So summer is over. Sorry it took me so long to get on here and update. Kollin made it home from surgery and is almost totally recovered. I really think the Oct. 15th release date is more formality then anything. His surgery went very well and faster then expected. We were told 2-4 days in ICU and he was out in 13ish hours. The ventilator was the hardest part of allt hat. If I never see one of my chiildren on a vent again it will be too soon. But they called at 12:45 and said he pointed at it asking them tot ake it out and then said Thank You and went back to sleep. He was up and moving the next day with less and less pain and the days went by and was on 81mg asprin, blood pressure meds. lasix,and antibiotics when we came home. He is down to just an asprin a day and blood pressure meds. He will hopefully be off the meds. bu the time the 6 month post op mark rolls around. His actual scar is amazing. It will fade over time but it is so much better then we anticipated. To think the thing that hurt him the most was the tape on his central line. :o) He is an amazing boy and I am proud to be his mother.
Thanks so much for all the prayers and calls and emails and everythign really. We are so grateful for this gift of healing that God handed us. He hold no ill will towards his local cardiologist or for the years thinking it was HCM. We understand the biology of the beast and how it presented itself like that. I am grateful that he has had such fabulous care ofr so many years and that this is our outcome. I am also grateful to have a Doctor and Nurse that we call friends. Thanks to all the people at UAB who made this experience possible and less stressful then it could have been. They were all great.
We’ve had a slow end to our summer because of the recovery. It was too hot really for him to go outside much other then for our walks in the mornings and evenings. So the 3 kids and i just hung out and watched movies and played indoors when we weren’t out and about.
School startted back and I decided not to homeschool this year. I might next year and it may just be Amanda for now until Gracie is old enough. With Kollin being in gifted he may need the extra work they give and are able to challenge him with. Plus he is so smart in math and I’d hate for himt o fall behind in that area simply because it is not easy for me to teach and he will surpass what I can teach in just a few years. They both love their teachers and are ok with public school for 1 more year. Gracie and I have adjusted to being just us again in the house. Those first few days she’d crawl and then walk around looking for them and waving at their pictures. Now we just play and have nap time and then play some more and before she knows it it’s time to go pick up.
It seems that my lovely endo has returned rearing it’s ugly head. I thought it was coming back a few months ago but it showed up and showed off last week. Soooo it appears that my Dr.s words hold true. I will be heading in sometime over the next couple of months for a partial hysterectomy. I am going to beg for the ovaries to stay. I just don’t need any more hormonal craziness right now. The PPD has been bad enough. I have no desire to go any further off the deep end thank you very much. :o)
And then the celebration of all is tomorrow!!! Gracie will be 1. I can not believe it has already been a year. After all we went through just have this beautiful baby girl and the first year flys by. So a quick update of the first year. She was rolling well from back to front and over again by 4 months. She said momma at 5 1/2 months. She was crawling everywhere at 6 1/2 months. She pulled up at 7 1/2 months and could walk well along furniture by 9 months. June 14th was our first tooth(bottom right) and then July 10th while at the hospital with her big brother was tooth number 2 (bottom left). Once we were home again she decided to be lazy and resumed crawling like speed baby everywhere and gave up on walking for another month. Then about the same time tooth 3 and 4 showed up (August 11th top 2) she decided to stand up and do what we have now dubbed the baby Frankenstein lurch. :o) She can really get up and go now and moves quit quickly in her lurch mode when she wants. She’d rather walk then crawl now as long as she isn’t too tired and she will follow us all over the house and will even explore down the hallway on her own. This is why we keep bedroom and bathroom doors shut. She’s also transitioning from bottle to cup slowly. She will take her juice and water and milk from a cup but her Next Step and the little formula she is still on has to be in a bottle. And did I mention she is stubborn and smart so trying to outwit her in a battle of wills over the cup/bottle thing is not working. I’m hoping the Dr. has some tips next week because it has been 9 almost 10 years since my last child and I don’t remember how we transitioned him.
Anywho~ That is our update for now. I will try (no promises) to update more reguarly but it’s all about my time and priorities.
Take care and God Bless,
Misty
