Merry Christmas to All!

Tooth Follow-Up

We are pleased to announce that Caleb did not have to have his tooth extracted! We sought a second opinion and they confirmed that it was not going to be necessary.

Miami Children's Hospital Poster Boy

Click above to check out Caleb's picture on Miami Children's Hospital Web Site.

Tooth

Haven't posted in awhile. Here's what's up. Caleb has to get one of his front teeth extracted. We'll post more later.

Birthday Pix

Birthday Thank You Video

G.I. Joe

We have far too many easily accessible girl toys laying around our house. The other day Caleb came running (he sort of runs) into the kitchen saying loudly, "Dada, dada." I turned around to my dismay seeing him, again, playing with a pink princess tea pot and two baby blue spoons. As any good father would do, I confiscated the teapot, gently rebuked him for playing with these type of toys, and went out to the car where just hours earlier my sensitive wife had stocked up some thirty G.I. Joe's she purchased at a garage sale.

Grabbing three of the manliest warrior-types I could find, I brought them inside, showed them to Caleb, made some grunting man sounds, and lovingly put them into his hands. He tried to repeat the man sounds and then took too G.I. Joes, placed their faces next to each other and MADE A KISSING SOUND!!!!!!

So we have some work to do....


On another note, a couple weeks ago Caleb and Genesis were involved in a beach photo shoot for Miami Children's Hospital. The pictures they took will be used in all hospital promo stuff: website, brochures, posters, etc.

Graduation!

Sara, Caleb's physical therapist who has been seeing Caleb since he was born, recently decided to graduate Caleb out of physical therapy! This is great news. It means that he is demonstrating age appropriate physical skills.

We will miss Sara; she has been absolutely wonderful. We still remember the first time we met her. It has been evident all along how much she loves Caleb, and all her patients.

Approaching Two

Hard to believe we're getting close to two years of Caleb's life! What a blessing this little guy is! He is eating well, a bit picky. We've seen much of his eating problem had to do with his will. A little discipline went a long way!

He's growing fast. The GI doctor is happy with how he is doing. We'll be taking him to the cardiologist in a month or so for a routine check up.

I've attached a recent picture from the Magic Kingdom of Caleb with mommy!

Thank you all!

Doing Good

Caleb's actually doing quite well. Today is Tuesday and on every Tuesday Caleb spends a couple hours at Miami Children's Hospital with his friends Sara (physical therapist), Meredith (occupational therapist), and Laura (speech therapist).

All of them think Caleb is doing great. "He's our little star. We're so proud of him."

He is behind on speech but we are confident that he'll catch up.

Thank you, Jesus, for doing a good work in Caleb.

Caleb Not Eating

Caleb's home from the hospital after his dental surgery. He's not eating well AT ALL. Please pray that he starts eating better. His eating doesn't have to do with his dental stuff; he was having this problem before.

Anyway, it's enough to drive you crazy, especially since he was eating so good before.

It's not that he's picky or just eating a little - he's really not eating for real.

Thanks for your prayers.

Dental Work Done

The dentist plugged four cavities and crowned several of his teeth. The doctor explained that one of the reasons he has weak teeth is because of the lower levels of oxygen.

He'll be at the hospital for awhile recovering. We will either go home tonight or tomorrow morning.

Operating Room Tomorrow

At 6:00am Tuesday morning, Caleb will be at Miami Children's Hospital one more time. This time, it will be dental work that will take place. Caleb has a tooth that is decaying, a cavity, and hypoplasia (teeth that did not develop properly, evidently he has little holes in his teeth).

So they will take x-rays first. Then they will cap all his teeth so that he will be protected from future cavities and decay. Of course they will fix anything else that they see wrong.

Obviously, Caleb will be under general anesthesia, so recovery and eating are always an adventure.

Thanks for going on this journey with us through your prayers. Please continue to accompany us!

Three Stiches

So Friday night at church, Caleb stumbled and knocked his head on the tile floor. So we had family night at Miami Children's Hospital. We've never seen that place so crowded. Thanks to Caleb's heart condition, we always have short waits at the ER. They take us in right away. That was good.

The cut was deep and wide enough to warrant three stiches. Caleb is doing great now. In fact, he just made Genesis cry, so I gotta go. Bye....

Dentist Visit

Well, Caleb has been just doing great.

He does have a cavity, so he'll be going to the dentist tommorrow. Of course since he's a cardiac kid, it's a bit more involved than your typical visit. He has to get evaluated, they need to involve the anesthesiology team, etc.

We are totally blessed, though, with our kids.

So many people are concerned and are interested and are praying. Thank you for that!

Home and Doing Well

Caleb has been home for awhile now. The first couple days home from the hospital were a little rough. He had a tough cough, scabs from the opening the had to make, stick tape residue all over his body, not eating really well.

But now he's doing good. He's walking alot, playing, eating.

We continue to hear of families who have similar situations and we are thankful that we can go and spend some time with them, often talking about spiritual issues, praying together, or sharing some scripture.

We also continue to be active at Miami Children's Hospital. It's a way for us to get to know people and to be part of what is happening there.

Pneumonia?

Looks like Caleb might have pneumonia. He's getting a chest x-ray today. He's been pretty lethargic, not eating, developed a rash. So we will see...

Rough Night

Caleb stayed at the hospital last night with Janet. His eyes are pretty swollen. Not sure why. He also coughed quite a bit last night and vomitted earlier. We'll see what the doctors say this morning.

Genesis paid a little visit this morning but mommy and brother were sleeping so it was just quiet kisses.

Good News!

Success! Everything went great. Dr. Zahn is very pleased with how Caleb looks. He plugged two large collateral veins. He said we may be able to go home tonight if all goes well.

Now comes recovery. So far we have learned that Mr. Caleb does not like hospitals very much. He hates things attached to him and people poking him. He can be quite fiesty at times.

Thank you for your prayers. We are grateful for good news.

Please Pray

Please lift up the family of Baby Y. They have been given very bad news. This is a family that we have been able to know for several months. We met them at the Christmas dinner that was put together by Calvary Kendall.

We Have Lift-Off

Caleb is now undergoing his cath. It's good to see all the doctors and nurses that know us and know him. They are such nice people. They're good at what they do, as well.

The procedure should take approximately three hours. It's mostly diagnostic. Dr. Zahn believes that he won't have to do any major procedures, but is ready nonetheless. Caleb may need a stent; but we'll find out.

We'll post updates as we are able.

Cath Tomorrow

We will be at the hospital at 6:00am. Dr. Zahn will perform the procedure at 7:30am.
Thanks for your prayers.

Cath Rescheduled for March 6th

Caleb will have his cath on Tuesday, March 6th. We'll be at the hospital at 6am and we'll post updates. He still has cold symptoms, but we are really hoping that he will get better so he can have the cath and not have to reschedule. We know the Lord's timing is perfect. May his will be done!

Cath Postponed

Caleb's running a 100.9 fever so they can't do the cath. It has been postponed until early March. Please stay tuned for continued updates. Thanks for your interest in our lives and for your prayers.

Fever?

Caleb is going to the pediatrician today. If he has a fever, the cath will be postponed. We will know this afternoon.

Cath Tommorrow

We will check into Miami Children's Hospital at 6:00am. Caleb has been a little sick, so we are checking with them today to see if it's ok to go ahead with the cath. After the cath, Caleb will be in the CICU. If all goes well we will be able to go home on Friday.

Caleb is a bit older and way more active than he was during his previous hospital stays. So one concern, is keeping him interested, contained, still, etc. Don't think he's going to like being confined to a little bed and hooked up to machines!

Unexpected News

Caleb is 18 months and seems to be doing well. He's on a regular diet now, eating solid foods and drinking regular milk. He was weaned off one of his reflux medicines; he's getting 7 therapy sessions a week instead of 9; he walks all over the place with his push toy and is starting to stand and take a few steps on his own. He's communicating a bit better and he loves to play, climb and explore everything.

All these signs show that his heart must be working well, right? We expected good reports from his cardiology check-up and a "see you in 4 months." But the echo (an ultrasoud of the heart) showed that Caleb has another heart defect called a supra valvar membrane.

My heart sunk.

"...but this one is fixable." My heart sunk deeper.

I know what "fixable" means. It means opening the heart...again.

Basically he has a tissue growing on top of his mitral valve preventing smooth flow of blood out of the left atrium and into the left ventricle. This can cause a back-up and pressure to build up in the lungs and other complications especially since that is the only part of his heart that works.

The doctors were aware of this defect since birth. We never found out about it because it was not "significant", but now it seems to be growing as he grows. The only way to get rid of it is via open heart surgery which means that Caleb may have to have two more heart surgeries instead on one. Dr. Mas also noticed that the part of his pulmonary artery that was balloned during his last cath may have collapsed again. He also has a significant amount of collateral veins that his body has produced to compensate for his low blood oxygen levels but they are competing with the blood flow from his last bypass surgery. One of these or all of them may be the reason why he wakes up with swelling in his face and his arms appear to be puffy.

Caleb will be having a cardiac catherization this Thursday Feb. 5th where they'll do some more investigation and some intervention if necessary and possible. Please pray for Caleb and for Dr. Zahn who will be doing the cath. We are asking God that they can fix any problems via cath so Caleb won't need any extra surgeries. Thanks for helping us bear our burdens =)

Caleb The Eater

Caleb is eating great. Miraculously great, actually. He's getting better every day. We are thankful to the Lord for what He is doing in Caleb's life.