Another Procedure

Gabe went to the cath lab yesterday and things didn't go quite as well as planned. It turns out that his pulmonary artery is maybe shrinking? We know that it was larger several months ago and they thought it was 1mm and the plan was to put in a stent. It is only narrowing in the area where they reconnected the pulmonary artery. When they got in there, it measured only 0.6mm therefore, they weren't able to put a stent in. They ballooned it three times and got it to 2mm. Which means that we will be going back in about 3 months to try again. This has been hard for me and my Type A personality. I have to accept that this is more of a process and it is going to take time. This is a quick post, but I already feel that if I dwell on the bad news much more, I will start wallowing. Gabe is so healthy otherwise. The docs say that the heart function is great. So all in all, things are going ok. I will post more later. Thanks for the thoughts.

A New Kid

It has been awhile since the last post and things are going well. They kept telling us about an increase in his activity level, which we didn't see for about 3 weeks or so after surgery. Then, all of the sudden, this kid is EVERYWHERE! He runs, climbs, jumps, and moves at 100 miles an hour every waking moment. It is awesome.

We have been released from the surgeon, which is great news. We will see the cardiologist again in a month for another echo cardiogram. They say that he has pulmonary stenosis now where they connected his arteries. This means there is a narrowing in part of the artery. They think it is an easy fix in the cath lab with either a stent or a balloon. It sounds like they might do that early this summer. The doctors are very pleased with his heart function and his progress.

We are really looking forward to some warmer weather so we can start getting outside and doing fun things. We were able to meet up with the Stubblefields, a family from Southern Illinois we went to China with. They were in town for the IHSA tournament this past weekend and we met up with them for dinner. We joked in China about their daughter, Ava, being Gabe's girlfriend. (He actually had a couple girls in our group who were his girlfriends) I am putting some of the pictures on the blog. They were SO cute together. It was so nice to see them. We are planning a little reunion in St. Louis this summer and after seeing the Stubblefields, I am even more excited to see everyone. It will be nice to see how all of the kids have changed over the past year.

I am sorry that it took so long for a post. Chasing a toddler has kept me pretty busy. I will be better about posting in the future. Take care.

Check Up

We saw the cardiologist today for a follow up. He is very impressed with Gabe's progress. He will see him again in a month to run some tests to make sure things are progressing as they should and hopefully, at that time, take him off most of his meds. We will love that because the Sildenifil is given three times a day and one of those times is at midnight.

In true Gabe form, he put on quite a show today. He had Valentine candy to pass out to the office staff and he charmed everyone there. He even listened to one of the doctor's heartbeat with his stethoscope.

We will see the surgeon again in two weeks and after that, the appointments should taper off. We are just so excited that things are starting to fall together for our family. We only have a couple more weeks to be so home bound. I am going to start him in a Kindermusic class as soon as we can start getting out. We have many plans for spring and summer as well.

I will post periodically as we get more checkups and such. Thanks again for all of your support and prayers. It really helped get us through this. Even though we have had Gabe for 7 months now, we have always been so careful with him. It feels like now we will be able to do normal family things. We are over the moon! Thanks again!!

Ludlums

Home on the Range

Things are slowly getting better here at home. Gabe still isn't wanting to eat much, but hopefully that will change soon. He had one day this week when we saw his former appetite at all three meals. I thought we had turned the corner, but the next day, it was back to hardly eating. A boy can't live on American cheese alone, but if it were up to him....

We will be going to the cardiologist next week and they will likely conduct an echo cardiogram. We will know more about his heart function, etc. at that point. Assuming that we get a good report, I will likely start back to work a couple days a week. I am looking forward to that because I am not the best stay at home person. I don't think this weather helps much, we are going stir crazy. We try to get out for drives since we can't take him anywhere. Luckily there are still a couple people with Christmas lights up, which Gabe loves.

Sleeping has gotten a little better. Fingers crossed - we haven't had a nightmare for a couple days. Hopefully, that phase is over.

We are certainly seeing some of the results of his surgery. Gabe hasn't gotten winded once, even after taking on the stairs. It is awesome!

We haven't taken the opportunity to thank everyone who helped us out. First of all the doctors and nurses in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit were outstanding. As usually, we got incredible care and attention.

Also, thanks for the meals that people brought. You have no idea how helpful it was to not have to worry about cooking. Plus the hospital cafeteria got really old really fast.

Someone sent us a Curious George DVD and there was no name on it. Whoever it was - thank you!

Thanks for all of the supportive visits, phone calls, texts and especially prayers. It is amazing to see how many lives Gabe has touched. It is especially moving to know since most of you haven't gotten to meet Gabe yet. That will hopefully change as soon as we get past our healing time. By spring, this kid will be all over the place!

Thanks again for everything and I will post the report from the doctor next week.

Typed Too Soon

It appears that I typed too soon about the sleep. The nightmares started last night. He woke up twice very frightened. The second time, it took so long for us to comfort him and get him to calm down. It is so sad to see him so upset. I know that many people who have been on bypass report nightmares and very bizarre dreams. Hopefully, this will be short lived. Thanks for the prayers.

Updates

Well, this week is full of appointments for Gabe. We got blood drawn (total nightmare) and a chest xray yesterday. Then we saw the surgeon to check on his progress. He is very pleased with Gabe's progress. He isn't getting enough fluids, which we suspected, but it is hard to get a 2 year old to drink if they don't want to. We are having a terrible time with food, even his favorites. I know that people who have been on bypass complain that foods taste different, usually bad. I don't think that we had this much trouble after the last surgery. I practically put a smorgasbord in front of his at mealtime and he might have a couple bites of something. Then he will start spitting food out. The only thing that he really likes right now are barbecue or salt and vinegar potato chips. Nice. He normally eats really healthy, but I guess for now, we will make some concessions just so that he is eating something.

He has been sleeping really well. The last time, we had a heck of a time getting him back on a sleep schedule and he wasn't sleeping nearly as much as he should. Fortunately, the sleep wasn't an issue at all. I guess that is the trade off.

Gabe's chest xrays looked great and they managed to cut back one of his medicines after yesterday's appointment. We will see the pediatrician on Thursday for a follow up as well. So far, things are going well, we just have some adjusting to do. Gabe is still crabbier than usual, which I think is due to the discomfort/pain that he is still experiencing.

I will say the other advantage we had with the last surgery is that during our "quarantined time" at home was relieved with frequent walks in the stroller. I didn't realize what a great break that was! We are going a little stir crazy and we are only a few days in!

I will post an update in a couple days. Thanks again for thinking of us!

YAY!!!!!

GABE IS HOME!!!!!!!!

He is happy to be home, but very sluggish. He is eating a little better and finally interested in drinking milk again. I am sure that we are in for a treat getting back on a sleep schedule. Thanks for all of the prayers. I will continue to post, but probably not as regularly. Thanks again!!!