Kade at the Go Kart Race

Hey this is Kay! Today I am going to be talking to you about Kade going to the go kart races. The picture below is of Kade at his brother, Brody's, go kart race. Kade likes to go to his races because he likes the sounds of the go karts. Kade can only hear loud sounds, so go kart races are perfect for him. Anyways back to Brody; he really likes to race go karts. He says that he likes the overall thrill of riding them. Brody goes every single night to the shop to work on his go kart. He has to rub the tires, wash it, and make sure it is running good. When he gets to the race, he has to check in with the people at the race, and then he makes sure everything is okay on his go kart. Brody races usually around 3 or 4 times each race. The first is practice, then the heat race, and then the actual race. The heat race is to see how fast he runs. During the heat race there is only about 3 or 4 cars at a time. In the main event there are about 7 or 8 cars running at a time. Brody is only 7, so that's why there aren't very many cars on the track at the same time. In the older classes there are about 25 or 30 cars running at the same time. In Brody's class there aren't hardly any wrecks, but in the older classes there are very many races. So racing in the older classes is much more dangerous. All in all, Kade likes going to the races because he can see the lights at night and he can hear the go karts running around the track. (The picture below is of Kade sitting in Brody's go kart.)

My 3rd #20time Reflection

Hey this is Kay! Today I am going to talk to you about the medicine that Kade takes and how it helps him. Kade takes some of his medicine through a bottle type thing. It looks like a bottle, but it's smaller. He takes his other medicine through a syringe.  Kade takes 3 ml of Keppra, 4.5 ml of Trileptal, 1.3 ml of Reglan, 5 ml of Provacid, 2.2 ml of Baclofen, and 1 pill of Singular. He takes the Keppra and Trileptal for his seizures, the Reglan and Provacid for his reflux, the Baclofen to help his arms and legs not to be so stiff, and the Singular for his allergies. It is very important to give Kade his medicine because if you don't he won't act like his normal self. It could even cause him to start having seizures. Learning all of this in just one day was a lot and it was pretty difficult. I had to ask many questions because I didn't understand all of it. I'm actually starting to kind of feel like a nurse now because I know how much medicine to give Kade and when to give it to him. In the next blog post, I plan to talk about when Kade got very sick and had to go back into the hospital. That's all I have for today! -Kay

My 2nd #20time Reflection

Hey this is Kay! This week I learned how to give Kade a bath. Remember that Kade has a trach, so his bath may be a little bit different, but not much. One thing that is different is that you can't get Kade's trach wet because if you do the water will go down his throat. It will go down his throat because the trach is connected directly to Kade's throat. If the water goes down his throat then he will not be able to breath and that will cause him to die, so it is very important that you don't get water on his trach! The first step in giving him a bath is you get the bath seat to put him in. The bath seat is what keeps him from getting his trach wet. Next, you get a wash cloth wet and put soap on it. After that, you undo the trach ties that are around his neck. The trach ties is what helps hold his trach together. You have to undo the trach ties because you have to wash up under the ties really good. If you don't wash under them then it will cause a crusty substance to form up under it. While washing around the trach, you have to wash carefully, but you also have to make sure you wash it good. After washing Kade, you have to put his trach ties back together, get him out of the bath chair, and dry him off. The part that I found the hardest is when you wash around his trach because you have to make sure water doesn't get inside of it. Next, I will learn how to give Kade his medicine. That's all I have for today! -Kay

My 1st #20time Reflection

Hey this is Kay! Last night I went up to Kade's house and learned part of what Kade's nightly routine is. First, Kade has to be suctioned.  Kade has a trach which is like a little hole in his throat that has a tube going down it. The trach helps Kade breath like we do. When Kade starts to make a sound like he is congested that means it is time for him to be suctioned. In order to suction Kade you have to first take off his HME (which is the thing that covers his hole in his throat.) Next, you take the suction cathedar (the tube that is connected to the suction machine) and stick it 6 cm. down his throat. The suction cathedar has a little button like thing on it that has air coming out of it. You have to put your finger over the hole to make the machine start sucking the stuff out of Kade's trach. The last thing you have to do is give him his breathing treatment. Kade takes a breathing treatment through a nebulizer. The medicine you put in his nebulizer are 1 vial of xopanex and 1 vial of pulmicort. To give him a breathing treatment, you have to put a little mask like thing over his trach. During the process of this I had very many struggles because it was my first time doing this. In the future I hope to become better and better at this. Next week I plan to talk to you about how to give Kade a bath.That's all I have for today!-Kay

Region Champs!!

Hey this is Kay! This week Kade isn't feeling his best, so I won't be able to take care of him this week. Since I can't tell you what I did with Kade this week, I'll tell you about the middle school softball team that I'm on. On Tuesday night we played our region tournament, since we had won our region! The first game we played against Hart County. We run ruled them 10-0 in 5 innings. The second game we played against Stephens County in the championship game. It was a very nerve wrecking game! We won 5-0 though! Now we are the region and region tournament champions! The picture below is of our team and the trophies we got! "Hardwork pays off!" That's all I have for today! -Kay 

Kade's Early Years

Okay, so today I will tell you about my cousin, Kade. Kade was born at 24 weeks. (Normal babies are born at 39 or 40 weeks.) When Kade was born the doctors said he would never make it because he had so many problems, but he has proved them wrong! Kade has had very many surgeries and quite a few near death situations. He has managed to move on from them though. Kade is now 4 years old. He can't walk or talk yet, but he can crawl and eat by mouth. Kade has impacted very many lives and is still doing so today! He has also opened many eyes. Kade might not be normal, but his smile makes up for all of his flaws. Even though he has had a rough life he just keeps on smiling. I think I need to take notes from him! "Even though life may be tough, keep on moving forward!" That's all I have for today! -Kay