Abby Grace and her daddy!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Fabulous Friday!!
We had a great first day home. Sean did not disturb us until 10 when it was time to head to pick V up from church camp with her friend Morgan. She was so excited and surprised when I met her at the church. She was expecting us to still be in Charleston, I think she underestimated her little sister. V and I ran to Wally World to do some fat free shopping so Abby could have something to eat. We were delighted to find some yummy things to eat: cheese slices, yogurt, sour cream (she loves to eat it by the spoonful) some cottage cheese and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I found myself looking a labels in a new way. I am one of those yep looks good let's get it shoppers. I never look at labels but WOW we really need to pay attention to the amount of fat we have been eating. I am looking at this 6 week no fat thing as a chance for us all to get a little more healthier. I was just cooking some dinner (tacos) and Jacob came in and said "Yuck...fat free tacos." We had a little discussion that aside from the cheese and sour cream everything was the same as "fat-in tacos." Boy was that a relief to him.
Abby has bounded back amazingly well. Today we stopped off at Nana and Papa's and she showed them her zipper.(code for incision)She was so proud of it. While I shopped on-line for V's textbooks she ate some of Papa's pickles. She may not be related to him by blood but the do share an amazing love of pickles. Once we got home she played outside in the yard with Owen and ran up and down the driveway a few times. I kept telling her to slow down but she had a freedom about her like never before. Not one did she say she was tired or appear out of breath. She just amazes me. My walking, talking miracle girl :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wheels!!!!
Abby Grace slept until after 10 this morning just before rounds happened. She was still wiping the sleep from her eyes when the team came bouncing into our room. After a bit of listening and looking they announced that tubes were coming out and we were going home TODAY!! Woohoo :) :)
So tubes came out around 11, had our x-ray and echo and we were cleared to leave. We made our way over to the pharmacy where we waited for almost an hour for her meds which Bryna had tubed over 2 hours earlier.
Nurses Note: We had Bryna when we were here for Ab's first heart surgery and let me just say she is fantastic. She is so sweet and calming with Ab. She is having a baby boy in September and she is going to be an incredible mom :D She won't be here when we are back down here in December for a few days when we have dental surgery but we were so happy she was here this time. All of the nurses here are super. They truly have a heart for what they do. Caroline, Tara, Lindsey, Rachel, Ms. Sandra, Mrs. Mary and all the other nurses were just wonderful :) Funny story...the other day I ran down stairs to grab a sandwich and left Ab up in the room eating her noodles. I returned to hear her carrying on a conversation with one of the nurses at the station in the remote. I told her if you need anything just press the button, well apparently she just needed to talk :)
Anyway, we went to the playroom to return the menagerie is toys we had borrowed and for Ab to have one last date with the doll house. Then we returned to the room for one more meal of noodles, ketchup and hotdogs. Bet she won't touch another hotdog for weeks. Now we sit playing Cooties, watching Enchanted (for the 10th time) waiting for our wheels to arrive to take us home. It is going to be so great to sleep in our own beds tonight and just be back with our family.
We don't have many limitations right now just a few not so great ones:
No swimming for 2 weeks in the pool. (lake, ocean, stream 12 weeks)
No soaking in the tub for 2 weeks.
No bouncing on the trampoline for 6 weeks.
No school for 6 weeks.
* And the kicker and worst one of all.. No fat diet til September 9!!!
That last one will be the hardest one to deal with. Luckily we can do some pasta. She is actually allowed 10g of fat a day but I guess Chick-fil-a and McD's are out for a while :( I was looking at options and really it should not be too hard to do but just have to start reading labels on stuff.
I will post an update in a few days. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Abby Grace and offering encouragement and support!
So tubes came out around 11, had our x-ray and echo and we were cleared to leave. We made our way over to the pharmacy where we waited for almost an hour for her meds which Bryna had tubed over 2 hours earlier.
Nurses Note: We had Bryna when we were here for Ab's first heart surgery and let me just say she is fantastic. She is so sweet and calming with Ab. She is having a baby boy in September and she is going to be an incredible mom :D She won't be here when we are back down here in December for a few days when we have dental surgery but we were so happy she was here this time. All of the nurses here are super. They truly have a heart for what they do. Caroline, Tara, Lindsey, Rachel, Ms. Sandra, Mrs. Mary and all the other nurses were just wonderful :) Funny story...the other day I ran down stairs to grab a sandwich and left Ab up in the room eating her noodles. I returned to hear her carrying on a conversation with one of the nurses at the station in the remote. I told her if you need anything just press the button, well apparently she just needed to talk :)
Anyway, we went to the playroom to return the menagerie is toys we had borrowed and for Ab to have one last date with the doll house. Then we returned to the room for one more meal of noodles, ketchup and hotdogs. Bet she won't touch another hotdog for weeks. Now we sit playing Cooties, watching Enchanted (for the 10th time) waiting for our wheels to arrive to take us home. It is going to be so great to sleep in our own beds tonight and just be back with our family.
We don't have many limitations right now just a few not so great ones:
No swimming for 2 weeks in the pool. (lake, ocean, stream 12 weeks)
No soaking in the tub for 2 weeks.
No bouncing on the trampoline for 6 weeks.
No school for 6 weeks.
* And the kicker and worst one of all.. No fat diet til September 9!!!
That last one will be the hardest one to deal with. Luckily we can do some pasta. She is actually allowed 10g of fat a day but I guess Chick-fil-a and McD's are out for a while :( I was looking at options and really it should not be too hard to do but just have to start reading labels on stuff.
I will post an update in a few days. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Abby Grace and offering encouragement and support!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
103.3
Way to high for an ox sat and way to high for a fever too but that was the case last night!
Abby had a great Monday even walking to the elevators and playroom. She ate wonderfully, colored, painted, played doll house and then it hit. We got our vitals done around 10 or so and she was HOT!! Nurse Tara and Ms. Mary immediately called in the resident. They took her chest bandages off and looked at her chest. It was a bit red but nothing too alarming. They went ahead and drew blood and sent it off for a culture, ordered an x-ray and gave her some antibiotics. A little after midnight we finally drifted off to sleep.
This morning she woke up in a "Crabby Abby." Did not want to eat any breakfast at all. Unfortunately since we had a fever last night we could not leave the room to go to the playroom. So we spent the morning in here coloring and watching movies. After lunch Dr. Bradley and Mrs. Cathy signed off on getting her mid-line tube out and neck line out. That was rough but once they were out she was thrilled.
,
2 volunteers named Sam & Summer stopped by to pamper her a bit by painting her toe nails beautiful bright pink. She loved them so much they left her the bottle and I later painted her fingers, my fingers and my toes too. She was so excited and wanted to show everyone that we matched. Sam was a high school student here in SC that wanted to start a volunteer project here at MUSC last year she decided to start "Sam's Special Spa" she comes in once a week and paints the toes or fingers of little girls in the hospital. So sweet of her to volunteer a day to brighten the day of these little patients. Her mother is in charge of the happy cart here which is a cart that comes around on Thursdays and the kids get to pick a toy to keep. Last week when it came by Abby Grace was asleep so I picked a princess pillow for her, she loved it.
Dr Bradley stopped by before heading out on a much deserved vacation. I tell you what that man is a miracle worker here on Earth. He is so nice and gentle with children and has a great bedside manner. I will never forget our first meeting with him in April 2008 when he told us he'd have to operate on her ASAP. I just get tears in my eyes thinking about what might have been had we not come to MUSC. He is such a special man and will always hold a special place in our hearts. To think that he actually held her heart in his hands amazes me. He truly is using his God given talents to perform miracles here on Earth. Thanks Dr B!!!
Fluid levels have dropped a lot and we are still on track for going home by this weekend. We sure are ready to get back to the family especially since my sister and her family will be down from Toronto for a few weeks.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
Abby had a great Monday even walking to the elevators and playroom. She ate wonderfully, colored, painted, played doll house and then it hit. We got our vitals done around 10 or so and she was HOT!! Nurse Tara and Ms. Mary immediately called in the resident. They took her chest bandages off and looked at her chest. It was a bit red but nothing too alarming. They went ahead and drew blood and sent it off for a culture, ordered an x-ray and gave her some antibiotics. A little after midnight we finally drifted off to sleep.
This morning she woke up in a "Crabby Abby." Did not want to eat any breakfast at all. Unfortunately since we had a fever last night we could not leave the room to go to the playroom. So we spent the morning in here coloring and watching movies. After lunch Dr. Bradley and Mrs. Cathy signed off on getting her mid-line tube out and neck line out. That was rough but once they were out she was thrilled.
, 2 volunteers named Sam & Summer stopped by to pamper her a bit by painting her toe nails beautiful bright pink. She loved them so much they left her the bottle and I later painted her fingers, my fingers and my toes too. She was so excited and wanted to show everyone that we matched. Sam was a high school student here in SC that wanted to start a volunteer project here at MUSC last year she decided to start "Sam's Special Spa" she comes in once a week and paints the toes or fingers of little girls in the hospital. So sweet of her to volunteer a day to brighten the day of these little patients. Her mother is in charge of the happy cart here which is a cart that comes around on Thursdays and the kids get to pick a toy to keep. Last week when it came by Abby Grace was asleep so I picked a princess pillow for her, she loved it.
Dr Bradley stopped by before heading out on a much deserved vacation. I tell you what that man is a miracle worker here on Earth. He is so nice and gentle with children and has a great bedside manner. I will never forget our first meeting with him in April 2008 when he told us he'd have to operate on her ASAP. I just get tears in my eyes thinking about what might have been had we not come to MUSC. He is such a special man and will always hold a special place in our hearts. To think that he actually held her heart in his hands amazes me. He truly is using his God given talents to perform miracles here on Earth. Thanks Dr B!!!
Fluid levels have dropped a lot and we are still on track for going home by this weekend. We sure are ready to get back to the family especially since my sister and her family will be down from Toronto for a few weeks.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
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