Thursday, July 28, 2011

We are home!

We finally made it home around 5:00 this evening. Alex was a trooper to say the very least! It was a very long day of laying flat in bed, but he held up like a champ! He really didn't get too bothered with it until the last 45 mins. By that point he kept saying "let's go home mom". It's unbelieveable that a 3 year old, and especially this 3 year old could really lay flat in bed for 6 hours. He never ceases to amaze us!
Run down of the day.....
He was happy as could be this morning when we got there. He was cooperative and friendly and polite. He didn't cry at anything and was happy to check his big muscles (blood pressure) and his O2 sats. He sat quietly while they listened to his lungs and heart. This is one amazing little boy!
He sat patiently in the waiting room, put a puzzle together and colored a picture. Most of all, he loved his "doctor jammies" and was a little upset at dinner when I told him he we didn't have them at home.

 He was more than happy to hitch a ride in the wagon to the cath lab.
Didn't cry at all when we said "see ya later" at the door. He was going to sniff bubble gum in his mask. When she handed him the mask he said "No, I want a gum ball".
It took them about an hour in the cath lab to do his procedure. Afterward when we met with Dr. Cowley, he gave him an A+. He said his heart looks as good as any he has seen. The blood flow was perfect, the pressures were low (which is where they should be), and he agreed that he is a perfect candidate for surgery.
After calming down for about the first hour, the rest of the afternoon was spent like this:

And this:
And this:
Tonight he is doing well. He is EXHAUSTED to say the least! He has been playing around, walking some and has had just a few times of moving that make him cry. He is an amazing little boy! Despite some crying while waking up from anesthesia, and when they had to put pressure on his wound because it was bleeding, he hasn't hardly complained.
Here is a picture of his dressings. He doesn't have scivvy's on, so excuse the strangeness of the picture (just trying to keep it G rated). He thought he'd add his own "flare" to the picture and put the car over his eyes.
They went into the vessels in 3 different spots. The right side of his neck, and both sides of his groin. He has pressure dressings on both sides of his groin, but his neck incision only had a bandaid.

My heart is so full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father! I have no doubt in my mind that He was there with him. I know that Alex was surrounded by many guardian angels. You cannot walk these hallways and not feel their presence. They are there and I know it.
I know that the many prayers offered in his behalf have been answered. I cannot thank each of you enough. I know that this little man has a plan. He was sent here to do our Heavenly Father's work. He was sent here to teach us. I hope that my heart will continue to stay open so that I can be taught all that He has to teach me. I pray that all will go this smoothly 2 weeks from now when he goes in for his open heart. Thank you again!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Cath Lab in the morning....

Just a quick update..... Alex is going to the cath lab tomorrow for his heart catheterization. They will measure pressures in his heart and examine the arteries. All of this info will let them declare whether or not he is a candidate for the Fontan procedure (open heart surgery August 11th). His cardiologist feels that he is a perfect candidate from the testing that he has had already, this will just confirm it.

Please keep him in your prayers. We will be at the hospital at 8:00, with procedure starting at 9:30. We will keep updates here on how he is doing. This silly boy thanks you for your support!

Annual Walk for Healing Hearts

We're not sure if we'll all make it this year or not depending on how Alex is recovering. We hope that anyone who wants to join us will be there. It's such an amazing event and we hope for all 4 of us to be there!

Walk for Healing Hearts Registration now OPEN!


Walk for Healing Hearts Registration is now OPEN!!! To register, go to www.ihhearts.org and click on the registrations tab. Then it is under walk 2011 registration. There is a flier with details under the "events" tab. Pre registration is $10/ individual and $50/ immediate family (those you can claim on your taxes). If you are doing a family, you need to register each person, and then you can make one $50 paypal payment. If you are interested in scoping out what some of the prizes/silent auction items are, they are under the donations tab under 2011 Walk Sponsors and Donors. Help spread the word! Preregistration closes on Aug 24th. Registration is not considered complete until payment is made. Same day registration will be $20/individual and $80/family and shirts are first come first served.

***New this year is a Pancake breakfast to be served before the race from 8am - 9:15am*** All you can eat pancake breakfast $5 for 10 and older and $3 for kids 4-10. Kids 3 and under eat free. Pre registration for this will be available soon. You can also purchase day of event.

See, I knew I'd forget a few.

We got together with our good friends for a day of playing. We've had these good friends since we got married. We all lived in the same apartment complex, and despite moves and work and kids and life in general, we've managed to stay close. We usually do a yearly camping trip, but this year with Alex's surgery their young babies, it just wasn't possible.
We all got together at our house and the kids jumped on the trampoline, played in the sandbox and on the swingset and played in the pool. They never get tired of each other and they play so well together. Even after almost 5 hours of playing together they were all sad when it was over. Thanks Groves and Pounders for coming to hang out! We had a blast!




Last weekend we decided to make a trip to Bear Lake for the day with Gary's sister and her family. We couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect and the company great! We spent lots of time playing in the water, building sandcastles and relaxing in the sun. We wish the day could've lasted longer but the kids were exhausted after 9 hours at the beach! Thanks Moss family..... we had a great time and can't wait until next year!









Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Get Comfortable.... Here comes a long one!

So.... I figured I better catch up on a few things.  Since I only have so much time, I'll try to cover some of our fun days of summer. I know I'll forget stuff, but when you've been out of blogging for so long, it's hard to make it perfect.

We started the summer off with Sam finishing up his baseball season. This year he played for the Mets. He made some huge improvements over the season, and we are so proud of how well he did. His team was great! They won 1st place for the regular season games, and got 2nd place in the playoffs.  Way to go Sam!! We are so proud of you!


We made a quick trip to Jackson Hole, one of the kids favorite vacations. It was a fast and relaxing trip. We bummed around town, ate good food, had fun together and, of course, went to see the Bar J Wranglers. As always a great show, and two very happy boys! The smiles never leave their faces while we're there, and that's what makes it all worth it.
The famous antler arches in Town Square. Can't go to Jackson and not get a picture there!

A couple of pics from the night of the Bar-J



We were hoping to get a trip to Lagoon in before Alex had his surgery this summer. Luckily, my nephew (who works at Lagoon) got us a family pass. It so happened to be good for the day after we got home from Jackson. They boys were thrilled! I made it on Puff the magic dragon 2 times, Bombora once, then spent the next hour sitting in the gutter! Even with 2 dramamine on board I was finished!! It's a good thing Gary was there. The three boys got to hit all of the rides they wanted. Sam LOVES the rollercoasters. I'm glad Sam is so big because it's nice for Gary to have someone to ride with on all of the big rides. Alex is a little daredevil too. Once he's big enough, I'll send the boys to the amusement park, and I'll hit the waterpark for the day!



Thanks for the passes Steven!!

We love the firepit in the backyard. It's so nice to be able to roast hot dogs and make smores at home since it's not always easy or convenient to make it to the mountains like we'd like to.



We had a quick trip to the family cabin. Unfortunately I didn't realize my memory card was full until we were there. Bummer. I got some pictures, but not near as many as I would've like to. We got a lot of wood cut, some cleaning up done, lots of talking and eating, the boys played "war" with Pa and a hike in over the few days there.






We had a picnic and a fun night at the new fountain park in Foxboro.




We took a quick trip to the Clark Planetarium and saw "Born to be Wild" and the exhibits.
They took a little stroll on the moon.....

And a quick trip to Mars.....

We've done lots of other fun things, that someday, I'll get around to blogging about....... I hope!

Here are a couple of pictures from Alex's day at the hospital when he had his sedated echocardiogram. He is going back in 2 days (July 28th)  for his cardiac catheterization. Surgery will be 2 weeks after that. I will keep anyone who is interested updated here on his progress.




Have a great day!!