Good News and Bad News

Cooper is out of surgery and we are just waiting to go see him now. The good news is that the new pacemaker placement went very well and he tolerated the procedure with flying colors. The bad news is that the old pacemaker is so imbedded in his abdominal muscle and so high up that the cardiologist (who is not a true surgeon) did not feel comfortable going in and removing the old one. She thought there would be a cardiothoracic surgeon available to help her get the old one out, but no such luck. :( The picture is a diagram of where the pacemaker was placed, but just a little more toward the underarm. It's actually right under the armpit.

So . . . we are now waiting to hear what our next step is. It appears that they may try to go back in tomorrow and get the old one out. Unfortunately, that means he can't eat after midnight again and it means general anesthetic tomorrow (assuming they can squeeze him in tomorrow). We are going to push for them to do it now instead of having to come back another time. The cardiologist and I both agree the old one needs to come out because he essentially has two pacers running at the same time right now. The old one has been turned down so that it doesn't interfere with the new one, but there are no guarantees that it won't interfere.

I think I'm most dreading going to tell Cooper right now that he's not done. :(

We are underway

Well, we are underway. They took Cooper back at about 10:15 and let me just tell you that this kid is a rock. They offered him a sedative at least three times and so did I and when he refused, I asked if they could give it to me instead. No such luck. He got to go to a Rockies game with his dad and grandpa last night, so he was in good spirits last night and this morning. He had no nerves until they took him back to the OR (which is a very specialized OR with more equipment than you can imagine). He hopped up onto the table and at that point, he got super nervous. Doug and I could see his heart beating through his hospital gown. We were both brave and made sure he didn't see our tears--those came after we kissed him goodbye. We are so grateful for the family-centered care here and that they allow parents to gown up and be in the OR during anesthesia induction.

The surgeon expects the procedure to take about 3 hours and warned us that they may have to consult another surgeon to get the old pacemaker out of his abdomen because it is buried so far down in the muscle. They will update us every 45 minutes and I know he is in good hands.

He will not be happy with me posting this photo for the sole reason that he absolutely hated the gown. It had little spacemen all over it and he felt stupid in it. But, I needed this photo to remember just how brave this young man is!!

Spring Broken

Well, instead of Spring Break this week, we had Spring Broken. Cooper decided to contract strep throat, so he felt poopy all week and our weather was less than spectacular. The week before, Kinley decided to get sick on Easter Day. This is just proof that we should have been in Scottsdale like we have been for the last 10 years! The kids were such troopers about it (it might have helped, too, that WE finally got a Wii). We also managed to make cookies and watch a couple movies.

Fortunately, we caught the strep in time that it won't cause any surgery delays and we are still all set for that this Thursday. I talked to Cooper's surgeon while I was at work on Thursday and she is amazing. Membership certainly has its privileges. I took care of an 8-day old baby who just got the same pacemaker that Cooper is getting and I was definitely able to connect with that family.

By Friday, everyone had cabin fever, so we ventured to Chuck E. Cheese's, played some Wii called it a week. We all woke up with sore shoulders from too much Wii tennis, golf and baseball, so it was a good thing we had the weekend to recover!

After Chuck E. Cheese's, I made the girls take a shower (a must after going to a place like that) and they discovered my shower caps. They hate having to wash their hair all the time, so they were feeling quite clever. It was so cute, but a sad mommy moment realizing my girls are both old enough to do this kind of thing by themselves! :(

My next post will be an update from Children's on Thursday. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and prayers going into this week!

A Day with Esther

There are people that come into our lives that leave lasting impressions. For any family who has ever had a child undergo open-heart surgery at The Children's Hospital, that person becomes Esther. A nurse at Children's now for almost 34 years, she is the connection between the operating room and the waiting room and the link between the day before and the days after surgery. I got to spend the day being her shadow yesterday as part of my training and it was an honor.

The day started a little before 7 a.m. doing rounds in the cardiac ICU with all of the surgeons, fellows, attendings, etc. They spend about 5 minutes discussing each case in the ICU as they make their way from bed to bed. Watching this group collaborate was impressive. These are some of the greatest minds in medicine working together to save baby after baby.

Esther and I were then off to the operating room (OR). On the agenda was a 6-week-old baby with a condition called Tetrology of Fallot, which is a fancy name for a baby with four heart defects. The bizarre thing was that the baby's mom was born with the same defect and underwent the same surgery at Children's 20 some years ago--and Esther was there for that, too.

We went in briefly while they were getting started (which takes about an hour just to get set up) and then went back to report to the family that things were underway. The rest of the day followed that pattern--in and out of the OR and back to the family with updates, each time with the family nervously awaiting the progress report. Between trips to the OR, we met two other families whose children would have surgery the next day. We gave them a tour of the scary-looking ICU and answered their questions. Esther asked my permission to share with the families that I had been through it and survived and so could they. Her calm demeanor is so reassuring.

Interacting with the surgeons was amazing--they welcomed me in their OR and I stood at the head of the bed watching over the drape for a good part of the day. Watching them go onto bypass, stop the baby's heart, fix it and watching it start beating again was like watching a movie. It is certainly a day I won't soon forget! The photo isn't great, but to follow rules, I couldn't take pics of any faces.

Two weeks & four months . . .

That's how long I have been in my new job and Doug in his. It has been a major adjustment in our household, but I am happy to report that we are all still standing. Doug is just four days away from finishing his training and I have just begun. He will soon begin advising TIAA-CREF customers what to do with their retirement funds. I suggested he tell them about our little vacation fund that is in need of some additional monies, but he was concerned he might get fired.

I worked my first official shift on my unit this weekend and it was surreal. The day started with a 22-day-old infant who came to Children's because his heart rate was wacky. Sure enough, it didn't improve and his heart rate became dangerously high (over 300 when normal for an infant is 120-160). An emergency was declared and people came running. The teamwork on the cardiac unit between doctors and nurses was amazing. At one point, the attending physician asked me if I wanted to push the next round of meds (OK, keep in mind, this is my first day on the unit!). So, there I am pushing a medication into the IV of a 3 week old baby that literally stops and restarts the heart. Can you say adrenaline rush? As I looked over to the mom who was in the room watching the whole thing with tears running down her face, I felt her fear. I walked over to her to bring her up to speed on what was happening and in that instant I knew why I was there that day. And, so while I wish I didn't have to work full-time initially, I am so proud of my kids for hanging in there and being such troopers! Oh, and the picture is the lobby of the hospital--pretty incredible!

Blackmail Material!

So, I know every parent thinks their kid is hilarious, but I had to post a video of Miss Kinley singing her guts out. She got this horrid sing along microphone for her birthday and we are all starting to run when we see her pull it out. We get treated to these High School Musical songs at least a couple times a day. :)

Ever Had a Wet Willie?

So, I knew owning a dog would be a challenge and so far it's been worth it, but let me just say that giving Willie his first bath was a far greater challenge than I expected. The
dang dog only weighs 14 pounds, but it took everything Doug and I had to give this dog a bath. With his eyes bugged out of his head, he looked at us like we were evil. The kids stood in

the background laughing hysterically. Um, not so funny. We toweled him off (yet another joke) and he takes off running. He was a dog possessed. He scooted sideways across every rug in my home and ran so fast he crashed into the couch. I don't think I've ever heard my kids laugh that hard. Next time, we will enlist the professionals. No more Wet Willies at my house! Oh, and the last picture I threw in is Willie every day when the kids go to school. He parks himself on the top of the couch and cries as they leave for school.