Good Riddance

A lot has been going on in our lives lately. I think more than usual anyway.

Of course, Riley had come home from the hospital and was battling e. coli which required collecting test samples 3-4 times/week, scheduling babysitters for Riley, waiting anxiously for test results; I have been leading several huge projects at work, and cleaning our house and having open houses since we are trying to sell it and move to the country.

Ryan has been also working overtime as well to ensure that everything behind the scenes get taken care of. And the cows. And his job. Oh yeah, and us, his family.

And honestly, except the e. coli, these are all good things.

I like having projects at work. We want to move to the country. We were so lucky to have family to watch Riley for us, and for them to get to spend extra time with her. If I can say one thing, I'll say we haven't been bored lately. But I am so happy to see August finally end.

And, by the way, as of August 26th, RILEY IS FINALLY E. COLI NEGATIVE!!

As in the last post, here are the Facebook updates...

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Aug. 18th at 12:15 PM
Riley's test came back a *weak* positive... the Dr. thinks that we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel... I HOPE SO!!

August 24 at 6:09pm
NEGATIVE!!!!! :)

August 24 at 7:22pm
Finally... things can get back to normal! Yay!

August 25 at 6:37pm
GREAT NEWS... I just found out they ran the WRONG test on Riley's sample... so no wonder it was negative. And no word yet on Riley's other samples from Mon. & Tues. So, we're back to square one. Ughh!! Just hoping that Mon. & Tues. are negatives!!!

August 26 at 4:32pm
Well..... Mon. and Tues. are NEGATIVES!! (we made sure the test was for e. coli this time) Think I'm going to do a cartwheel! OK, maybe not, that might be dangerous... but I'm so glad we're finally done!! :)

August 27 at 11:33am
Riley's at Tammy's. It felt sooo good to be back on our old schedule! Thanks so much Maxie and everyone else who helped me get through it all. I honestly couldn't have done it without you! And I definitely think my patience "meter" has expanded in the last 6 weeks... guess that's what happens when you become a parent!

August 27 at 12:06pm
Riley was so excited to go back to Tammy's this morning. As soon as I got her out of her carseat, she pointed to Tammy's house and smiled! :)

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And just like that, Riley's battle with e.coli was over.

It was a seemingly forever-long battle. From the onset of symptoms on July 15th to the final test confirmation on Aug 26th. Exactly 6 weeks. 4 days in the hospital. Numerous blood tests and doctor visits. Massive amounts of worrying. Finally over!

Though we are still being pulled in what seems like a 1000 directions, we are slowly but surely crossing them off the list now. I know it will be worth it all in the end, and it will make us stronger as individuals and as a family.

I will say I never want to go through something like that again, and I hope none of you ever have to.

With that being said, Goodbye August, and Goodbye E. Coli.

GOOD RIDDANCE!