My Dad

My Dad

So, the week before vacation my dad had some issues with his heart. They did this new fancy test, which was similar to a CT scan, and the test revealed that one of his main arteries was 90% blocked. Due to the symptoms he was having and the pictures from this test, the doctor said that he was very lucky. He believed that he would have had a heart attack within days if they hadn't found it then. So, they admitted him to the hospital. They had to take him off his normal blood thinner meds, and put him on an alternative one through an IV. It took 4 days for his body to make the change and to be safe enough to do the procedure to give him a stent to bypass the blockage. One of the major risks was a stroke, so they had to keep him in the hospital to make sure he was okay during the transition.

So, my mom and dad missed the first few days of vacation. But they did the procedure on Monday and discharged him on Tuesday, so they came up that afternoon. I know the 4 days in the hospital wasn't fun for him, but he is all better now. We all feel like he was very lucky and we're really happy about that.

Baby #3

Also, on Thursday I took my glucose test (for gestational diabetes) for Baby #3. I was a little concerned due to the doctor telling us that the baby is big. But, I am happy to report that the nurse called and she said that everything is normal. So, no worries there, which is great.

Harlie

Harlie is doing well. We're making some progress with her walking. Well, sort of. I can hold just one of her hands and she'll walk beside me for a short distance. She's still a bit uncomfortable doing it, but at least she WILL do it so I'm happy about that. She used to only walk like that if she knew her destination and was comfortable with that distance. That distance has increased, so I have high hopes that it will continue to improve. Now I just make her walk everywhere I can vs. picking her up and carrying her.

After her jaw surgery, I tried getting her to wear an HME ("heat and moisture exchange" - a barrel shaped thing that goes over her trach that heats and moisturizes the air she breathes). We have tried to get her to wear one but she just constantly takes it off. We finally gave up. Well, after her surgery I tried again, thinking that having a chin would make it more comfortable for her to wear one. Well, it worked, and I was really excited about it. The reason why is because when she wore one, I noticed a big improvement. Her secretions were thinner, which allowed her to cough them up on her own, which meant less suctioning (woo hoo!). Plus, by the end of the day, her trach would be so gunked up (when she didn't wear one) that I would have to use saline to clean it out. Just made me a little worrisome about potential plugs to her airway. And I didn't have to do that when she wore an HME. Well, I don't know what has gotten into her, but she will NOT wear one now! It is so frustrating. She takes it off and hides it in her toys. I have tried everything, and she does not care - she will take it off the second I look away. Ugh.

Well, that's it for today. Hopefully I'll be able to go through our vacation pics soon and get them uploaded.

Talk to you soon!
Christy