surgery.  They put her on 90 days of prevacid to ease the stomach inflammation and depending on blood work, she will like be referred to yet another doctor....a GI doctor.  Dr. Simone isn't ruling out Celiac's Disease or Chron's disease.  These are both nasty side effects of IgA deficiency.  They are not able to test her for this thru blood work because it is valued thru IgA levels and since Bree is deficient, they results would be false or inaccurate.  Sigh.....That is where we are at today.  Please continue to keep our Aubree in your prayers....we truly appreciate it!!

Update on Aubree

Usually summer time is the best and healthiest time for Aubree, but this summer has been a little harder than normal.  We have had a couple of ear infections and she actually has scar tissue in one of her ears from a ruptured ear drum that we didn't even know about.  She is one tough cookie.  It is so hard for us to even know when she feels bad, because she is so use to feeling bad and she is so tough.  Both her immunologist and her pediatrician have said that she will need tubes again so we are scheduling an appointment with her ENT.  Also, her immunologist wants to see her back on November 22nd and wants to do blood workup in the middle of the "bad" season for her.  He has recommended and long term antibiotic for the fall and winter and if that doesn't work, infusions may be needed although, this will not protect her against the nasty viruses that plagued her this year.  Please continue to keep her in your prayers.....

Landree is a big girl now....

Landree is officially walking....everywhere at 10 months old.  She doesn't crawl very often anymore.  I took her to the doctor last week and she weighs 19 pounds, 10 ounces.  She now has 4 teeth, all of them came in at one time, poor baby.  We are so very proud of her!

Lemons....

The pictures speak for themselves....

Summer Fun

It has been while since I have posted, but that only means that the Driffill family has had a fun and busy summer.  Take a look at some of our summer happenings....

Aubree's fish

The kiddos and Nana

Pool time fun....

The Driffill family

Landree has had a big week...

Landree Nicole has had a big week!  It all started on Mother's Day.  As I was trying to sleep in (part of my mother's day gift), I heard her yelling in the living room.  She was saying "mamamamama" over and over again.  It was the best mother's day gift!  Unfortunately, the rest of the day she was pretty grumpy and started to run fever.  Later Sunday afternoon, she learned to wave and kind of say "bye bye".  It is the cutest thing ever!  So proud of our smart little girl.  She continued to feel bad and run a fever so I took her to the doctor on Monday afternoon.  Dr. Simone looked in her right ear and it was clear, looked in her left ear and you guessed it.....EAR INFECTION!  Uuugghhhh!!  I guess I can't complain, she made it 8 1/2 months without any significant illness!  Definitely more than I can say for Ethan(with all of his ear problems) and definitely Aubree(with all of her immune deficiency issues).  The doctor put her on the highest dose of amoxicillian that she could give her and also prescribed pain medicine for her ears.  She has had 4 doses of the medicine, but still not feeling well.  She has definitely turned into a mommy's girl with her not feeling well.  I'm definitely not going to complain about that....

Arlys Louise aka Granny/GG (1933-2002)

MY GRAN....so many things that I could say about her...
She was vibrant and full of life.  She loved her family and was fiercely protective of all of us.  Her favorite pastime was dancing on Saturday nights with her girlfriends Marie, Kathy and Bonnie.
I am proud to say that my 3 kids "know" their GG and talk about her regularly.  Last week there was something in the yard and my mom told  Aubree that it was GG's and Aubree said "she dropped it from the kye" (sky).  Even though she is gone, I still feel that I have a relationship with her and I have made sure that my kids, her great grandkids, feel the same and know how special she was and still is to all of us.  I had an amazing relationship and a special connection with my Granny and I am truly honored and forever changed because she was a part of my life.  I am so fortuate to be able to call her my Gran.
I was there when she took her final breaths, holding her hand...the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am honored and feel blessed to have been able to be  there for her in her last moments on Earth...the track on this blog "Sissy's Song" by Alan Jackson is in honor of Gran...We all love and miss her dearly!!