Dad's Surgery Updates

They took him back around 1:30, the surgeon and his staff all prayed with our family it was so comforting. The doctor said they thought the surgery would be roughly 4-5 hours depending on if they are only going to do a triple bypass. If they go in and think he needs more than they will go ahead and do it while he is under.

1:20pm: The chaplain came to visit with our family in the waiting room and gave us each a little fabric heart, he told us to hold them while he is in surgery and know that God has him in his hand. We loved that it was so sweet. Now we are just waiting for updates..... as soon as we get them I will post.

3:00: The surgeons nurse Sherill came and gave us an update, she said he is doing well. They did put him on the heart and lung machine, he is a risk for a stroke when he comes off the machine so please pray for the transition. He is currently still needing 3 bypass'.

3:45: Dad's heart is beating on his own... great sign, he ended up with a triple bypass. They are taking him off the heart and lung machine now (please pray for no stroke, he is at risk) then they will sew him up and take him to his ICU room. They are hoping by 8-9 pm they will be able to take him off the breathing tube if all is well.

4:15: They are sewing his chest closed now, he is off the heart and lung machine. (they will not know if he has had a stroke until after he wakes up. Praying for all to go well and for a full and speedy recovery.

Guess WHO breaks out.....

So today Derric and I went to visit my dad after church. He was visiting with a very dear friend of our family Linda Haha! He wasn't laying in a hospital bed like most ICU patients... No he was actually dressed from head to toe, shoes and all sitting in the chair beside his bed. You would have thought he was a visitor. We stayed for about an hour and he started dozing off so we told him we would go have lunch and let him take a nap and come back!

So, we did just that and when we returned he wasn't anywhere to be found. My sister told me the night before he was trying to make friends with other patients on his floor.... he even joked about running for Mayor! His sense of humor never seems to leave which is so great, even if he isn't too happy about it and he's being ugly, he says it in the funniest ways, that you have to laugh! So I looked in everyroom and walked around the whole floor and could not find him. I found his nurse and asked if he had been taken for a test and she said Noooooo.... but I can guess where he might be? She said he has been looking out his view of the lake and is dying to get outside, so we went to walk out to look for him and just as we were at the door he hollared to us, he was in this empty hall way staring out into the sunshine saying "I just want to sit outside, I hate not being able to go outside", he is such an outdoor person, at home he is always on the porch or in the garage with the door raised so he can be outdoors. So sadly he went back to his room so we could chat. About 15 minutes later my sister called, she was watching Hank for us so that we could go to church, she lives about 5 mins from church which is such a help since he can't go around those other kiddos til May 1st. She told us that she was at the hospital to bring us Hank, my mom wanted to see him and so I thought.... I am gonna find his nurse and ask if there was anyway we could take him to see Hank for just a minute. I wanted him so badly to be able to hold him before his surgery since Hank's immune system would be too low to bring in the hospital. Believe it or not they let us take him down to see him outside. We were so excited for him! So here are a few pictures of that special memory, this made his week.








Please pray for my dad's surgery Monday (tomorrow) at 12:30, pray for the doctor's to have steady hands and wisdom, that my dad would have peace and comfort tomorrow. Also please pray for him to be able to STOP smoking he desperately wants help to quit, please pray that the Lord will give him the will power to follow through with it so that he can live many more years to love on his sweet grandchildren that he adores so much.


All he keeps talking about is our annual Easter lunch at his house, he hunts eggs for my nieces and really looks forward to cooking out for his family. We have told him that we will still do Easter when he is home and ready, we wouldn't do it without him!

Hank's Easter Pictures by Dee Howell

Whirlwind

So my dad got a stomach bug on Saturday night, he has been very sick... but we didn't think too much of it. Wednesday he got very weak and tried to drive to the doctor but ended up coming back home and calling my mom because he wasn't sure he could make it. He also started to have a numb arm and so he knew even though he didn't want to that he should probably go to the ER. So they admited him and said that he was very dehydrated from being sick for a few days and that his Kidney's were failing, which is common from dehydration. They were not dismissing his numbness but had to get the kidney's under control before doing a heart cath. So suprisingly today he has one, we weren't expecting it at all today, because we had no reports from his kidneys yet..... My dad called my sister to bring him a paper on her way to work and while she was there the doctor told them he was having a heart cath at 11:00 like an hour before hand. I was in Conroe going to do a little work and my mom was at a funeral for one of her students. So we finally all get there before the doctor gives us the results and..... the news wasn't as great as it had been in the past. He had stints put in twice already, 2000 and 2003. The doctor explianed to us that he had lots of blockage and that they were going to have to do a bypass. You see he had 90 % blockage in the main artery which would be to risky for a cath becasue where it is positioned, and the other arteries were also majorly blocked from 60-80%. He is having to have a triple bypass on Monday and then have to come back in a few months for his leg blockage. Please join us in praying for his irritabiity while in the hospital, no one ever wants to be there but this is not a choice, and for him to be very sweet to his nurses, he is not smoking obviously and they can't give him a patch so he's just a little on edge. Please pray for my mother to have comfort and strength during this scary time. Thank you Jesus for saving my dad and for giving him the signals that something was indeed wrong.

Serenity Prayer
God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine be done

Easter is Near....

Check out these precious pictures from Dee Howell....
www.deehowellphotography.com then click clients and password is hank, to see the ones she sent me to preview! More to come from her ....

Also my Easter Basket's are almost gone. I am finishing them up over the next couple of nights.... I currently have 2 purple, 1 hot pink, and 1 turquosie left. Go to my etsy site to purchase, I am sending priority.

A Splashin' Good Time

(You might want to mute the music to hear the video sound)

Hank is growing so much each and everyday. He is really reaching for his toys and holding on to things so well. He loves kicking in the bath tub and rubbing on my face and his head. He is really trying to talk to us.... if we only knew what he was saying. Hope you all enjoy this as we do!

This is how I roll......

I think this started because he hates tummy time! Hahaha, now he thinks he doesn't have to do it. Sorry for the video from my phone, I promise to start using my camcorder.

Three Months Old

3 things I love about Hank

1. His Smile
2. His Cuddle
3. His Clothes
(haha, he let's me play dress up all the time)

Hank is holding his head up really well, rolling to both sides for toys, and TALKING up a storm.
We had to shh him last night in bible study because Derric and I couldn't watch the video, too funny. He is also loving tv, Mickety's Clubhouse and Handy Manny he really smiles at.

No more breathing treatments like this anymore yea!!! He is much better now, still a little congested but no wheezing or coughing!

Happy Boy

Taylor Mae and Hank love to watch t.v together, currently they have been hooked on American Idol oh wait.... maybe that's me! All kidding aside these babies love the lights from the t.v. these pictures were taken before Hank was sick, they have had withdrawls from each other the whole time they were apart, oh wait again that was more me. Since Hank has been taking his breathing treatments now he loves to do it in front of the t.v while watching Mickey's Playhouse, he smiles and kicks his legs and swings his arms so big with that little mask on. It's so sweet.

P.S. Taylor is wearing skinny jeans they are too cute, she's quite the fashion diva!

He will lay in his bed and just play while the mobile is on.
Reaching for the stars...

Enough already Lady give me the paci.

Crupe, Crud, Crap.... and 400 bucks later!

Hank is 3 months old today.... it's hard to believe. I will post pictures later of his birthday. We have had a crazy last 2 weeks. Let's see about 5 weeks ago now Hank had a cold, sneezing, congested went to the doctor they said no medication, just monitor him and about 10 days later it was over. Then it came back this time with a cough, so I went to get the RSV test again and they said it's just a cold. Maybe even allergies, at this age the two are so similar it's hard to tell. But again no meds, just wait it out. Okay..... then he started really coughing and wheezing went to ER on Saturday conviently and they told me it was just a cold, his lungs look fine. Then the following night he had 102 fever so I called his surgeons nurse Beth and told her the whole big ordeal and asked if I should go back to the ER, and she said yes so went back to ER, and they said same thing. So, I felt like a total over reacting first time parent of course! Monday comes around and I call the doctor and I told him, I do not want to bring Hank in but I just want you to know what are weekend was like, he is getting worse and Tylenol is really working, he sounds like a 80 year old smoker when he coughs and the kid can not breath. Hank just so happened to cough while I am on the phone and he says..... That sounds like Crupe, be in my office first thing in the morning. So, for the third time in 4 days Hank was taking back to be looked at and this time he found fluid on the lungs from Crupe, and a double ear infection caused by having Crupe???? Okay seriously just spent 400.00 at ER and they did chest x rays, listened to his lungs, and looked in his ears and they couldn't find that?? I was literally feeling like we were playing Monopoly when you roll the dice and have to get one of those bad cards that reads "Your child has to get braces pay 2,000.00 and lose your turn". Geez! So now poor baby is on Albuterol breathing treatments every four hours and Amoxil for the infection. He has been on the mediaction for a full week now and is feeling much, much better. Thank goodness we just started taking Financial Peace in our Sunday School class by Dave Ramsey, I think we are gonna need it. Haha!

This little miracle worker saved my life (thanks to Beth for letting me know about it), it is the new and improved booger suctioner, and it's AMAZING. Say goodbye to blind bulb suctioning, you can actually here were there is moisture and get it out so much better and more quickly than the bulb. The little guys hate having us mess with their noses, so this is a quick and effective way!
It's by Graco at Walgreens.

Here are a few pictures I couldn't resist.

"Ham"burger...

He really loves to stick out his tongue!

this picture is for Tammy my "real" biological mother haha, she is the only one who understands that Hank must wear shoes when leaving the house, even if he isn't really using them.....

(the big joke is Trista should have been birthed by my mom, because they are very much alike and Trista's mom Tammy should have given birth to me because we are very much alike).

Oh yes, and I started back to work last Monday so Derric had to play daddy daycare at Ranger which was quite hilarious. Both of the girls who were going to watch Hank until April when he can go into in home day care couldn't watch him because he was contagious

(couldn't get Taylor Mae, or Baby Hayes and Aunt Jennifer sick).

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Last week it actually snowed in Montgomery, it was so cool. We grabbed the camera and tried to capture the moment as quickly as possible before it was gone. We knew it wouldn't last long.... we will have a great memory of Hank's first snow at just 2 months old.

After we went outside Hank was in the best mood, we put him in his boppy to try it out and he loved it, sticking out his tongue is one of his new favorite things. Too cute.