Busy, Busy, Busy!

That would be a GOOD busy! Enjoy!

OK, I'm starting off with the "whopper"! Now if this isn't the greatest sight! Three miracle children all together and NOT in the hospital this time.......priceless. Brittney, Lindsay, and Tommy...........oh how we are blessed to have them all!

Weekend before last, we went to the annual fall picnic that Hearts of Hope puts on for all the heart children and their families. The kids could dress up if they wanted to and they were able to go on a wagon ride, pick their own pumpkins, have all the hot dogs and drinks they wanted, and even got to pet some pretty cute animals in the barn! The above picture is of Lindsay and another adorable little heart sister, Madison. Madison was at U of M in November......as were we! ;-) ha ha

Isn't this the cutest clown and kitty that you have ever seen? Lindsay and Tommy........cute together huh? ha ha Colleen and I were tearing up as we took this photo. Oh, what a journey! AND check out those pretty PINK lips people!!!!! Oh, what a new heart can do!

Speaking of "oh, what a journey", I have quite the story for you! We headed to the hotel that we were staying at the night before the picnic and got an early start in order to watch the U of M football game at the hotel and then after the game, we could take the boys swimming and then order pizza and have a slumber party with all three kids! Sounds good, right? Well, not so much! It was raining when we got to the hotel so we went as fast as we could (yup, hubby still on crutches!) into the lobby and we were going to stay in the room until it stopped raining to get the rest of our stuff. So, in time, it stopped raining and I went down with a luggage cart and loaded it up with our things. Made one quick check around Lindsay's car seat to see if I got everything and happened to glance into her car seat. Hmmmmmm, a g-tube isn't supposed to be laying there! It is supposed to be ATTACHED to her! OMG!!!!! I asked myself.....when in the **** did that come out?!!! Knowing that we only had a few hours before the "hole" in her stomach would close up!! So, I very swiftly went up to the room, started flinging things around to unload and looked at my husband and said, " We can't do anything easily can we?" Hubby: "What do you mean?" Showed him the "escaped" g-tube and he looked at it in disbelief! Hubby: " Oh My God!" "What are we going to do?" Of course I don't have my emergency g-tube kit with me......so, knowing that Colleen and Tommy aren't that far away, I called her to get a recommendation on which hospital to go to. Beaumont Royal Oak was phenomenal but I do not want to go there again! ha ha Lindsay is the proud owner of a new g-tube and was just fine in the meantime. So, instead of a relaxing evening with the fam, we spent it apart for about 4 hours, picked up Burger King on my way back, took the kids for a quick 45 minute swim at 9:30 at night and then went to bed.....or so we thought! Lindsay decided to have a late night party in her pack-n-play and was up from 1am until 5 am. Fun Stuff! Oh well. Attending the picnic was worth it in every way and thankfully, we had an uneventful ride home that afternoon. Thanks Hearts of Hope for such a great day!

Cruz wanted a pumpkin with scary eyes, Cole, of course, a block M, and Lindsay's was a "pretty princess" says Cruz. ;-)

Cole "gutting" the pumpkin. (can you tell that he is in hunting mode now??) Cruz just wanted to watch. He said that it looked "distgustin" . ha ha

My brother's boys were here for a visit and this photo was after a visit to the pumpkin patch to play. Yummy.......cider and donuts always make you feel better......and before dinner to boot!

You can give me an "A" for effort. Attempting to get five children to look the same way at precisely the same time was virtually impossible but I think we did ok.

Lindsay two days after her scary airlift to the hospital. MUCH better as you can see!

This was Lindsay the morning after her helicopter ride to U of M. This is how we felt too!

Much better this year!

Well, this time last year Lindsay was on a ventilator and trying to recover from a serious blood infection. This year..........she was home and in costume!!! God is so good! I do have to say that this may be the cutest little kitty in the land!

Again, I had tears after taking this. Each holiday and event will be that way from now on I think. We thank God every day that we get this chance with her. My Batman and PowerRanger were pretty darned handsome too!

I will post more photos tomorrow of our latest happenings and a very special photo of three very special transplant patients.........and all out of the hospital!!!!!

Heart Blessings~

Suzie

INDOOR FUNDRAISING SALE 10-31-09

JR went to the Dr. this week and has another 3 weeks off work. Ouch! We know that this isn't what they needed with Suzie not being able to work, but we feel that we can help them out, but we need your help.
We've decided to have an indoor "garage" sale Saturday, October 31st 9am-4pm at the Parchment United Methodist Church, 225 Glendale Blvd.
What can you do to help you might ask?
Clean out your garage or basement. We can use your donations which can be dropped off at the church on Friday, Oct. 30th 1:00pm - 3:00pm or 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Please have items garage sale priced to sell. All leftover items will be "paid forward" and donated to the Salvation Army.
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, please call Linda at 269-547-9279.
Thank you all for everything you do to help the Dean's get through this.
The Lindsay Dean Heart Fund Committee

Poop and Discharge

Well, since I couldn't post yesterday, I will give you a little update. Yesterday was a little frustrating because we were told "no" again about going home because she was still pooping too much and not taking enough fluid in to maintain what was coming out. They wanted to hydrate her some more and see how she does and if her stools subside a little. If she tolerated a "bunch" more fluid, then we could leave tomorrow (which is today). So, we were bound a determined to make that happen and the princess succeeded!!! However, what started this whole thing was the concern of her higher than normal heart rate thinking that this was a little to do with her being dry. Well, after a fabulous day of drinking and lots of peeing, the heart rate didn't hardly budge and her rate awake and playing is still in the 150's. This should be around 120-130. (that seems to be her normal anyway) Things that make you go mmmmmmmm. All in all, she tolerated more fluid and they don't seem as concerned with her heart rate so..........we got to go home (hence the discharge title in case you were wondering what that meant!! ha ha ) YEAH!!!! Thanks for all of the prayers! They continue to work. God is good!
Love, Suzie

Not today......

Well, the verdict is that we are not going home today. The question is now is if she is a little dry. JR and I are totally not going along with that idea because her eye lids are a little puffy which indicates to me that she may be the complete opposite. So, we are waiting to hear whether or not they will get some blood to determine exactly what she is. All of this concern is because her heart rate is still a little higher than it should be and we totally agree with that. I am just concerned that we will fluid over load if we just "assume" that she is dry and then we are dealing with chest tubes and lasix and I certainly DON'T want to go there! All in all, we are confident that the right decisions will be made but it just might not be in a very timely manner especially since it's on a weekend! grrrrrrr! So, it looks like another day of football and some cuddle time with the princess. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day......so we are told anyway. ;-)
Some other changes have been made which I am totally excited about! We can change her formula from 24cal Enfamil AR to Nutren Junior!!! This means no more blender for Suzie!! WOOHOOO!!!!! This comes already mixed and in a can! WOW! That means no more preparing for the next day, for daily outings, or for overnight stays somewhere and worrying if they have a blender or not! Again.....WOOHOOOO!!!!! This will free up some time. Can you tell that I'm geeked about this? ha ha The only downfall of this is that we need to pay attention to her weight gain. This is now 30 calories per once from 24 cal per ounce. She has already jumped from the 17th percentile to the 35th since August. We can't have a "chunky" heart baby on our hands. That could start a whole mess of other problems! Overall, I don't think we are too worried though because she is definitely starting to be the little mover and she will be burning more as she increases her activity. So, we are praying for her heart rate to lower a little (she is currently at 155 b/m and should be around 125 b/m) and for the docs to get her fluid levels where they should be. Thanks for the continued prayers!
Heart Blessings!
Suzie

Oh, and GO BLUE!!!!

Positives and Negatives

Positives are that Princess Lindsay is feeling MUCH better and has been playing with her favorite nurses and staff members all day. (with a few naps in between) She also has been given the ok for possible discharge tomorrow. We will cross our fingers but I see no reason not to at this point. The other positive was the she tested positive for c-diff again. Antibiotics are on board and healing has begun. Negatives are that she tested negative for influenza (thank god!!!) and for strep. Negative has been the result of every other blood test also!!!! YIPPEEE!
That's the update for now. Sorry this is super quick but I have eyes over my shoulder the end this because the computer lab is closing ;-)
More updates again soon!
Love, Suzie

Drum Roll...........

The latest and hot off the press news from Meg is..............most likely NOT REJECTION!!!!!!!! JR told her he felt like running the halls after she told us that! Now that is impressive only one week post surgery people! I feel the same and also feel like we just dodged another HUGE bullet! PRAISE GOD!!!!!! We still don't know what she has but she has been put on a very broad antibiotic and it seems to be doing the trick. She just ate for me a few minutes ago and has been clapping and smiling a bit.......forced, but she is doing it. She is a little cranky (so not like the princess!) but who in the world wouldn't be when you are sick! Her fever has also broken! Whew! Her heart rate is still elevated a little but thinking that is due to just not feeling the greatest. Her heart rate never went below 200 in the ER and her fever was as high as 103 and never dipped below 101. YIKES! So, as a precautionary measure in case that she may have the flu and because Lindsay arrived here with a fever, anyone who enters the room MUST have a mask and for those who are going to have contact with her have to be gowned and gloved along with the mask. This is a great new measure that is called the pandemic precaution. It's a pain in the butt but good to know that people won't be walking around passing the germs! She was swabbed at Bronson for influenza and strep. The rapid strep test came back negative but the flu swab will take 24 hours so that means we should know results by early evening. Lindsay did have a pretty nasty stool this morning that they sent a sample down for testing for c-diff again. Most likely she will have it but the confusing part is that her symptoms from last time till now were definitely NOT the same. This time was scary and it had rejection written all over it in our books for sure. Obviously in the minds of the docs here at U of M too because they wouldn't have airlifted her here. All of the blood tests aren't back yet so we just sit and wait for results and maintain trying to keep Lindsay comfortable. Her fever finally broke so that is no longer an issue hopefully. Man, I am shaking while I type..........NOT REJECTION!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
With Love from one happy momma and daddy!!! Keep praying!