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! 

Funner Stuff

"Dear God, please be with me while I am in the hospital. And please be with Brody while he gets to do funner stuff." -Gavin's prayer last night

Tomorrow, Gavin will have his heart cath. I will keep the blog updated on what we find out. He is scared, but he is also a tough little dude. Specific prayers, for his peace, for everything to be fixable via cath & of course for the doctors and medical staff. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27 NIV)

Swing from the Heart 2013

The second annual Brandon Weeden Swing from the Heart golf tournament happened earlier this month. Once again, we had a great turn out! This year was a lot of fun. The night before the tournament we had a tail gate dinner, along with a putting contest. Every one had a great time! Gavin had a blast and enjoyed playing golf with Brandon and with Adams team. Adams team won the tournament. The Weedens did a great job hosting the event, we love them and their giving hearts. It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to next year!

Desmond Mason was a big hit! 

Gavin's best friend!

Hanging out with Melanie and Aaron

Gavin loves Sean!

Gavin with the doctors from Children's 

Gavin welcoming everyone to the tournament.

OU Children's Doctors

Nana and Grandpa were Gavin's caddy's

Wes, Nana, Uncle Shawn, Brady & Adam 

Dr. Mantor 

3rd place team

2nd place team

1st place team

 Dr. Ward, one of Gavin's cardiologist

The winning team

What an exhausting day!

Update on Gavin...

Once again I've been slacking on the blog. We had our second annual Swing from the Heart tournament a couple of weeks ago. We had a great turn out! I will post along with pictures about it another day. 

Right now, I have a lot on my mind. 

Since the spring Gavin has had some swelling issues that have prompted some tests to be done. Gavin has had an echo, EKG and CT scan within the last month. The CT revealed a blood clot was still present (one that we knew had been there for awhile). The cardiologist decided to have a Doppler scan ordered. We went to the city this past Thursday for the scan. We learned that Gavin not only has one clot, but several clots. The  most alarming issue is that one of his major veins does not compress as it should. This will require Gavin to have a heart cath. The goal is to try and break up the clots and to balloon or stint the vein. If the cath is unsuccessful, Gavin will require surgery. Not the news we wanted to hear. It was weird because Gavin was more tense than usual before his appointment. He turned to me and asked if he "has to have heart surgery again?" It was strange, not knowing what news the day would bring. 

From the day we found out about Gavin's heart condition, we knew this would be our life. A lot of ups, a lot of downs. We knew we would ride a roller coaster of emotions. But for some reason, I took this news hard. I've spent a lot of the weekend hiding in my closet, crying. I haven't slept and spent a lot of time in prayer and in the word. A lot of things have been happening in our immediate and extended family that really get me thinking. Life is hard. Life is fragile. 

The Lord doesn't promise us that life will be easy. But He does promise us something amazing. Eternal life. My hope rests in Him. My favorite verse, my verse for Gavin. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)

Will you join us in prayer? Thank you friends.