Tille Family

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Is That All You Have?

We have been tested a lot this past year: spiritually, physically, emotionally, and every other “ally” that you can think of. Some I have written about and some I haven’t. This past week has been very difficult on us, the children and our volunteers. Today was the cherry on top.

The weekend before last, Angela and I decided to take the kids to the next step. We were going to change their feeding schedule from 5 bottles a day to 4 with more formula per bottle. We started to introduce solids on a daily basis. We adjusted the time of day in which they would get these bottles and food so that they would “sleep through the night.” We also adjusted their nap schedule. It was a really big change, but we thought we were doing it for the right reasons. The next day they started getting sick. All six of the kids started showing signs of the flu. Whether it was vomiting or diarrhea or both, they were all sick. At one point around 2:30 am last Wednesday night, Meredith got sick. I ran upstairs and got her to the bathroom. She got sick in the tub after throwing up on me. Angela came up to help. Instead of asking what she could do to help out, she asked when Meredith ate pickles. Par for this week. One half of all diapers changed were blowouts that required a little elbow grease on our end to get the poo out. We almost took Lauren and Alex to the ER late in the week as they couldn’t keep Pedialyte down. Dehydration was a very serious concern. Things started to turn for the better in the weekend. No one got sick yesterday. Win #1. Meredith didn’t get sick or have a messy/blowout diaper. Win #2. We’re on the path to victory!!!

I was in Minneapolis for work this morning. I was at Children’s Hospital in the parking garage when Angela called. She asked where I was and how long it would take to get home. I had to come home now!!! It was gonna take me 45 minutes in good traffic to make it home. She told me that she couldn’t wait and was gonna call 911. She broke her leg. She hung up. I swore something out loud something that I shouldn’t write. You would all think less of me, if that’s possible.

I was in the parking garage of the hospital and hadn’t even found a spot to park yet, when I turned around and headed for home. I ended up going right to the hospital and beat her and the ambulance to the hospital. I broke several laws today. It took me 32 minutes to travel the 41 miles through the city.

Angela was in a lot of pain when she arrived at the hospital. She knew she broke it. I had spent the previous 32 minutes thinking about her, the kids, and how the hell we’re gonna make this work. Was it really a broken leg? A sprained ankle? Was it a serious break where bone was showing or a simple break where she’d get a cast a go home? What if she needs surgery? What if it’s more serious and she has complications and something more serious happens. How will we make it with our ROCK out of commission? I think a lot while I’m driving in the car. Too much sometimes.

So here I sit in her hospital room watching Entertainment Tonight with my bride at my side. I hate this TV show! Angela is recovering. From what you might ask. Here’s the story. Angela was going down to the basement to start some laundry. Meredith, being the helper that she is, insisted that she go along. She was goofing off on the steps and Angela lost her balance. She fell about 7 steps to the basement floor breaking her leg along the way down. Meredith is fine. She was pretty shook up with the paramedics and seeing her mother carted off on a stretcher while in a neck brace and hooked up to an IV and crying. Meredith is doing fine now. Angela broke her fibula and a part of her tibia (both of her leg bones) just above the ankle and another part of her ankle. She needed surgery today to fix the multiple breaks. She went in around 4:00 this afternoon and had a few pieces of hardware placed in her leg to put her back together again. She will be off her feet for 6 week, minimum. Dear Lord, what horrible things did Angela and I do in a prior life to deserve the hands we’ve been dealt over the past year? I don’t mean that prior life thing because I don’t believe in it, but really, have we not passed Your tests yet? Seriously?

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Angela will come home tomorrow. We have a split level home. I have no idea yet how we’re gonna work out the logistics of her getting around the house; sleeping arrangements, additional help for the kids, etc. We’ll get it figured out. We always do. We really don’t’ have a choice. We just do it.

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful volunteers who came through for us today in a very difficult situation to hold our home together and care for our children. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to really show how much we appreciate what you do for us every day. You really are the best. We’re gonna lean pretty hard on you the next couple months.

On a lighter note and I don’t want to forget about this because it was important to us. We had some pictures of the kids taken at the house over Easter weekend. Erin Hegrens took the photos. I have a few of them on our media page, but there were so many and the quality was so good I couldn’t get them on our website. I placed them on Snapfish and you can find them here. You need an account with Snapfish to view them, but it’s very easy to set one up. You can find more information on Erin Hegrens by clicking here. She did a great job!!! Thank you Erin!!!

Thank you for reading, helping, praying, or whatever it is that you do for us. We couldn’t make it through the day without all of your help and support.

Hopefully I come to you with better news next time that I write.

Until then…