No News.... But Enjoy the Pics

Dr R's office called me today to let me know that they have not yet heard back from Dr B at MUSC regarding keeping Nov 9 or postponing the surgery.  Dr R said he would call Dr B again tomorrow if he hadn't heard anything.  So, the plan for now is still to proceed with the November 9 surgery which is currently scheduled.

As for Anna Grace, she seems to be tolerating her antibiotic OK.  It is hard to say if it has started making a dent in the sinus infection or not, but for the most part she seems like herself to me - so that is good.

I have oficially declared us "on holiday" from school.  So, we played all day today.  We played and played and played.  I played a lot of Transformers and a lot of tea party.  We also built a fire in the fireplace and raked leaves in the backyard.  Zachary has also taught himself how to do a front flip on the trampoline.... I'm not crazy about this new trick because I envision an ER trip but I'm really not sure how to stop him so I suppose I am going to just have to let him be a boy :)

We went to Mee-Maw and Pops house this evening for dinner and to just visit and get out of the house a little.  Also, with all the little kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood I thought it was best to just get out of Dodge!  On our way home tonight Zachary did say, "Mom, I wish I could go trick-or-treating, but I know we can't".  Oh.... he is such a sweet and understanding little boy, but I know this has been hard on him too. 

So, we didn't go trick-or-treating, but we do have plenty of candy - chocolate and lifesaver gummies thanks to Mee-Maw and Pops :) 

We don't have much on the agenda tomorrow other than playing.  Our babysitter, Miss. Lauren is coming tomorrow afternoon to watch the kids for me so that I can take care of paying bills and getting all of that in order before we head to Charleston for surgery.  Yes, the bills still have to be paid so I am devoting tomorrow afternoon to fun financials :)

So, we are just home trying to make memories and enjoy every moment we can together. With that, I will leave you with these pictures from our house and backyard :)

Sinus Infection

So, the kids and I were at the pediatrician's office this morning at 8:30 am.  The conclusion.... Zachary is fine and Anna Grace has a sinus infection.  Yep, I was really surpised to hear him say that - but he felt certain its a sinus infection.  So, he started Anna Grace on 10 days of Augmentin (sp?).  When we got home I called Dr R to let him know what happened.  Dr R feels like since she will be finishing up day 10 of her antiobiotic on pre-op day that she should be fine for surgery, but he called the surgeon Dr B today to let him know what was going on with AG.  Dr B will make the ultimate decision and Dr R said he would call me tomorrow (or whenever he hears back from Dr B) and let us know what the plan is.  In the meantime, we are to plan to still have the Nov 9 surgery.  So.... as of right now we are still planning on heading to Charleston next week (probably Tuesday) with pre-op on Thursday and surgery on Friday.

Whew... what a whirlwind of a day!

Because of all the excitement of the day I got no homeschooling done today.  Zachary was pretty happy about that I have to say!  After we got home from the doctor and pharmacy the kids and I decided to build a fire in our fireplace.  We've lived here for almost 2 years and have never built a fire.  In light of the fact that we still have no heat, a fire seemed like a great idea.  It turned out to be a fantastic idea.  The kids and I really enjoyed building the fire and it really heated up the living room a lot more than I expected it would.  It was fun sitting in front of the fire playing and telling stories and was just a lovely way to end the day today!  Even when we do get our heat fixed we will defintley continue using our wood buring fire place this winter.

As for the heat being broken... we hopefully will have it fixed before we head to Charleston, but the rest of the week is supposed to warm up pretty nicely during the day so I think we're going to be just fine!

Just a few prayer requests for today....

(1)  That Dr B would have the wisdom to make the right decision regarding Anna Grace's surgery and the timing of it.

(2)  That AG will respond to the antibiotics and that it will clear her sinus infection up completley.

(3)  That Brian will be able to get his work wrapped up without any issue or incident.

(4)  That we would remain healthy.

(5)  That the Lord will give AG great courage and peace leading up to and during our time at MUSC.

Morning Doctor Appointment

It has been a week since I posted and I apologize for that!  Last week was a bit crazy.  After hearning back from Dr R about how to handle AG's cold, I came down with the stomach virus!!!!!  How does someone who is in quarantine catch the stomach virus??? I'm not sure, but I had it and then AG had it.  Brian and Zachary seem to have been spared the misery of the stomach virus thankfully.  As far as stomach viruses go, it wasn't as terrible as the infamous "Stomach Virus of Spring 2011" and I am SOOOOO thankful for that!  AG and I seem to have weathered the stomach virus just fine.

Saturday morning the family woke up and NO ONE was sick with the stomach virus so we loaded up and headed down to the lake for some fun in the sun :)  It was so great to be outside, visting with grandparents and tooling around in the boat on the lake.  The weather was pretty warm... 75 so it was cool but not cold.  Just perfect.  And we all needed the time out of the house and outside.  It was great for family morale :)

Sunday we stayed inside most of the day with the exception of Brain and Zachary going mountain bike riding for an hour or so.

Zachary woke up this morning saying that his ear was "stopped up" and then AG started saying that her ear was hurting.  They both still have the tail end of their colds and since I am supposed to be calling Dr R tomorrow to discuss keeping the Nov 9 surgery date or postponing it I figured that a visit to our beloved pediatrician Dr Y was in order.  So, Tuesday morning we have 8:30 am doctor appointments with Dr Y for ear checks.  Honestly, I think everyones ears are fine, but with such a big surgery coming up there is no since in playing the guessing game, so I will have Dr Y give AG a full exam and then help guide us in making this big decision.

Please be praying for us to stay well after our visit to the doctor office (it is the germiest place on Earth) and for clear direction with a decision to keep or postpone surgery.  We of course want what is best for AG so whatever timing the Lord has for this we are truly, truly fine with.

Oh... one more prayer request.... we woke up today to find our heat out.  We called the heat repair people who told us we need a new outside unit and that the fan on our air handler is out.  They're supposed to be calling us with a price quote to get these two things replaced.  Please pray with us that these items can be replaced soon and at a fair price.  In the mean time, I am thankful for a well insulated home and fuzzy blankets :)

Praying friends.... we sincerely appreciate and covet your prayers!

Heard From Dr. R

Dr. R called me today and he said that based on the symptoms I described to him that we should just watch Anna Grace and see how she does.  He wants me to call him on Tuesday and tell him how she is and then we would make s decision about what's best to do.

He said not to call MUSC yet, lets just wait until Tuesday.

So, we are praying and asking our friends to pray that she recovers from this cold quickly and without the development of any ear or sinus infection and that it won't be an issue at all.  He has not put her on any antibiotic so she's just having Tylenol before bed.

Just to be honest here.... the kids are faring A LOT better with this cold than I am.  All I want to do is lay on the couch and all they want to do is play, play, play.  I was invited to two tea parties today which I happily attended AND I was also invited to be some sort of a super hero in the back yard and my job was to catch dinosaurs.  Oh.... my super power was that I could turn myself into an arrow.   I was really a sorry excuse for a super-hero, I'll admit it :)

Needless to say I am beat so I am heading off to snuggle in my bed now that my kiddos are finally tucked fast asleep in their beds.

I will keep you posted on how our little one is doing and I thank you all for continuing to pray for Anna Grace :)

I am not fretting about this at all surprisingly, the Lord has really given me a peace about it and I trust His timing with it.  What a blessing that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have colds!

Our family chose last week to start quarantine which would give us 3 weeks prior to AG's heart surgery to stay and be well.  However, the day we started quarantine Zachary became symptomatic of a cold.  Nothing serious, just a common cold with the runny nose, stuffy, nose and cough.  As you would expect, Anna Grace and I have also caught the cold. (Sniff, sniff, cough)

I called Dr. R today to let him know about AG's cold just to be sure it's not going to be an issue still having surgery on  November 9.  I left a message with his nurse and haven't heard back from him yet.

So, as soon as I know something I'll post an update.  As long as the cold doesn't turn into anything more serious - like an ear infection or sinus infection then she should be over it about a week before surgery, but I'm not sure if that's OK or not. Or... if they might want to start her on an antibiotic just to head things off at the pass so to speak.

So, in the meantime, the kids and I are just hanging around the house doing homeschool in the morning and spending our afternoons playing in the backyard and having a campfire.... everyday!

I did mention to the kids the other day that I think a swing set might be a good investment for our backyard so I think I'll start checking out craigslist to see what I can find.

Thank you all for continuing to pray for us!  I'll keep you posted on what Dr R says.

We know that God is soverign and we trust His timing in this!

Cardiology & Quarantine

Anna Grace had a cardiology visit on Tuesday.  She didn't cooperate as well as last time, but she did OK during the visit.  There was no echo this visit, so it was much quicker than last time.  The only thing that changed from last time was that her O2 sats were 85 this week.  So WAY up from the last visit.  Dr. R said that these heart kids are very sensitive and that if she had a little cold or hadn't had enough water to drink or any small thing could affect her sats and make them drop.  So, no real explination as to why they were so low last time, but on Tuesday they were 85 and I was thankful :)

So, Dr. R went through the Fontan surgical explination with me one more time.  Basically, Dr. B will attach her inferior vena cave to her pulmonary artery.  Dr B will also have to do a pulmonary patch-plasty on her pulmonary artery where they found the "kink" during the heart cath.  The Fontan that Dr B will do will be a lateral tunnel and he will put an ASD acculuder from the lateral tunnel to her right atrium as a "pop off" for overflow.  In 6 months if scar tissue has not closed the ASD acculuder (aka a fenestration) then she will need a heart catherization to close the fenestration in about 6 months - 1 year.

Dr R also told me when to stop her medications and he gave me the prayer line number to his Church and told me to call them and have his Church praying for AG.  (I guess the doctor/patient confidentiality won't let him do it).  So, it was bitter-sweet to walk out of his office Tuesday monring - I know we won't see him again until after the heart surgery.  He is such a great docotr, I wish he could go to MUSC and do this with us!

Tuesday was also our last day with our homeschool co-op.  They were all so sweet and got us an awesome care package of goodies to take to the hospital with us and some spending money to use while we're there.  A most unusual gift that they gave us...... a crayfish dissection kit and an owl pellet dissection kit.  Those are two of the Science experiments that we are going to miss during our quarantine and hospital visit.  I know Zachary will be VERY excited about those gifts - although I have to admit that I was really glad when Brian told me that he would be happy to do the experiments with Zachary.  (I was really not looking forward to the crayfish dissection)!  But the group was so very supportive and loving and some of the children drew pictures and handmade bracelets for the kids.  It was just so very touching and humbling to me.  I am truly thankful for this group of families to be doing school with :)

So Wednesday (yesterday) began our quarantine in preparation for surgery.  Of course, to begin our quarantine Zachary has come down with a cold.  Yesterday he started sneezing and then started with a super runny nose.  I fully anticipate Anna Grace to get the cold since we are all trapped here in the house together, but with 3 weeks until surgery I feel pretty confident that even if she gets the cold it will be able to run its course with time to spare before surgery.  But please, if you think about it, pray that she wonj't even get the cold and that we can all stay healthy for the remainder of our period of quarantine.

So, I think that is the most update for now.  Thank you for praying for our family as we head closer to surgery on November 9.  We trust the Lord with Anna Grace and His plans for her, but we are still parents and are beginning to feel the serious weight of what is about to come.  As you can imagine.  Thank you for following our story.

Quarantine

Sorry for the delay in posts.  Anna Grace has a cardiology visit this coming Tuesday just to be sure her sats are holding steady and not declining anymore.  After that we will begin the DREADED quarantine!!!!!  Believe it or not surgery is just 3 1/2 short weeks away and there have been lots of colds and respiratory viruses going around so it is time for us to go ahead and start our season of quarantine.  It is not fun, but it is necessary.  Thank you all for continuing to pray for Anna Grace as we begin our very near approach to the Fontan.