I've Got a Feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good, good night...

I've been focusing on the "now" as in, what needs to happen next, all day.  Having said that, I feel unfocused and my mind is racing from what's on my to do list to what could happen next month.  I wonder and worry about Avery, Zach and Eric.  I feel fuzzy, maybe I'm getting sick.

I'm ready for Avery to have her last open heart surgery.  I'm not sure that I'm ready for the recovery stage though.  You have to take the whole package though; the beginning and the end.  We've had a nice break from hospital stays and mentally we've pushed that part aside.  I feel bettered prepared for this than for the other surgeries, but you just never know how it will ride.  Despite some of my misgivings, I am confident that everything will go well, and if not, it will work out in the end. 

In talking to a nurse today, she said the average stay for a fontan is 2 weeks or a little less (depending on when the chest tubes stop draining).  I remember seeing little kids 2-3 walking around in socks and gowns with a parent pushing the i.v. pole after them, trying to keep up.:)  

In this surgery, did I mention it was the last,  they will route the unoxygenated blood coming from below the heart, directly to the lungs, bypassing the heart.  In the end, her heart will only pump the oxygenated blood to her body and the unoxygenated blood will just flow to the lungs.  Cool, huh.  See, you only need half a heart, really (and a good surgeon).

We couldn't do this if it weren't for the help and support of our family and friends.  THANK YOU!

April 1st 8:30 am.  Please pray for Avery!

Happy Trash Day

As today is also Wednesday and we forgot to put the trash out to the curb, I woke up saying, "uh-oh, it's trash day!".    A little later on I was helping Zach get dressed for the day and we were talking about St. Patrick's Day and wearing green.  Zach said to me, "No mom, it's not St. Patrick's day, it's trash day."  :)   Yes, we get this special trash day every Wed.  How lucky we are.

I think if you don't work with kids, or you're not in school, or don't drink, then St. Patrick's day isn't a big deal.  I do remember eating green eggs and ham for breakfast in grade school for this semi-holiday.  Of course, pinching people who weren't wearing green was also a bonus.  I guess I need more ideas for today, aside from green food and leprechaun traps.  Anyhoo, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

April Fools Day

Yesterday was such a nice sunny day!  In the 40's but very nice.  I hope snow days are behind us now.
I got a call from U. of M. and Avery's surgery will be April 1st.  It's a little sooner than I was expecting, and I admit that my mind was racing the minute they called and I didn't calm down for a few hours. :)  The best part is, is Avery will not have blue moments anymore.  I do think this will be the hardest stay for her, because she is older and can move so much, but what do you do? 

Think of Avery on April 1st and pray for a good outcome!

Strong Girl

Avery had a heart catheterization yesterday and all in all, things turned out well.  After it was done and I first saw her, she had crazy hair everywhere and dried blood in half of it, I was a little freaked to see her like that.  Her neck had two bloody spots and she was mad!  A crazy mad girl that looked vampire bit.  Joking aside,  she had some rough moments the next few hours (thrashing about because she couldn't get comfy to sleep) but a little dose of Dora helped calm her down.  She kept trying to pull the tubes/wires off too.

They threaded the cath through her femoral artery and then a vein in her neck, so she had those spots well covered in sticky tape and gauze.  They attempted to get the vein on the other side of her neck, but no dice, so the point of this whole thing is, is she looks like she's wearing a neck brace, which is kind of funny.  It wasn't funny then, but now it is.  (I cope with humor, as weak as mine is. )

The whole thing gave me a preview of things to come.  Avery is older and will hate having things connected to her, getting her temp taken, blood pressure, ect.  and overall not being able to sleep well when she's not in her bed.  Help.  They will have the side bars up on her bed and she'll thrash about, seriously, and I hope she doesn't hurt herself.  We should find out this week when her last heart surgery will be, sometime in April.

Obviously, I want Avery to be alright, not to be scared of everything, or mad at everything, and also to be able to trust people when it's all done.  I am ever optimistic and have faith that we are in the Lord's hands when we do what's right.

Final step's a coming!  Wahoo.  ok, that's not the right word, but ... oh well.  I'm just not eloquent.
Here are some pics of this week:

The queen resides, under the Dora spell.  We brought her puppydog along and that helped a lot.  He even got some blood on him, sympathy wounds.

EATING a strawberry!! and so pleased too

Zach also is a lover of strawberries.  They're so "juicy".

Zach took this cute pic of Avery.

Smacking his chops for his yummy food.  Thanks Bob and Susie!