We are finally home!!! We unfortunately did not return home on Wednesday as planned. Oh how we wish we could have made that grand entrance into the Shreveport Airport and see the smiles and tears of our family and friends. A moment that I have been looking forward to quite sometime. I know that you guys were excited about meeting us and many of you showed up at the airport. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love and support throughout the past few years with the adoption and especially the prayers over the past 2 weeks.
It is obvious that God had other plans for Kaegans entrance into the USA. To clear things up I will fill you in on the details. I mentioned in an earlier blog that Kaegan will become a citizen of the US once we arrived in Dallas. Well...., Kaegan became a citizen after we stepped off the plane and into an ambulance.
Yes, that is correct. The day started when Marty woke at 5:00am. We dressed, got Kaegan dressed and headed out the door to the airport. We said our goodbyes to our guide and new friends and the loaded up onto the plane to Tokyo. The flight was 4 hours and Kaegan did a wonderful job. He played with his toys during the flight and sat quietly like a perfect little angel. Marty and I slept when we had the chance. We had a 4 hour layover in Tokyo which was quite boring. We tried to find something to eat but nothing sounded good. Kaegan began to get cranky and we ready to just get home.
It is great having a child because we are now the first to board planes. We had plenty of room in the overhead compartments to put all of our junk. It is much harder to travel with a child and all of the necessities than I thought. All was well at this point and we were excited to get off the ground and head towards the USA.
Each of us had our own seats which was convenient up until Kaegan began to cry at top of his lungs and his lips began to bleed due to the dried up sores on his mouth. I had no idea what to do so I grabbed him and layed in my lap just like I do at night as he sleeps. He did well for a few minutes at a time but continued to cry for the entire trip. This began after 30 minutes of being in the air. We still had 9.5 hours to go and I was already miserable.
Marty is another story. He threw up about an hour and a half into the flight. He stayed sick the entire flight. I now had Kaegan screaming and crying at the top of his lungs while drooling blood out of his mouth, Marty sick and a plane full of people that are trying to sleep but can't because of Kaegan. I finally got to the point where I did not care.
We had a very nice flight attendant. She constantly checked on us and even had the captain page for a doctor in order for to get some Tylenol for Kaegan. FYI: Only a doctor can open the first aid kits on airplanes. A flight attendant cannot give you any over the counter medications.
After what seemed like an eternity for me, we were 1 hour outside of DFW. Kaegan still crying and Marty still sick. Marty had only thrown up once but now had fever and so did Kaegan. We know they had fever because the flight attendant checked them both. She asked me what my plans were with them once we landed and I mentioned that my Uncle and his family were at the airport waiting to meet us and Kaegan. I told her that we would have them take us to the ER before our next flight and if needed we would stay the night and drive home the following day. She said "ok" and I thought that that was it. Shortly afterwards she asked the two ladies sitting next to me to get their things and move to the other side of the plane because we were about to land. The flight attendant then came over to Marty and me and said, "The captain has contacted CDC and there will be paramedics at the gate waiting for us to arrive. Once we arrive the captain will make an announcement and the paramedics will come on board and escort you to an ambulance that will than take you the ER. This will allow you to get the help for your baby much quicker." Marty and I both said ok, Thanks!
WOW! Is all I have to say. It was terrible. The plane landed and the made his announcement. "Passengers, this is your Captain speaking, It has come to my attention that there is a medical situation at the back of the cabin. In order for paramedics to assist the situation CDC has requested that all passengers remain seated with seat belts fastened until further notified." At this time I began to get nervous. The paramedics arrived on board and began taking pictures of Kaegan's mouth and chest. By this time he had broken out into a dark rash. The paramedics were sending the pics to CDC during the quick examination. All 3 of us had to put medical masks. They began to ask us question after question about Kaegan and his medical history. I got so annoyed with them that I pulled my mask down and looked the gentleman in eye and said with loud, deep, tone "I have had the child for 8 days! I have no idea!" This was such a Xanax moment but I had never taken one and I did not how my body would react to it so I did not take one. Looking back I probably should have.
In the meantime, the captian makes several announcements:
1. If you are a passenger seated in rows 34-38 please see one of our flight attendants and fill out a form from CDC.
2. If you have had Chemo or have a low immunity please see one of our flight attendants and fill out a form from CDC.
3. If you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant please see one of our flight attendants and fill out a form from CDC.
CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!
At this point I am going nuts on the inside. They told Marty and I to grab our stuff and that we could now be escorted off the plane. I grabbed Kaegan and Marty grabbed the carry on bags. Kaegan is on a roll. His has blood streaming from his lips, his face is red and the screaming is very loud. As we were exiting the plane every eye was on us. It was horrible.
Marty exited the plane and I began to take a step off and gentleman grabbed me and said "No, you may not exit until we are notified by CDC." I am now holding Kaegan and standing one step from being off the plane. There are 6 men in black uniforms watching my every move. They quickly opened a hidden stairwell and told us to follow them. It was sleeting and raining so I was holding Kaegan while holding on to a gentlemans back as I walked down the steps. There was an ambulance waiting for us. We all got on board and headed to the hospital.
I borrowed the paramedics cell phone to call mom to tell her that we would not be arriving in Shreveport and fill her in on a few details. My parents and Marty's both got into the car and drove straight to Dallas. No one had any idea what was going on. Especially Marty and me. I asked the paramedic if she thought that all of this was necessary and she said,"Your child and husband both have a temperature and they have both come from China. We must treat this situation as a worst case scenerio." After that comment I began to think, Bird flu, Sars, oh my goodness and that is when I just about lost it. However, I took deep breaths and continued to stay strong.
We arrived at the hospital and they rushed us into the ER. We were placed in a glassed in room that could be sealed off. They immediately began checking on Kaegan. They ruled out the things that I thought of and decided that it may be the measels. Thankfully it was not the measels. The Dr. said that Kaegan had a virus of some sort and gave us antibiotics.
My Uncle and his family arrived at the hospital. I saw them thru the glass in our ER room. I ran to the door and it was locked. I told the Dr. "That is my Uncle I need to go say Hi and get a hug." The Dr. replied, "No! You have been quarantined and may not leave this room until notified by me!" I said," You have got to be kidding me?" I did not know whether to cry, scream, laugh, hit the man or pass out. I just wanted to be held by someone in the family.
After 30 minutes or so, the Dr. said that Marty and I were probably just tired after being awake for 28 hours and no food. We would have eaten but a fish dinner on an airplane isn't exactly a safe meal. Not to mention the smell on the plane.
They did not examine Marty but gave us meds. for Kaegan and released us. I finally got my hugs and we headed to my Uncles to spend the night. Our parents each met us there as well and we spent the evening staring at Kaegan as he continued to cry. He did sleep well that night. Which is very surprising. Marty is still not feeling well at this point.
All of us woke up and headed to Shreveport on Thursday morning. When we arrived home we were greeted with signs and posters placed around the house, gifts, sweets and pictures of Kaegan in different places. The house was also spotless. It had been cleaned. Kaegan was not too excited to be greeted by our dogs so we put them in our bedroom while we showed Kaegan his room. He still does not feel well so He really didn't care too much about his room. He just wanted to sleep. The family hung around a little while and Amency and Chad stopped in to visit. Our parents left and Amency ended up spending the night to help me with both the sick ones. Thankfully I had a doctors appointment for Kaegan set up for Friday. Marty said he was beginning to feel better. He fell asleep on the couch and Kaegan, Amency and I all climbed into my bed. It was a long night because we are now on China time not USA. I was wide awake until 4:00am. Kaegan did sleep. Not all night but a good portion of it. Amency was a huge help for me. I thank you sis!!
We had to wake up early because we had to get to the airport to pick up our luggage. Because of the chaos at the airport we were not aloud to pick up our luggage any sooner than Friday morning. All of Kaegans medical records were in the luggage and I needed them for his appointment. Marty woke feeling terrible so I called my Mom to come help me with Kaegan and Marty's mom to help me with Marty. I got Marty a Dr. appointment at 10:30 and Kaegan's was at 11:00. We got our luggage and made it to Kaegan's appointment on time. Marty made it to his appoitnment as well.
The results: Marty has Strep Throat and Kaegan does have a virus on his lips and a bad ear infection. Marty received 2 shots and meds, Kaegan received more meds but no shots. We arrived home and Marty was asleep and Kaegan slept pretty much all day.
Later this evening Jeremy, Rhonda and Tyler come over to see their newest family member. Kaegan began to feel a little better. Jeremy even got Kaegan to giggle and laugh. It was so good to see him smile again.
Around 9:00 the house was empty of guests and it was just Marty, Kaegan and me. Marty has been in the bed all day. I checked him and he said he felt like he needed to go the hospital. I called Eric a friend of ours and he just picked up Marty and took him to the ER.
Now it is just me and Kaegan. Kaegan is asleep and I have time to update the blog. As you can see, it has been pretty crazy around here. I am still feeling fine and have had no panic attacks. The Lord has a huge shield of protection over me right now and I can feel it. I am so thankful for that.
It is now 12:30 am and Eric just called and said that the Dr.'s have tested Marty for Strep, the Flu and Mono and all test were negative. They have no idea what he has. They are giving him some more fluids and then they will be home. Isn't this crazy!!!
Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that I walked into the formal living room earlier this afternoon and noticed a huge water spot on the ceiling. The upstairs toilet has been leaking. The carpet is stained and their is now a hole in my ceiling. The water has been leaking for quite some time now. We have some construction in our near future.
Please pray that our family gets healthy soon and that I do not get sick. I am ready to introduce my son to everyone.
