FIRST GRADE!

Meet the Teacher Night:

The 3 amigos and their brothers

Miss. Williamson, Gavin loves her! We couldn't be MORE excited that she is his teacher!

First day of school 8.22.2013

Love this picture, walking to school.

Will & Gavin

Olivia & Gavin in the walker line

Lil' bro missed big bro while he was at school!

It was a great first day, I have a feeling it will be a GREAT year. Gavin has progressed so much emotionally since kindergarten. We will forever be grateful to his kindergarten teacher, Ms. Armstrong for helping him get through it. 

Update on Gavin

Before I post about first grade I want to give everyone an update on Gavin. Two weeks ago we had the ER incident. Gavin went to the neuro and the ophthalmologist for a check up. They do not think its Horners Syndrome & were hoping it would resolve on it's on. By the time we saw the ophthalmologist, his eyes were looking more normal. Well, now it's back, but more episodic. Some days you barely notice it and other days its more prevalent. Tomorrow will be the two week mark since we saw Dr. G last, so we will make another appointment with him to make sure all is good. 

The home health nurse came off and on for several days, Gavin had 4 lab draws in one week! His poor veins were sick and tired of all the poking and prodding. His levels have finally dropped to a more normal range, so we get to go two more weeks without a lab draw. The cardio office is trying to get us an INR home test kit, so we can just prick his finger instead of getting lab draws. Even though Gavin takes the sticks like a champ, it's hard for a six year old to understand why he is having to do this so often.

Gavin finally got outside to play with his friends and ride his bike. He was exhausted after a couple of hours. Thankful he had the energy to get out and play!

A couple of weeks ago we lost a dear friend, Larry Seidel. It's only appropriate that I pay tribute to him on Gavin's blog. When Gavin was born, we lived with the Seidels in Edmond. They took us in their home, fed us, washed our clothes, and treated us as family. They never hesitated to welcome us in their home, even when Gavin had appointments and other surgical procedures. Their home was Gavin's first home. A couple of years ago the Seidels moved to Texas to be closer to their children and grandchildren. So I put their Edmond house key in Gavin's baby book. We will never forget their loving home. We will forever cherish the memories we had with Larry.

Today

Today Gavin had lab work and an appointment with the neurologist. I would say Dr. Siegler is his favorite doctor. Gavin always says, "I just love him, he makes sad kids happy!" He truly is a great doctor, brings a lot of laughter out of Gavin when we spend time with him. Dr. S consulted with Gavin's ophthalmologist during our appointment today. They decided to run some more tests, so we will see Dr. Groves in the morning. Hoping for good news!

After the appointment with Dr. S, Dr. O (Gavin's cardiologist) called and said that today's labs showed that Gavin's INR levels were higher. He said to stop the Coumadin tonight and we will do a smaller dose tomorrow. In the meantime, we need to keep him in a bubble so he doesn't get cut or bruised. Not an easy task with 2 boys! Home health will come on Friday to draw more labs and we will go from there. Hoping things level out before school starts, that will just be an added stress... Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers! We feel

them! 

Gavin's stash of daily meds! 

ER adventure

Well it is 2:30 in the morning and we're heading home from the ER. Gavin's pupils haven't been symmetrical. As in the left pupil is way bigger than the right. After sending a picture to our nurse and medical friends, it was apparent we needed to call the doctor. Put in a call and thankfully Gavin's cardio was on call. He said to email the picture. So I sent him the email. He called me and told us to take Gavin to the ER immediately to have a CT scan done. Once we got there they had the hardest time getting a stick for the contrast. His poor little veins are blown and they had to poke around twice to get it in. And it still wasn't the best stick, they had to pull it out a little during the CT to get the contrast to go in. Gavin finally teared up in the scanner room and asked if he "could just fall asleep?" I said of course, and he fell asleep. I felt so bad for him tonight I just wanted to take his pain away. I would trade places with him if I could. 

It looks like Gavin has the symptoms of Horner's  syndrome. The two stents were placed in his jugular vein. It looked like it was swollen in the area which could cause his pupils to dilate "unequally." He still needs to be seen by his neuro, so we will put in a call to him tomorrow. Home health will come on Wednesday for more lab draws, pray for good veins!! Feeling thankful tonight. It could've been a lot worse. Thankful for great medical friends and for an amazing cardiologist that takes such wonderful care of our son! God is good, ALL the time!!

My poor baby.

Great News!

Today we went to children's to get Gavin's labs drawn. We just received a call from the cardiologist. His INR levels were great so we get to stop the injections until Wednesday. Home health will come and do another lab draw. If his levels stay the same we get to quit the injections all together. Which is super!!! Poor G is already looking beat up from injections, IV's and lab draws. 

The boys relaxing today. Trying to keep a 3 & 6 year old from wrestling and injuries is no easy task! 

Blessed

Gavin wants to thank everyone for all of the gifts, cards and well wishes!! He received packages in the mail from his aunt, uncle & cousins in Tennessee. A bag of things (to keep him occupied in the hospital) from his favorite kindergarten teacher. He got lots of goodies in the hospital from his great grandparents, grandparents and family friends. He came home to more treats, like yummy donuts that were left on our porch. Today, he got a balloon guy & candy from the Weedens. He wanted me to help him thank everyone for the special treats and gifts that put a big smile on his face! He loves you all! 

Home

Came home to Gavin's "BFF's" and a welcome home sign! Gavin absolutely loved it! 

These two were thrilled to be reunited. Brody was timid, worried he'd hurt his brother. He loves his big brother so much! 

Gavin was due for an injection at 10:30, sweet Brody held Gavin's hand to "help him be brave!" I love my boys and their relationship. 

There's No Place Like Home

Finally. We're heading home! Thank you all for the love and prayers. Means the world to us. We're so blessed. 

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20 NIV)

My Superhero

I love this little quote. It always makes me think of G and all the kiddos out there that go through so much. Speaking of, a young lady came up to visit with us during Gavin's procedure. She was born with HRHS. We got into a discussion about scars and how it affects the children. Gavin goes in spurts of embracing his scars and hating his scars. Recently, he told us how it's ugly and he doesn't like it. The young lady has a tattoo on her arm that says, "His scars cover mine." How cool is that? I can't wait to share that with Gavin, to help him when he struggles with the appearance of his chest. 

If you're wondering, we are still at the hospital. Waiting on Gavin's IV antibiotics to finish. Waiting on Walgreens to bring the injections for the week and waiting on discharge papers. We will go home at some point this evening! 

        My precious boy, sleeping away. 

Today

Today has been a good day. Of course, we're tired from last nights dinging machines, lab draws and vital checks. 

We're hoping to go home today. We had a refresher course on Coumadin. We survived our second injection, a little squirmy but no tears! Now we are waiting on the case manager to find us a home health infusion nurse to do Gavin's daily lab draws. The nurse will also pre-fill Gavin's lovenox injections so they will be ready for me to administer. The hardest part of all of this is going to be keeping Gavin from injuries. He is a very active kiddo. The main concerns are bruising and risk of bleeding. 

I'll update again once we find out when we are going home.

Gavin ordering more lunch because his soup "had no taste"... Gotta love hospital food. 

     

Nana and Gavin having a shoot out. 

Can you page the nurse?

Gavin is an awesome patient. He always has been. He never complains, and does exactly what they ask of him. Tonight he's had to lay completely flat and keep his leg still for at least 4 hours. He finally turned to me (after no complaining) and said "mom can you page the nurse?" I asked him why, and he said "I need to ask her if its time to walk yet!" So we walked two times around the nurses station and he talked my ear off the entire time. I just love him and his sweet, talkative personality. Now he is resting peacefully. 

Several have asked how he is doing. He is great! He experienced some blurry vision in post op, but that seems to be gone now. And this is the first time in almost 7 years, post anesthesia he hasn't thrown up. Woo hoo!! He is eating and drinking like a trooper. Of course, he's had nothing to eat or drink all day. He did a great job of not complaining, even though his cath was delayed by 3 hours! 

Tonight he took all of his meds and we survived his first lovenox injection. He said he "almost cried." I thought to myself, me too buddy, me too! But we made it through and I think we will do just fine with it at home! 

Thank you again to everyone that has checked on us and prayed for Gavin! We hope to go home tomorrow after his dose of IV antibiotics. Sweet dreams! 

Update 2

Gavin had two stents placed. We will start antibiotics, Coumadin and lovenox injections tonight. He said depending on how we feel about giving Gavin the injections will determine when we go home. Which we've done feeding tubes, so I can handle giving him a shot. The injections will help level out his INR levels for the coumadin. Gavin will get weekly lab draws to make sure his INR levels are good. He will also require a special diet on the coumadin. Gavin's had coumadin before but the lovenox injections are new. If everything goes as planned tonight we will go home tomorrow night. It's been a long day, thankful for the support and medical technology! Can't wait to see my baby! 

Update

There was a delay due to an emergency situation. Gavin went back at 4:00pm. It should take about 3 hours depending on what they have to do. I'll update once we hear from the doctor. Thank you all for the supportive texts, calls, messages, etc. We feel the love and the prayers!