List Your Self - Week 1

Back in the fall I wrote about a book I found, LIST YOUR SELF - Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery.

I've decided to share some of this with you. I'll try to do it on a regular basis (hopefully each Wednesday). I'll list the category and then the list title.

YOURSELF

• LIST ALL OF THE QUALITIES YOU LOVE ABOUT BEING HUMAN

DAILY LIFE

• LIST ALL THE THINGS YOU HIDE WHEN YOUR FRIENDS COME TO VISIT

BUSINESS

• LIST ALL THE TIPS PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN YOU TO HELP YOU DO BUSINESS BETTER

CHANGE

• LIST ALL THOSE EVENTS YOU WENT INTO WITH DOUBT THAT TURNED OUT SURPRISINGLY WELL

CULTURE

• LIST HOW YOU'VE CONTRIBUTED TO THE WELFARE OF THE PLANET

MEN AND WOMEN

• LIST ALL THE PEOPLE THAT YOU'VE HURT THAT YOU'D LIKE TO UNHURT

GREATER TRUTHS

• LIST THE REAL REASONS YOU ARE INSPIRED TO STAY ALIVE

HEALTH

• LIST ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED

GROWING UP

• LIST THE NAMES OF ALL YOUR PETS, FROM CHILDHOOD UNTIL TODAY

SUDDENLY...

• SUDDENLY YOU'VE ARRIVED ON JUPITE. LIST THE THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT.

Have fun with these and please feel free to share your lists in the comments if you would like to.

Final Visit to the Hospital today

Posted 4 minutes ago
Well, Trevor had his follow-up visit to his surgery today. It went great. Everything looks good, and he got those "nasty" stitches out. He was a real trooper. He kind of freaked out when he realized they were going to be messing with them, but the actual removal of them was not bad at all. He's well on his way to recovery, and it's been hard slowing him down.

Next appointment is May 4th with his cardiologist, Dr Schaffer, and hopefully he will tell us, see you next year.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. They have surely helped!!!

Love,Chris

HAVE YOU HEARD?????

OMG! Have you heard about Susan Boyle from Britains Got Talent? You really need to check it out. FANTASTIC!!!!!!! (click on her name above)

Best of luck Susan. GO GET 'EM for all of us that are not beauty queens and have had similar dreams that have been killed.

YOU ROCK!!!!


There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame
He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/lesmiserables/idreamedadream.htm

We're Home

Posted 10 hours ago

Well, we did it, or I should say Trevor did it. We got out of the hospital in record time. The better he started feeling, the less he wanted to be there. And when he found out we didn't have to constantly stay in the room, that was all she wrote. The longer we were gone from the room the better. The day Kaitlyn came, the nurse got a little worried thinking we had broken out of the joint.

Last night he did really good. He ate some Mac and Cheese, or as he corrects me and says, it's "Macaroni and Cheese". He kept that down, and wanted french toast and eggs this morning. His nurse from the the night before figured out that we should try and get medicine in pill form, and crush them up and give it to him in a spoonful of pudding. Thank goodness. That was a great idea and worked like magic. He still gets a little queezy from his meds, but at least they don't get his gagger right away, and they have time to digest. In case you are interested, he is on Furosemide (which is a diuretic), and will continue his Digoxin (which helps the heart beat stronger). He also got a prescription for ibuprophin for pain, but can guarantee he will only be taking Tylenol. Anything else, once again, gets his gagger. He should only be on the Furosemide for a couple of weeks, and he's been on the Digoxin since his first surgery, so I'm not sure if he will have to take that forever or if they can take him off of it now. That will be a question at his follow-up appointment.

Anyway, his oxygen was dipping down into 80's last night with oxygen "blowing by" his face, so I was thinking he would probably come home today, but that he would probably have to come home on oxygen, which I wasn't looking forward to. Been there done that and it's not fun. Like a miracle this morning, his oxygen on room air was 93% or better for the most part. I was thrilled!!! So we got to come home without oxygen. WoooHooo!!! Honestly, you don't know how thrilling that is. Just from the experience we had from his last surgery, he ended up on oxygen for 3 months. Every appointment we went to, and they put the pulse ox on his finger to measure his oxygen, we would all breath deep, as if that would help Trevor's oxygen level. Anyway, it was a huge relief to see his oxygen level today.

We have a follow-up appointment on Tuesday, April 21st, and he will get his stitches from his tubes out. He's probably not going to be real happy that day. But at least there are no stitches to come out on his incision.

Well, I think I'm rambling. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight. I'm sure Trevor feels the same. I would just like to thank everyone for their love, prayers, and support during this journey. I know all the prayers helped in his speedy recovery.

Love to all!!!

Chris

From Auntie Roo:

I would like to add my thanks to all of you out there in the blogosphere. We/I truly appreciate the support from everyone.

God bless you all.

Homecoming....

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!!!

Nothing too extravagant.... just had to mark the occasion.

TREVOR...

TREVOR IS ON HIS WAY HOME!

Wednesday is looking good...

Posted 2 minutes ago
Trevor wasn't quite as happy this evening as he was yesterday evening. He had kind of bad night Monday night, in that most of his medicines kept making him sick to his stomach and some of the liquid medicines would trigger his gag reflex... not good.

He was up and active throughout the day though. Papa tells me he was RUNNING down the hall! I knew we wouldn't be able to keep him down long.

He's still having a little trouble keeping his oxygen levels up. It has been hovering around 90% and they want it to stay closer to 98%+.

We are still very hopeful that in Wednesday's update we'll be able to tell everyone that he is at home, but we'll have to wait and see.

Keep your fingers crossed that he goes home on Wednesday. That would make his day... maybe even his week!!!

Love,

Auntie Roo :-)

Monday's update

as posted by Momma...

Day 4
Posted 12 hours ago
Well, Trevor just keeps doing better and better. He kind of had a rough morning, not being able to keep anything down, but they've switched all of his meds that he might have been getting intraveniously to oral, so with little or nothing in your stomach, it's hard to keep them down. Anyway, it's gotten a little better, but I'm sure the skinny little guy has lost a pound or 3 that he couldn't really afford to. We'll have to work on that when he gets his appetite back. Although, with all the running he did with a "bad" heart, he's probably going to be running even more now, so putting on weight is going to be hard for him. I wish I had that problem;0)

So, he was kind of having a rough day since Daddy went home. He is tired of being here, just wanted to go home too. After seeming a little depressed, Kaitlyn showed up, and really perked him right up. That's just what he needed was a little Kaitlyn therapy. They had fun riding in the wagon, and watching the "marble game", and "exploring" the place. Kaitlyn isn't old enough to come up to the CPCU, so we hung out down in the lobby and they had a ball. It must be OK here if a 6 year old says "this place is really cool", as she is leaving.

Well, after such a big day, Trevor is now fast asleep, only to be woke up in just a few minutes to get some nausea medicine so he can then keep down his Lasix. That got his gagger this morning, and got it again tonight.

Love to all!!!

Chris

P.S. From Auntie Roo... SO GLAD to see his smile coming back. We hadn't seen that since Friday morning.

Getting better every day

Posted 11 minutes ago

Trevor continues to progress nicely.

All of the drainage tubes were removed earlier this morning and the final tube in his groin was removed early this afternoon. Poor little guy has had enough of all this though. He kept telling the nurse to QUIT and GO AWAY!!! Anyway, the only tubes he has left are the oxygen tube and one IV tube in his foot. Oxygen we'll probably be turned off tomorrow, but the IV tube will probaly stay until he is released. This is in place for blood draws (if necessary) and medication administration that can't be given orally. We're all thinking that today he is just plain ticked off at us all. He wouldn't smile and didn't want to talk to anyone.

He is up on the "Step Up" floor now. The next step is going home.

He's been up and walking just a bit. He had a wild cherry Slurpee this afternoon. Tonight he had his first real food, chicken fingers and french fries.

I asked him this afternoon how he was doing. His reply "Not good." So I asked him if he was better than yesterday. He replied "Yeah." So I guess he's feeling a little bit better.

And just so you all know... the Easter Bunny didn't forget him. He found him in the hospital and he left something at Mimi & Papa's house as well.

Daddy will be going home tomorrow. That won't be easy, but he has to get back to work. At least he can go knowing that Trevor is doing well.

I will be posting some more pictures so check the gallery.

Love to you all!

Auntie Roo :-)

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

I hope you all have a wonderful day. What a wonderful day to remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for each of us, giving us the blessing of the atonement and for his resurrection.

Saturday evening update

Posted 13 minutes ago

Trevor continues to progress. Here are the highlights of Saturday:

1. The catheter was removed. NO MORE DIAPER!!!

2. Moved out of the baby bed to a big-boy bed. He no longer looks like he's 10 feet long lying there in that little bed. There is even room in his bed now for Momma to lay down with him.

3. Still in ICU, but in his own room. It's quieter and more space. Hopefully everyone can rest a little better tonight.

4. Chowing down on grape popsicles. He loved the first one he had this afternoon and his nurse has told him he can have all the popsicles he wants!!! You know he'll take advantage of that.

5. He took his first steps since before the surgery. He walked from the bed to the potty. Granted, it's only about 4 feet (if that), but he walked over, stood there and did his thing. Momma carried him back, but it was a positive step.

6. The drainage tubes are looking better with less drainage. They tested him and found that his vitamin K was low which helps thicken the blood. They gave him some vitamin K and they also backed off of the heparin (blood thinner). That all seemed to help alleviate the oozing. The nurse said that the tubes could possibly come out tomorrow.

I was there this afternoon for several hours. He was still pretty sleepy, but doing well. I just talked to Chris to find out how he did while we all went and got dinner (FatBurger if anyone is interested!). She said he was wide awake when they came back. He's watching Thomas movies now. So he should be pretty happy.

She did say he has a low grade temperature of about 101. They gave him Tylenol, but they are not real concerned, just watchful.

Thank you all for the continued love and support.
Auntie Roo(Rhonda)

Latest news...

Day After Surgery
Posted 23 minutes ago

Trevor did pretty well over night. He started drinking water last night. Had a hard time keeping it down for a little while, but we're past that now. He's still only drinking a little bit though. Two of his drain tubes were oozing, and that was concern but that seems to be clearing itself up now too, but we'll still have to watch it. Dr Schaffer stopped by and said, "He's fine. If he has a good heart rate and warm feet that's a good sign there isn't a problem".

So that's all for now. Hopefully we will be walking later today. He will moved to a private room in the CICU which will be nice.

That's all for now. Thanks for all the warm wishes and prayers.

Love to all!!!

IT'S DONE!!!

TMann's surgery is DONE!!! He came through it like a real trouper. It went smoothly.

Here are some updates from his web page:

Surgery today
Posted 11 hours ago
Well, now it is just a waiting game. We checked in at 6:00a. Trevor got his "pajamas" on...vitals were taken...and toys were played with. Then we found out that they had a Thomas movie, it was all over then.
They gave him Versed to calm him down before they took down to the OR. It made him very loopy so by the time that it was time for them to take him down nothing bothered him at all. It was the cutest thing. The nurse came to pick him up, and he thought that was great!!! He had a big grin on his face, as she picked him up and it was almost like he was thinking, SHE IS CUTE!!! He then put his arm around her neck and laid his head on her shoulder, and off they went. We watched him go down the hall, and it didn't bother him at all. After he went through the doors, the tears on our end started.
We've gotten a couple updates from Esther, Dr LaCour-Gayet's right hand person. Anyway, it's 10:10a and they have gotten through the breast bone and are now getting through the scar tissue to get to his heart. She will come and give us another update when he is on the heart/lung machine. They are AWESOME here.
That's all for now. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and prayers.

Update 2:35p
Posted 7 hours ago
The procedure is done. Esther said he did great. They had him off the heart and lung machine once, and decided they wanted to take a better look at the blood flow in his right artery, so they put him back on the heart/lung machine, undid the conduit graft and got a better look at it. The surgeon concluded that there was no problem, so he re-did the graft and got him back off the heart/lung machine.
As of about 1:30p they had to finish closing him up. Now he is in the CICU doing great, but the unit is locked down for a sterile procedure so we won't be able to see him for another 20 minutes or so.
Did I say this place is AWESOME!!!
Love to all!!!

CICU
Posted 1 hour ago
Well, we’re just hanging out here in the CICU with Trevor. He is still doing great. They took the breathing tube out about 5:00p, and by 6:00p he was drinking water. He is such a trooper. They say he will be up walking tomorrow. So now we’ll see how he does over night. Harold and I have a sleep room here at the hospital, but we’ll probably be staying right here in the CICU with Trevor and just get cleaned up in the morning in the room that we have reserved.
A funny story though…Trevor really is Thomas (the tank engine’s) biggest fan. Right after he got his breathing tube out, the nurse was asking him if it was “Thomas the Train” or “Thomas the Engine”, and in his feeble little scratchy voice he was able to say, “it’s Thomas the Tank Engine”. We (including the nurse) were cracking up.
Well, that’s all for now. Auntie Roo should be posting some pictures soon.

So that's the latest on our little man. I'll post more as he progresses.

Friday is the day...

The time has come for TMann's second heart surgery. He will go to Children's Hospital on Friday, April 10. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. that day. We're anticipating a 4-5 day stay.

Here is a previous post explaining his condition.

http://itsjustme-roo.blogspot.com/2008/05/update-on-status-of-trevors-heart.html

Here is some additional information from his Mommy too:

"As far as I know, the first part was already during his first surgery and this surgery on the 10th is to install the "tube" or conduit, as Dr Schaffer referred to it, called the Rastelli repair.'To do a complete repair, the surgeon closes the ventricular septal defect with a patch and opens the right ventricular outflow tract by removing some thickened muscle below the pulmonary valve, repairing or removing the pulmonary valve and enlarging the peripheral pulmonary arteries that go to both lungs. Sometimes a tube is placed between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. This is sometimes called a Rastelli repair.'
The above information is courtesy of http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11071"

Please keep him in your prayers throughout these next few weeks as he undergoes the surgery and goes through his recovery.

I love you Boo-Boo.

***********************************************************************************************************

April 4, 1909

(circa 1943) April 4, 1909, Anna Emily Elizabeth (Lange) Rankin was born. She is my paternal Grandmother. She would have been 100 years old today, April 4, 2009. However, she passed away on October 24, 1994.

I was fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time with her throughout my life. In fact, my Sis and I even lived with her and Grandpa for about six months, back in 1969. We baked, we shopped, we fished, we camped, and we played lots of games. One of the funniest things we did was when we would go tromping through the dump searching for treasures. We found some good things there sometimes.

Happy Birthday Grandma. I love you!!!

(Taken 2 months before she passed, August 1994)