May is stroke awareness month and since today is the last day of the month, I wanted to get something posted. I wanted to write out a long moving post but I got nothin'. But.. I wanted to re-share our story to remind people to know the signs. Know that many young people suffer from strokes. Trust your instincts. If something seems off, ask questions. Don't let them rest. Get help FAST.
Use FAST to remember the warning signs:
F: Face - Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
A: Arms - Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S: Speech - Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
T: Time - If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately.
An interesting fact that I have read is that only 3% of stroke victims can get the TPA treatment because most people do not get to a hospital in time to have it administered. Every minute that passes increases your chances of having a residual effects from the stroke. Side effects that could be debilitating and lifelong.
I am so thankful that I trusted my gut and called 911 quickly when Chris had his stroke. Our future could have been drastically different had he not received treatment as quickly as he did.
Showing posts with label Chris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Just when you think things can't get worse....
I haven't posted much lately. I haven't had anything funny, witty or inspiring to say. (I know, I know... you all are thinking that I NEVER have anything funny, witty or inspiring to say). Chris gave me the green light to let people know what is going on.. so here goes...
The last time I posted about Chris was when he had the loop recorder inserted. Last week he went and had the data "intercepted" as they call it. His cardiologist called on Friday to let us know the details. In the 3 week period since he had it placed, his heart stopped at least 85 times. For 4-5 seconds each time. Completely flat lined.
Eighty. Five. Times.
Now, count 5 seconds. One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thousand. Four one thousand. Five one thousand. Now imagine that whole time your heart didn't beat.
Doesn't seem possible, right? But ya, that is what is heart is doing. An average of 4 times a day. And generally it is not when he is sleeping.
His cardiologist also informed us that he needs a pacemaker and he needs it sooner than later. If he does not agree to have it done before Christmas time, he will report Chris to the DMV and have his drivers license pulled. He referred us to another cardiologist in his practice to discuss the procedure since he does not place pacemakers himself. After a long weekend of emotions and discussions we decided to wait and see what the doctor we are referred to says. We met with this doctor on Wednesday. He studied all the data and shows us the scans where you can see his heart stop. I asked him if he agrees with the time frame that Chris' cardiologist gave us which was before Christmas. He said that is being very generous and that it really should happen this week. Being that Chris is still on blood thinners it cant happen just yet. He has to be off those meds for a few days. We are waiting to hear from scheduling to set the date but it could happen as early as next Tuesday.
This is all very hard on Chris because he feels perfectly fine. Doesn't get light headed like they say he should be. The doctor that we met with this week said that isn't abnormal. A lot of people don't feel anything. Until it is too late.
I am really ready to be able to sleep well at night and not wake up in the morning and hold my breath until I hear that he is still breathing.
I will keep updating as we have information but for now, please say a prayer that he continues to feel good until the surgery can happen and that the surgery is uncomplicated.
The last time I posted about Chris was when he had the loop recorder inserted. Last week he went and had the data "intercepted" as they call it. His cardiologist called on Friday to let us know the details. In the 3 week period since he had it placed, his heart stopped at least 85 times. For 4-5 seconds each time. Completely flat lined.
Eighty. Five. Times.
Now, count 5 seconds. One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thousand. Four one thousand. Five one thousand. Now imagine that whole time your heart didn't beat.
Doesn't seem possible, right? But ya, that is what is heart is doing. An average of 4 times a day. And generally it is not when he is sleeping.
His cardiologist also informed us that he needs a pacemaker and he needs it sooner than later. If he does not agree to have it done before Christmas time, he will report Chris to the DMV and have his drivers license pulled. He referred us to another cardiologist in his practice to discuss the procedure since he does not place pacemakers himself. After a long weekend of emotions and discussions we decided to wait and see what the doctor we are referred to says. We met with this doctor on Wednesday. He studied all the data and shows us the scans where you can see his heart stop. I asked him if he agrees with the time frame that Chris' cardiologist gave us which was before Christmas. He said that is being very generous and that it really should happen this week. Being that Chris is still on blood thinners it cant happen just yet. He has to be off those meds for a few days. We are waiting to hear from scheduling to set the date but it could happen as early as next Tuesday.
This is all very hard on Chris because he feels perfectly fine. Doesn't get light headed like they say he should be. The doctor that we met with this week said that isn't abnormal. A lot of people don't feel anything. Until it is too late.
I am really ready to be able to sleep well at night and not wake up in the morning and hold my breath until I hear that he is still breathing.
I will keep updating as we have information but for now, please say a prayer that he continues to feel good until the surgery can happen and that the surgery is uncomplicated.
Down syndrome... a dads story
During 31 for 21 I asked Chris if he wanted to write something about Zach. He sent it to me but I misunderstood and thought it was not a final draft. Silly me. Sorry it took so long Chris!
I remember when Zach was born. It was one of the happiest days of my life. All I could think about was the soccer playing Hiatt boy running up and down the field and owning the players because of stuff that I had taught him.
I was the one that got to take him to his first bath and hang out with him in the nursery. It was a very special time for me as a new dad. I could barely contain how happy I was and think about all the things he and I would do. I just could not wait to watch him grow and become the boy that I longed for.
We were so ready to go home and start our life with our new born when the news was told to us about the possibility of Down syndrome. The way the doctor told us made me want to reach out and shake her for more information other than that the social worker would come in and talk to us. The social worker was actually a blessing in disguise. I do not remember her name but we got more information from her and what was going to be happening to us as a family then the doctor provided in the whole 30 minutes we saw her in the 3 days she came to check on Zach. We were told we were moving to the NICU and that he would remain there until his jaundice was good enough for him to go home with us. We were also told that it unfortunately be 2 weeks before we had conclusive proof if he truly had Down syndrome.
We cried…A LOT! We were not prepared for this. We asked all kinds of questions of doctors and nurses who came into the room. We did not believe what they were saying and they must be wrong because so many doctors did not see the markings and the traits that are associated with Down syndrome.
Zach was moved to the NICU and we went home quick to grab a change of clothes and rushed back to the hospital. We met the head of the NICU who was very cold and very straight forward with us. She told us that Zach would never play any contact sports and that he was not really going to do much. The one good thing that she did for us in the beginning was pulled some strings so that the conclusive test would be done before the end of the weekend and we not go home without knowing for sure.
We spent just about every waking moment with Zach and even woke up at 2 am to feed him and for Jen to pump. The nurses were awesome and super understand and friendly. I think that they understood that this was a child whom these parents loved more than can be imagined. The nurses knew that physically there was nothing we could other than to be there for their child and love him unconditionally.
I think that it was Saturday when the head of the NICU called us over and gave us the news that she had received the test results back from Stanford. The tests came back positive for Trisony 21 and that she was sorry. She was still very cold and reserved. I was not a big fan and I remember thinking and even telling Jen how much I was not a big fan of hers. We cried I think at the realization that what we kind of dismissed as a false reading was coming true.
Zach’s bilirubin finally got to level’s that the nurses and doctors in the NICU felt were ok for him to be released. It was at that point that attitudes and feeling changed. The nurses who were always sweet became happier for us being able to take home our son. The head of the NICU became a totally different person. I think that she was so used to having to deliver bad news she was always in her cold doctor form and now we got to take home our son she was very excited for us and talked to us like new parents. We were very excited!
While he was in the hospital I decided I was going to give up all my physical activities that I did for fun. No more soccer because from what I was told Zach would never play sports of any kind. It was not until after we left the hospital that I found out that Down syndrome was not a burden or hindrance but more of a different life experience. Zach was healthy and there were several well documented cases of kids with Down syndrome playing sports and even excelling at them.
Today Zach is on a special needs soccer team. He has played now for almost 3 years on this team. He is still small and probably one of the youngest on the team at 6 but he is out there chasing after the ball with his mom and dad and sister on the sidelines cheering him on. I am still playing as well and it does bring a sense of joy to see him out there running around and having such a good time. I think that in a few years when both he and his sister are playing in different leagues that he will be a force on the field and a scoring machine.
I look back at all of the fear and worry that I had when I was told he would be just a kid who did nothing and it makes me smile because I never met that kid and the only child that I see is one that is going 100 mph from start to finish whether it is soccer or school or even life.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Chris' surgery...
Sunday afternoon Chris, my mom and I drove down to the Burbank/Glendale area and got checked into our hotel. Took part in the hotels complimentary happy hour and then took a walk to find dinner. After that we called it and night and we all went to bed. Monday morning we were to report to the hospital at 10am to get checked in and for things to get going. When the hospital called me on Friday to go over the pre-admitting stuff, they also informed me that he was scheduled for a transesophageal echocardiogram, or TEE, at 12pm. They also needed to do pre-op lab work.
We left the hotel at 9am, not knowing what to expect from LA traffic. We made it to the hospital fairly quickly and the thoughtful guy Chris is, he went and filled the van up with gas so we didn't have to worry about it when it was time to make the drive home. We parked at the hospital and headed in to find admitting. We got through admitting about 9:30 and the guy who did all our admitting paperwork walked us to a lobby and told us to wait there and someone would come get us. We waited a very long time but there were also others who were there for tests and what not who had been waiting over an hour so while we were annoyed we didn't think anything of it. At 10:50am my cell phone rang. It was a nurse from the Short Stay area calling to see where we were. Once we rushed to where we should have been all along they got things going. The drew his blood, started his IV and got him hooked up to the monitors. They explained that the doctor performing the TEE wanted the blood work back before they could proceed so they were rushing that process. Things were moving right along and on schedule to start the TEE at noon. The specialist doing the surgery came in around 11:45am to check in with him. Shortly after they informed us that his blood work had been lost at the lab and they would be coming to re-draw it. They called the doctor doing the TEE and let him know things would be delayed about an hour. Shortly after, they found the blood. It had gotten stuck in the tube between the nurses station and the lab. By this time the doctor had already delayed getting there for the TEE and the specialist doing the surgery was not happy. Blood results were finally in and they inform me that they are going to do the TEE and then take him right in for surgery so it would be about 4 hours or so until the doctor came to talk to me.
We decided to grab some lunch while we waited but first we were going to unload some of the stuff we had in the car. We had a laptop, Chris' PSP, magazines, etc. Too many things to be dragging around the hospital that we weren't utilizing. We asked a nurse where the cafeteria and she explained that they had some food for sale but that their main cafeteria was under construction. We decided that since we had so much time, we would leave and grab some lunch and come back. We paid the $6 daily max for the parking garage. The parking garage that does not have in and out privileges. I drove around for a bit and found an El Torito. It was packed but we went for it anyway. We sat down and decided on their lunch buffet. The server came by and informed us that it was $3 Margarita Monday. Yes Please! I took a couple sips and it was heavenly. Cheap low quality tequila was just what I needed to take the edge off. I told my mom I felt guilty for not being at the hospital but admitted that it was a great distraction. I was getting a plate of food when my cell phone rang. I stepped outside to take it since it was really loud and crowded (It was $3 margaritas after all). It was the hospital. The nurse was frantic asking where I was. Long story short... they forgot to have Chris sign the consent form. FOR THE SURGERY. And being that he was already sedated he could not sign it. So I needed to sign it. And they couldn't start the surgery until I signed it. I told her I was on my way. I went back inside to tell my mom and decided that I couldn't have been very far from the hospital and I wasn't going to deal with parking and leaving again so I decided to jog/walk back to the hospital. I grabbed my handy IPhone, pulled up my GPS, and took off. It was a little less than a mile away. I probably made it back faster than I would have driving. As I am walking in the hospital my phone is ringing again. It is one of the doctors in the cath lab looking for me. Because... you know... Chris is LAYING ON THE TABLE. I sign the form. Asked 5 times if there is anything they could possibly need for me to be there for and walked back to lunch.
We finished up pretty quick and got back to the hospital. We expected to wait another 2+ hours to hear something so we set up camp in the waiting room. Shortly after someone called the volunteer desk to ask if anyone was there for Chris. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. The doctor came out and sat down to talk to me. He explained that they were not able to do the ablation. He said, several times, that Chris' heart is "very abnormal". When they went in they shocked his heart back to a normal rhythm and his heart rate was low, which I could have told them would happen. Then he started looking around and he explained that all of the electrical currents in Chris' heart reacted very abnormally when he went near them. Because of that he did not feel comfortable doing the ablation because he felt there was no way he would have gotten off the table without a pacemaker and at his age they obviously want to do everything they can to avoid that. He called Chris' local cardiologist and discussed what was going on with him and they both decided that they wanted to implant a loop recorder. Basically what this does is record every beat that his heart makes. It is not attached to his heart the way a pacemaker or a defibrillator would be. Every so often he will check in with his cardiologist who will download all the information and can see exactly what his heart is doing at all times of the day. Chris has always had a pretty low heart rate but they want to see what is going on at night. This will hopefully buy him at least 5+ years without needing a pacemaker. Because Chris was sedated and could not consent to this procedure they could not do it until the following morning. I was finally able to see him a couple hours later. He was starving and uncomfortable. He had to lay flat on his back for hours after they surgery because of the incision sites. They went in on both sides of his groin so he was pretty uncomfortable and had to have 10 lb sandbags on each incision site to help the blood clot. After feeding him some dinner I called it a night.
At 7:30 am this morning they placed the loop recorder. It was a fast procedure and Chris was awake through the whole thing. Afterward he had to be watched at the hospital for about 5 hours and then we were able to come home. His chest is really sore and it is hard on him to not be able to pick up the kids and we have to constantly remind the kids to be gentle with daddy. Zach and Chris rough house quite a bit so it is hard for Zach to understand and I feel like we are constantly on edge that he is going to charge Chris with a slam hug. We will followup with Chris' local cardiologist later in the week and talk about where we go from here.
We left the hotel at 9am, not knowing what to expect from LA traffic. We made it to the hospital fairly quickly and the thoughtful guy Chris is, he went and filled the van up with gas so we didn't have to worry about it when it was time to make the drive home. We parked at the hospital and headed in to find admitting. We got through admitting about 9:30 and the guy who did all our admitting paperwork walked us to a lobby and told us to wait there and someone would come get us. We waited a very long time but there were also others who were there for tests and what not who had been waiting over an hour so while we were annoyed we didn't think anything of it. At 10:50am my cell phone rang. It was a nurse from the Short Stay area calling to see where we were. Once we rushed to where we should have been all along they got things going. The drew his blood, started his IV and got him hooked up to the monitors. They explained that the doctor performing the TEE wanted the blood work back before they could proceed so they were rushing that process. Things were moving right along and on schedule to start the TEE at noon. The specialist doing the surgery came in around 11:45am to check in with him. Shortly after they informed us that his blood work had been lost at the lab and they would be coming to re-draw it. They called the doctor doing the TEE and let him know things would be delayed about an hour. Shortly after, they found the blood. It had gotten stuck in the tube between the nurses station and the lab. By this time the doctor had already delayed getting there for the TEE and the specialist doing the surgery was not happy. Blood results were finally in and they inform me that they are going to do the TEE and then take him right in for surgery so it would be about 4 hours or so until the doctor came to talk to me.
We decided to grab some lunch while we waited but first we were going to unload some of the stuff we had in the car. We had a laptop, Chris' PSP, magazines, etc. Too many things to be dragging around the hospital that we weren't utilizing. We asked a nurse where the cafeteria and she explained that they had some food for sale but that their main cafeteria was under construction. We decided that since we had so much time, we would leave and grab some lunch and come back. We paid the $6 daily max for the parking garage. The parking garage that does not have in and out privileges. I drove around for a bit and found an El Torito. It was packed but we went for it anyway. We sat down and decided on their lunch buffet. The server came by and informed us that it was $3 Margarita Monday. Yes Please! I took a couple sips and it was heavenly. Cheap low quality tequila was just what I needed to take the edge off. I told my mom I felt guilty for not being at the hospital but admitted that it was a great distraction. I was getting a plate of food when my cell phone rang. I stepped outside to take it since it was really loud and crowded (It was $3 margaritas after all). It was the hospital. The nurse was frantic asking where I was. Long story short... they forgot to have Chris sign the consent form. FOR THE SURGERY. And being that he was already sedated he could not sign it. So I needed to sign it. And they couldn't start the surgery until I signed it. I told her I was on my way. I went back inside to tell my mom and decided that I couldn't have been very far from the hospital and I wasn't going to deal with parking and leaving again so I decided to jog/walk back to the hospital. I grabbed my handy IPhone, pulled up my GPS, and took off. It was a little less than a mile away. I probably made it back faster than I would have driving. As I am walking in the hospital my phone is ringing again. It is one of the doctors in the cath lab looking for me. Because... you know... Chris is LAYING ON THE TABLE. I sign the form. Asked 5 times if there is anything they could possibly need for me to be there for and walked back to lunch.
We finished up pretty quick and got back to the hospital. We expected to wait another 2+ hours to hear something so we set up camp in the waiting room. Shortly after someone called the volunteer desk to ask if anyone was there for Chris. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. The doctor came out and sat down to talk to me. He explained that they were not able to do the ablation. He said, several times, that Chris' heart is "very abnormal". When they went in they shocked his heart back to a normal rhythm and his heart rate was low, which I could have told them would happen. Then he started looking around and he explained that all of the electrical currents in Chris' heart reacted very abnormally when he went near them. Because of that he did not feel comfortable doing the ablation because he felt there was no way he would have gotten off the table without a pacemaker and at his age they obviously want to do everything they can to avoid that. He called Chris' local cardiologist and discussed what was going on with him and they both decided that they wanted to implant a loop recorder. Basically what this does is record every beat that his heart makes. It is not attached to his heart the way a pacemaker or a defibrillator would be. Every so often he will check in with his cardiologist who will download all the information and can see exactly what his heart is doing at all times of the day. Chris has always had a pretty low heart rate but they want to see what is going on at night. This will hopefully buy him at least 5+ years without needing a pacemaker. Because Chris was sedated and could not consent to this procedure they could not do it until the following morning. I was finally able to see him a couple hours later. He was starving and uncomfortable. He had to lay flat on his back for hours after they surgery because of the incision sites. They went in on both sides of his groin so he was pretty uncomfortable and had to have 10 lb sandbags on each incision site to help the blood clot. After feeding him some dinner I called it a night.
At 7:30 am this morning they placed the loop recorder. It was a fast procedure and Chris was awake through the whole thing. Afterward he had to be watched at the hospital for about 5 hours and then we were able to come home. His chest is really sore and it is hard on him to not be able to pick up the kids and we have to constantly remind the kids to be gentle with daddy. Zach and Chris rough house quite a bit so it is hard for Zach to understand and I feel like we are constantly on edge that he is going to charge Chris with a slam hug. We will followup with Chris' local cardiologist later in the week and talk about where we go from here.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The latest with us...
I completely failed at hitting 31 for 21. I think I barely hit half. In my defense, I have had a lot going on and I really feel that I succeeded in my mission. I think I truly raised awareness and helped educate people on Down syndrome.
Now on to my excuse as to why I failed...
The last few months have been a challenge, to say the least. The time has finally come to update blog world on what is going on.
For those of you that don't know my husband, my 37 year old husband, had a stroke. Ever since then, we have been consumed with doctor appointments, decisions, and lots of stress. After the failed attempt at converting his heart his cardiologist referred us to an electrophysiologist to talk about surgery. There are no electrophysiologists in our county. Our HMO referred us to a doctor in the Los Angeles area which is about 3.5 hours away from us. We traveled down there a few weeks back and met with the specialist who informed us that he needs the surgery and he needs it soon. The surgery that he needs to correct his heart abnormality is a Cardiac Ablation. On top of that, he also informed Chris that he needs to be prepared for a pacemaker. He said there is about a 95% chance that he wont need one, but that it is something that is a possibility. In the state that his heart is in, for a guy his age, he should have a heart rate close to 200. His is in the 70s. The fear is that when they correct the abnormality and get his heart beating in a normal rhythm his heart rate will be so low that a pacemaker will be necessary. Which is exactly what happened when they did the cardioversion back in August.
After many phone calls and schedule changes we have a date. Chris' surgery will take place next Monday November 8th. Anyone that can spare positive thoughts and prayers, please send them our way that he wont need a pacemaker and that the surgery will be successful.
Now on to my excuse as to why I failed...
The last few months have been a challenge, to say the least. The time has finally come to update blog world on what is going on.
For those of you that don't know my husband, my 37 year old husband, had a stroke. Ever since then, we have been consumed with doctor appointments, decisions, and lots of stress. After the failed attempt at converting his heart his cardiologist referred us to an electrophysiologist to talk about surgery. There are no electrophysiologists in our county. Our HMO referred us to a doctor in the Los Angeles area which is about 3.5 hours away from us. We traveled down there a few weeks back and met with the specialist who informed us that he needs the surgery and he needs it soon. The surgery that he needs to correct his heart abnormality is a Cardiac Ablation. On top of that, he also informed Chris that he needs to be prepared for a pacemaker. He said there is about a 95% chance that he wont need one, but that it is something that is a possibility. In the state that his heart is in, for a guy his age, he should have a heart rate close to 200. His is in the 70s. The fear is that when they correct the abnormality and get his heart beating in a normal rhythm his heart rate will be so low that a pacemaker will be necessary. Which is exactly what happened when they did the cardioversion back in August.
After many phone calls and schedule changes we have a date. Chris' surgery will take place next Monday November 8th. Anyone that can spare positive thoughts and prayers, please send them our way that he wont need a pacemaker and that the surgery will be successful.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
A hell of a year....
Chris turned 38 yesterday! We celebrated on Sunday (since we both worked yesterday) with my first attempt at lasagna and ridiculously chocolaty chocolate cake. Surely he would not have asked for items that needed to be baked had he known we would be having a crazy heat wave and he even said several times that we could have something else for his birthday dinner but I wanted to give him what he asked for so... lasagna and cake it was! It was 106 at our house on Sunday. Yesterday there was record breaking heat and was 113 where we work!
Right around his birthday last year is when the bumps in the road of our lives started. I don't think I even had the time or energy to blog about it all but here is a quick recap...
Chris had some issues arise at work that resulted in him almost losing his job which caused a huge amount of stress and tension.
While vacationing at Disneyland, had to take Zachary to the ER with breathing problems, told he has asthma.
My grandmother went through months of health problems and weeks in the hospital and almost died. Twice.
Chris appendix almost burst and had emergency appendectomy
Papa Don passed away
Zach had a seizure
Chris had a stroke. Learn of Chris' heart condition and in the near future will be exploring the options on how to treat going forward.
Can I please get off of this roller coaster?!?!
Right around his birthday last year is when the bumps in the road of our lives started. I don't think I even had the time or energy to blog about it all but here is a quick recap...
Chris had some issues arise at work that resulted in him almost losing his job which caused a huge amount of stress and tension.
While vacationing at Disneyland, had to take Zachary to the ER with breathing problems, told he has asthma.
My grandmother went through months of health problems and weeks in the hospital and almost died. Twice.
Chris appendix almost burst and had emergency appendectomy
Papa Don passed away
Zach had a seizure
Chris had a stroke. Learn of Chris' heart condition and in the near future will be exploring the options on how to treat going forward.
Can I please get off of this roller coaster?!?!
Friday, September 10, 2010
The latest on Chris
2 weeks ago Chris and I headed up to the hospital for Chris' Cardioversion procedure. They took him back to the waiting area for outpatient procedures and got his IV started, took blood and got the heart monitors on him before calling me back to sit with him. We were there chatting with the nurse for about an hour before the cardiologist got there. His doctor asked me if I wanted to stay to watch it. Sure. I like medical stuff and I have watched my fair share. I watched my moms laser eye surgery on a close up TV screen while she was having it done. I thought it was really cool when they cut the eye ball and pulled the lens back to access the cornea. This would be no biggie.
They put the pads on him. One on his chest and one on his back. They administered the sedatives through his IV to put him to sleep. They charge up the machine. The machine has a warning saying that his pads are not reading properly. They cant figure out why. The machine was reading his EKG information so they knew it was working. He charged it up again and said "Clear!" and pushed the button and nothing happened. Then they realized the wires were not connected to the pads that do the actual shock. I said "You guys are not making feel very good about this!". They get him plugged in and the doctor charges the machine back up and says "Clear!" and just like you see in the movies, Chris' whole upper body lifts up from the gurney. He opens his eyes and looks around. The doctor tells me that it didn't work. He would have to shock him a second time. Chris was still looking around so they gave him another small dose of drugs. I told them I had to leave. I could not watch that again.
I went out to the waiting room and started to worry when a lot of time passed. The doctor finally came out and said that the second shock did work but now he was concerned because his heart rate was in the 30s at rest. 40s when he asked him to get up and move around a little bit. He felt there was some sort of congenital problem and that the top and bottom chambers were not "talking to each other" properly. He still felt ok with Chris going home that day. Said there was nothing urgent that was of concern but that we would talk about him at the followup appointment the following week. He said he expected that Chris would get dizzy easily and that he would not be surprised if he passed out. It was a Friday so he gave me his cell phone number to contact him if we had any problems or questions over the weekend.
I went back to see Chris. I didn't tell him too much at the time because I did not want to give him more to worry about. We were able to leave fairly soon after. We came home and he took a nice long nap. He felt pretty good the next day other than some soreness in his chest. I could hear the difference in his heart beat when I put my ear to his chest. I have become a novice in distinguishing the different states of his heart beats. The following Monday he had to go in to have his blood levels checked and they checked his pulse and said he was irregular again. Not what we expected, or wanted, to hear! I listened to his heart that night and it did sound a little irregular, but not the same as it did post stroke when he was in Atrial Fibrillation. We had a followup appointment with the cardiologist on Wednesday and he said that Chris was back in A Fib. Atrial Flutter to be exact. He said he uses the terms interchangeably but that the A Flutter was a much more organized rhythm than it had before. Last Thursday at work Chris felt his heart beat pretty hard and he got slightly dizzy. When we got home I listened to it and low and behold, it had converted itself back into a regular rhythm. Today, it converted back. It is a very nerve racking state of unknown right now.
At the last appointment with the cardiologist we talked about options from this point on and when we have more information on how he is going to proceed, we will discuss them with everyone.
Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers!
They put the pads on him. One on his chest and one on his back. They administered the sedatives through his IV to put him to sleep. They charge up the machine. The machine has a warning saying that his pads are not reading properly. They cant figure out why. The machine was reading his EKG information so they knew it was working. He charged it up again and said "Clear!" and pushed the button and nothing happened. Then they realized the wires were not connected to the pads that do the actual shock. I said "You guys are not making feel very good about this!". They get him plugged in and the doctor charges the machine back up and says "Clear!" and just like you see in the movies, Chris' whole upper body lifts up from the gurney. He opens his eyes and looks around. The doctor tells me that it didn't work. He would have to shock him a second time. Chris was still looking around so they gave him another small dose of drugs. I told them I had to leave. I could not watch that again.
I went out to the waiting room and started to worry when a lot of time passed. The doctor finally came out and said that the second shock did work but now he was concerned because his heart rate was in the 30s at rest. 40s when he asked him to get up and move around a little bit. He felt there was some sort of congenital problem and that the top and bottom chambers were not "talking to each other" properly. He still felt ok with Chris going home that day. Said there was nothing urgent that was of concern but that we would talk about him at the followup appointment the following week. He said he expected that Chris would get dizzy easily and that he would not be surprised if he passed out. It was a Friday so he gave me his cell phone number to contact him if we had any problems or questions over the weekend.
I went back to see Chris. I didn't tell him too much at the time because I did not want to give him more to worry about. We were able to leave fairly soon after. We came home and he took a nice long nap. He felt pretty good the next day other than some soreness in his chest. I could hear the difference in his heart beat when I put my ear to his chest. I have become a novice in distinguishing the different states of his heart beats. The following Monday he had to go in to have his blood levels checked and they checked his pulse and said he was irregular again. Not what we expected, or wanted, to hear! I listened to his heart that night and it did sound a little irregular, but not the same as it did post stroke when he was in Atrial Fibrillation. We had a followup appointment with the cardiologist on Wednesday and he said that Chris was back in A Fib. Atrial Flutter to be exact. He said he uses the terms interchangeably but that the A Flutter was a much more organized rhythm than it had before. Last Thursday at work Chris felt his heart beat pretty hard and he got slightly dizzy. When we got home I listened to it and low and behold, it had converted itself back into a regular rhythm. Today, it converted back. It is a very nerve racking state of unknown right now.
At the last appointment with the cardiologist we talked about options from this point on and when we have more information on how he is going to proceed, we will discuss them with everyone.
Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Stroke... Part 2
If you have not read Part 1, start here.
I woke up the next morning hoping it was all a nightmare. Hoping I would roll over and Chris would be next laying there next to me. But of course the other side of the bed was as empty as it was just a few hours earlier when I laid down. I jumped out of bed and called the ICU nurse who said he was awake already and put me through to him. I could hear in his voice how different he was. It was as if his soul had been missing and overnight had returned to his body. His speech was off, but the gibberish was gone. I took a shower and waited for my mom who went to the hospital with me. When we got there the ultrasound technician was doing ultrasounds of his legs and carotid artery checking for clots. She also came back later in the day and did a very long echo cardiogram of his heart. She told us, unofficially of course, that all looked well but she did notice some fluttering in his heart. Chris was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since 2pm Monday when he had a snack at work. They would not let him eat or drink anything until he met with a speech therapist to evaluate him and ensure that he would not choke or aspirate.
We still did not have a lot of answers as to why this happened. Chris is 37 years old. Has never been a smoker, heavy drinker, or drug user. He plays soccer 2-3 times a week and has always been healthy. When talking to the doctors the night before in the ER about his medical history, diet and eating habits I did mention that he drank energy drinks. Generally 2-3 a day. They seemed very interested in this and felt that could have been a factor in causing his stroke.
We met with the cardiologist who explained that the stroke was caused by Atrial Fibrillation. The irregular heart beat will cause a clot and paired with the amount of caffeine in the energy drinks, it was a formula for disaster. Most people who have A Fib have a heart rate that averages in the 130-150 range. Chris' averages around 60-70 so he had no idea that he was experiencing this. When he was in the hospital in February, they did not ever mention that he was in A Fib so it was a relatively new thing.
There was a lot going on throughout the day. Nurses in and out. A visit from Chris' bosses. Chris had an MRI where they officially confirmed he had a stroke. The neurologist said there was some scarring in his brain. Finally around 3pm or so the speech therapist came in and did some tongue exercises with Chris and watched him eat a milkshake. She cleared him to eat and showed us some exercises that he needed to do to strengthen his tongue to help his speech return to normal. He scarfed down a turkey sandwich (the first of many) and was happy to finally get to eat.
Around 4 that afternoon he was able to get up and try to walk. He felt pretty good but he did feel like he was tilting to one side while he walked. In his mind, he thought it should be obvious that he was tilting, but knew that it wasn't. Our fantastic daycare provider dropped the kids off at the hospital so they could visit with Daddy. After a short visit we went home so I could try to maintain some normalcy for the kids. We had dinner and did our nighttime routine. Chris had a good night. Watched TV. Ate dinner. Walked a little bit more with one of the nurses.
Wednesday morning I dropped the kids off at daycare and went back up to see him. There was talks of moving him to the unit that was just a step down from ICU but they were full so they moved him down to the "Med Surg" floor. It was good and bad. Good because that meant he was one step closer to going home. Bad because it was a cramped room where he would possibly have a roommate. When he was moved around noon, he had a roommate who was in his 80's and hard of hearing. So, you can imagine the volume of his TV. The roommate left around 3 and Chris was lucky enough to be alone in his room until Friday morning. Wednesday was more of the same. The speech therapist came and worked with him again, along with an occupational therapist and a physical therapist.
The cardiologist met with us again. We talked with him about treatment going forward. They put him on blood thinners to avoid the possibility of another clot forming. Because of the tPA that he was given upon arrival they had to start slow with new medications. They started giving him shots of Lovenox in his stomach on Wednesday. This is a faster delivered blood thinner until the Warfarin could get to the appropriate levels in his system.
Chris was able to get up and walk a little bit in the halls. Didn't do too much Wednesday but by Thursday he did a few laps up and down the halls. Thursday was about the same as Wednesday. Meeting with the ST, PT, OT and cardiologist. I think the floor doctor also came in to check on him, but we didn't get much out of him in terms of information. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know from the nurse or the cardio.
Friday morning Chris was itching to go home and we were doing a lot of walking up and down the hallway. The floor doctor came in to check on him and said he would be there until at least Monday. Since he was getting the shots he had to stay there and they wanted his blood at a certain level before he could leave. We met with the cardiologist around 10am who said that if the insurance approved it and I felt ok giving him the shots we could go home. Chris was so ecstatic! We got all the prescriptions, follow up appointments, and instructions and we were out of there! Chris was so excited to be out of bed and out of the hospital that we actually stopped on the way home and had sushi for lunch before picking up all his drugs.
Understandably, it still took some time for him to regain his energy and get back to doing his day to day activities. Even now, a 6 weeks later, he still tires easily. The cardiologist said that after his Cardioversion this coming Friday, he should notice a huge difference in his stamina and energy level. The cardiologist and neurologist have talked and neither of them are in a rush to get him off of the blood thinners so he will stay on those for awhile. He was back to work part time the following week and on the soccer field 3 1/2 weeks post stroke. He has had lots of follow up appointments and has to have his blood levels checked weekly. We also had to pay some guy $300 to come evaluate Chris and watch him drive so that he could fill out the reports for the Neuro and the DMV to clear him to drive. He wasn't able to drive for a couple weeks and I was hating being the sole driver. He is also not the best passenger so he was anxious to get back in the drivers seat.
It has been a hell of an experience that I do not wish on anyone but I am so thankful for how quickly he has recovered.
I woke up the next morning hoping it was all a nightmare. Hoping I would roll over and Chris would be next laying there next to me. But of course the other side of the bed was as empty as it was just a few hours earlier when I laid down. I jumped out of bed and called the ICU nurse who said he was awake already and put me through to him. I could hear in his voice how different he was. It was as if his soul had been missing and overnight had returned to his body. His speech was off, but the gibberish was gone. I took a shower and waited for my mom who went to the hospital with me. When we got there the ultrasound technician was doing ultrasounds of his legs and carotid artery checking for clots. She also came back later in the day and did a very long echo cardiogram of his heart. She told us, unofficially of course, that all looked well but she did notice some fluttering in his heart. Chris was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since 2pm Monday when he had a snack at work. They would not let him eat or drink anything until he met with a speech therapist to evaluate him and ensure that he would not choke or aspirate.
We still did not have a lot of answers as to why this happened. Chris is 37 years old. Has never been a smoker, heavy drinker, or drug user. He plays soccer 2-3 times a week and has always been healthy. When talking to the doctors the night before in the ER about his medical history, diet and eating habits I did mention that he drank energy drinks. Generally 2-3 a day. They seemed very interested in this and felt that could have been a factor in causing his stroke.
We met with the cardiologist who explained that the stroke was caused by Atrial Fibrillation. The irregular heart beat will cause a clot and paired with the amount of caffeine in the energy drinks, it was a formula for disaster. Most people who have A Fib have a heart rate that averages in the 130-150 range. Chris' averages around 60-70 so he had no idea that he was experiencing this. When he was in the hospital in February, they did not ever mention that he was in A Fib so it was a relatively new thing.
There was a lot going on throughout the day. Nurses in and out. A visit from Chris' bosses. Chris had an MRI where they officially confirmed he had a stroke. The neurologist said there was some scarring in his brain. Finally around 3pm or so the speech therapist came in and did some tongue exercises with Chris and watched him eat a milkshake. She cleared him to eat and showed us some exercises that he needed to do to strengthen his tongue to help his speech return to normal. He scarfed down a turkey sandwich (the first of many) and was happy to finally get to eat.
Around 4 that afternoon he was able to get up and try to walk. He felt pretty good but he did feel like he was tilting to one side while he walked. In his mind, he thought it should be obvious that he was tilting, but knew that it wasn't. Our fantastic daycare provider dropped the kids off at the hospital so they could visit with Daddy. After a short visit we went home so I could try to maintain some normalcy for the kids. We had dinner and did our nighttime routine. Chris had a good night. Watched TV. Ate dinner. Walked a little bit more with one of the nurses.
Wednesday morning I dropped the kids off at daycare and went back up to see him. There was talks of moving him to the unit that was just a step down from ICU but they were full so they moved him down to the "Med Surg" floor. It was good and bad. Good because that meant he was one step closer to going home. Bad because it was a cramped room where he would possibly have a roommate. When he was moved around noon, he had a roommate who was in his 80's and hard of hearing. So, you can imagine the volume of his TV. The roommate left around 3 and Chris was lucky enough to be alone in his room until Friday morning. Wednesday was more of the same. The speech therapist came and worked with him again, along with an occupational therapist and a physical therapist.
The cardiologist met with us again. We talked with him about treatment going forward. They put him on blood thinners to avoid the possibility of another clot forming. Because of the tPA that he was given upon arrival they had to start slow with new medications. They started giving him shots of Lovenox in his stomach on Wednesday. This is a faster delivered blood thinner until the Warfarin could get to the appropriate levels in his system.
Chris was able to get up and walk a little bit in the halls. Didn't do too much Wednesday but by Thursday he did a few laps up and down the halls. Thursday was about the same as Wednesday. Meeting with the ST, PT, OT and cardiologist. I think the floor doctor also came in to check on him, but we didn't get much out of him in terms of information. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know from the nurse or the cardio.
Friday morning Chris was itching to go home and we were doing a lot of walking up and down the hallway. The floor doctor came in to check on him and said he would be there until at least Monday. Since he was getting the shots he had to stay there and they wanted his blood at a certain level before he could leave. We met with the cardiologist around 10am who said that if the insurance approved it and I felt ok giving him the shots we could go home. Chris was so ecstatic! We got all the prescriptions, follow up appointments, and instructions and we were out of there! Chris was so excited to be out of bed and out of the hospital that we actually stopped on the way home and had sushi for lunch before picking up all his drugs.
Understandably, it still took some time for him to regain his energy and get back to doing his day to day activities. Even now, a 6 weeks later, he still tires easily. The cardiologist said that after his Cardioversion this coming Friday, he should notice a huge difference in his stamina and energy level. The cardiologist and neurologist have talked and neither of them are in a rush to get him off of the blood thinners so he will stay on those for awhile. He was back to work part time the following week and on the soccer field 3 1/2 weeks post stroke. He has had lots of follow up appointments and has to have his blood levels checked weekly. We also had to pay some guy $300 to come evaluate Chris and watch him drive so that he could fill out the reports for the Neuro and the DMV to clear him to drive. He wasn't able to drive for a couple weeks and I was hating being the sole driver. He is also not the best passenger so he was anxious to get back in the drivers seat.
It has been a hell of an experience that I do not wish on anyone but I am so thankful for how quickly he has recovered.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Stroke... Part 1
A month ago Chris suffered a stroke. I am just now having the time to "talk" about it. It is, by far, the scariest thing I have lived through. I hope hearing our story will help others know the signs and trust their instincts if faced with a life and death health situation. I am so thankful I did. Here is our story...
It started like any other Monday. Alarm goes off. Take a shower. Get dressed. Pack my lunch and Zach's lunch. While packing Zach's lunch, make a mental note that we are out of juice boxes. Drop kids off at daycare. Commute in to work together. Work all day. Chris picks me up. We chat about our day on the drive home. Pick up the kids. Come home. Sort mail. Unpack Zach's backpack. Remember we are out of juice boxes. Say to Chris "Honey, check in the garage to see if we have another box of Capri Sun's and put them in the fridge." Chris comes in from the garage and says "we don't have anymore, want me to go to the store? We could use some sour cream for the chili anyway"? (we had made chili on Sunday to have for dinner on Monday and it came out a little spicy so we though sour cream might make it less spicy for the kids). I debated on him going since it was the last week of summer school and I could get by with other drinks for Zach's lunch. But, he decided to go. While he is gone, I start warming up bowls of chili. I call and chat with my mom for a few minutes.
Little did I know my life was about to change forever.
About 20 minutes later, the kids announce "Daddy's home!" and I continue what I am doing. I could see the driveway from the kitchen and noticed the car door was open for a few minutes, but figured that he was gathering his things, turning off his IPod, etc. He walks in carrying boxes of Capri Suns and a grocery bag. I look at his face and he just did not look right. His left eye looked very small, like he was squinting and the left side of his face seemed somewhat droopy. I asked him what was wrong and his response was "I don't know, my vision was just off, I need to lay down for a few minutes". My heart starts racing. That just did not seem like him but he has been mentioning that he needs to see the eye doctor lately to get a new prescription for his vision problems in his left eye that he has had for years.
He lays on the couch and I am drilling him with questions. He has a coy smile on his face, almost like he was mocking me for being concerned. I ask him to smile. Smile was fine, face reacts on both sides of the face. I ask him to stick out his tongue. Both sides of his tongue look like he has been clenching down on it and there are teeth marks running along both sides. Then our conversation goes like this:
Me: "I am calling 911"
Chris: "No you aren't, I am fine, just let me rest and you guys start eating dinner"
Me: "No Chris, I am calling 911"
Chris: "Stop, I am fine, you are not calling 911"
Me: "Fine, I am calling my mom to have her come over and watch the kids in case I need to take you to the hospital for some reason"
Chris: "Fine"
I call my mom and tell her that Chris isn't acting right. I don't know what is wrong but he just doesn't seem right and he is telling me not to worry or call 911. She says "Jennifer, call 911, I am on my way".
I start pacing. Trying to decide if I am overreacting (which I have been known to do), or if there was really something wrong. Then I hear him say "the coach emailed us about the protocol of the defense". I picked up the phone and called 911. He is still looking at me like I am nuts and should not be concerned but he just was not himself. I hang up with the 911 operator and within minutes I hear the sirens of the fire engines. I talk to the kids and let them know that there will be a lot going on in the house in a minute and they are coming to make sure daddy feels OK and they need to stay out of the way. I move all the toys and shoes and make a clear path from the front door to the couch where Chris is.
The firemen walk in a few minutes later and start hooking Chris up to machines and asking him questions. Zach, of course, is trying to help them. Hannah starts panicking and wants nothing but to be held. They ask Chris if he knows where he is and he knew our address perfect. About 5 minutes later, he got one of the numbers wrong. Most questions they asked him were basic and he answered fine. Things like his name, day of the week, his birth date. They asked me to ask him questions that only we would know. I asked him Zach's birthday and he knew the day and month but got the year way off. By this time the EMTs had shown up as well. The wonderful woman driver had pulled Zach to a little corner in the house and talked to him and kept him occupied. They prepare to bring the gurney in and are looking at the tight fit (our house is small). Chris says "No, I can walk out", which he did. He laid on the gurney which they had on the porch. They strap him in and start loading him in the ambulance and the kids say goodbye. They were very excited about the stickers the firemen had just given them. I am standing there in shock and a neighbor walks over and asks if I need anything. One of the firemen says to me "you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible because we have no idea if what he is saying is true." I turned to my neighbor (who I had met in passing but did not even know her name) and said "Can you sit with my kids? My mom should be here within 10 minutes" and I jumped in the front if the ambulance. On the way over I was pretty hysterical and the driver (who had just finished keeping Zach occupied) was trying to keep me engaged in conversation. She asked if I had someone to come to the hospital to sit with me. I hadn't even thought of that. All I was thinking was taking care of Chris and making sure the kids were taken care of. I call our friends Doug and Kelly and ask if they can keep the kids for the night so my mom can come up and be with me. We work out arrangements and they, once again, come through for us and come pick up the kids from my mom. As we are driving over to the hospital in the ambulance, I cant hear much of what is going on the back but I do hear them asking Chris if he did any drugs when he went to the store to which he answered "yes, I smoked some marijuana". I asked the EMTs in the back "What did he say?! He is totally full of it, he did not, there is no way". They all kind of look at me like I am nuts or lying to them to protect Chris. Then they ask him "What is your doctors name?" and he says "Dr McNerney". I said "No, that is our kids pediatrician". They started an IV and that was about all I knew that was happening on the ride over.
We get to the ambulance bay of the ER and they are unloading him. It was quite chaotic so once I knew where he was going to be, they took me to a little waiting room to wait for my mom and so that they could get things going. I waited for what seemed like an eternity and finally went back to his room. The ER doctor explained that they think he is having a stroke (which I already figured by that point) and that they are going to do a CT scan to be sure it isn't a brain bleed and at that point we will talk and I will need to make some choices. By this time, the ICU doctor had come down and was working closely with the ER doctor. Being that they suspected a stroke and he would be moved to the ICU they worked as a team.
By now, Chris had moved past the point of speaking coherently and he was completely talking gibberish. Some things that he said would make sense but it was like it wasn't even him talking. His expressions were nothing that I recognized. He could not squeeze his right hand. One of the doctors asked him to raise his right leg. He raised his right leg. The doctor asked him to raise his right arm. He raised his right leg. The doctor asked him again, to raise his right arm. And again, he raised his right leg. The doctor asked him again to raise his right arm and he looked at the doctor and said "What do you think I am doing?!". He had lost all movement in his right arm and hand. I asked him if he knew who I was and while I could tell that he recognized me, he could not tell me my name. I paced between his room and the hallway outside his room. It was hard for me to be near him because it scared me so much and with every minute that passed, he seemed to be falling further and further away from me.
They took him back for the CT scan while I waited, alone with my thoughts. I wondered how I was going to get through this. I was convinced that he would never be the same person. How would this change our family? Would he still love me the same? Is our marriage strong enough to get through the aftermath that this will cause? Will he survive this? Could I handle being a single parent?
The CT scan was over fairly quickly. The ER doctor confirmed what we all suspected. He was suffering a stroke. He told me that time was of the essence and I have a decision to make and I need to make it quickly. We stood in the ER room talking over Chris. Me to Chris' right and the doctor to Chris' left. Chris asleep between us. He explained that a stroke is a blood clot that has traveled to the brain and he went on to explain my options to me.
Option 1: They will administer a drug called tPA through his IV and it takes an hour. It is a drug that is used to break up the clot. Approximately a third of people who have this treatment will have no residual side effects from the stroke. Approximately two-thirds of people will have some sort of side effect. A speech problem or a limp or something of that sort. And then there is small percentage of people that will die within minutes of administering the tPA and another small percentage of people that will die within the hour. This treatment must be administered within 3 hours of the stroke starting. By this point, we were at about the 2 hour mark.
Option 2: There is a fairly new procedure where they insert a catheter into the brain and break up the clot that way. This allows a 6 hour window of time to administer the treatment. The hospital we were at do not do this procedure, nor does any hospital in our county. He would need to be air lifted to Santa Barbara. And he laid out all the risks associated with that procedure. This one did not really seem to be a feasible option. I am all for new medical breakthroughs, for other people. But if I am even going to consider it for me or my family I would need a lot of time to research and educate myself and obviously there was no time for that now.
Option 3: Do nothing.
My mom got there while they were explaining Option 2. I looked at her and told her to tell me what to do. I mean, I could tell that Option 1 was the typical protocol but those weren't really good odds to me. I wanted another choice. I wanted the choice that would make Chris him again. A third of a chance that he would be 100% again?!? That is not really good odds. But I didn't have much time to think about it and doing nothing didn't seem like an option so, I decided that tPA was going to be my choice. A choice I never wanted to be making. Never did I think at 32 I would be making a choice on how to save my husbands life.
We stood in the hallway talking to the doctors while they started the treatment. It is probably good I wasn't in there because I would be panicking. Panicking that we would be that statistic. That small percentage of people that die within minutes of it starting. The ICU doctor asked me if I had any other questions and I said "yes, but you cant give me those answers! You cant tell me whether or not my husband will be OK so no, I don't have any questions." and he just quietly put his head down. The nurse came out about 10 minutes in to it and said he was doing well. I felt like we passed one hurdle. He didn't die. Let's keep focusing on overcoming more hurdles.
We all went in to talk to him as he was awake now. That quickly, he was able to squeeze his hand again. He still could not lift his right arm. I asked him if he knew who I was. He said "Stop It". I said "No really honey, what is my name?". And he could not tell me. He said "you're my wife" and then said a few different names and finally thought hard about it and said "Jen". He still spoke a lot of gibberish. Lots of stories that did not make a lot of sense. Most were about soccer. One story seemed that he was thinking about work.
At this point, they took him up to the ICU and got him settled up there while the tPA treatment finished. My mom and I sat with him for a couple hours and talked with his doctor and nurse. He was extremely tired and told me to go home and sleep. I debated on staying in the ICU with him for the night but I knew that we had a long road ahead and I needed to get some rest. I had the direct number to the nurses station at the ICU so I was able to call and get updates on him through the night.
I went home to an empty house and sobbed myself to sleep. This could not possibly be happening.
To be continued...... Part 2
It started like any other Monday. Alarm goes off. Take a shower. Get dressed. Pack my lunch and Zach's lunch. While packing Zach's lunch, make a mental note that we are out of juice boxes. Drop kids off at daycare. Commute in to work together. Work all day. Chris picks me up. We chat about our day on the drive home. Pick up the kids. Come home. Sort mail. Unpack Zach's backpack. Remember we are out of juice boxes. Say to Chris "Honey, check in the garage to see if we have another box of Capri Sun's and put them in the fridge." Chris comes in from the garage and says "we don't have anymore, want me to go to the store? We could use some sour cream for the chili anyway"? (we had made chili on Sunday to have for dinner on Monday and it came out a little spicy so we though sour cream might make it less spicy for the kids). I debated on him going since it was the last week of summer school and I could get by with other drinks for Zach's lunch. But, he decided to go. While he is gone, I start warming up bowls of chili. I call and chat with my mom for a few minutes.
Little did I know my life was about to change forever.
About 20 minutes later, the kids announce "Daddy's home!" and I continue what I am doing. I could see the driveway from the kitchen and noticed the car door was open for a few minutes, but figured that he was gathering his things, turning off his IPod, etc. He walks in carrying boxes of Capri Suns and a grocery bag. I look at his face and he just did not look right. His left eye looked very small, like he was squinting and the left side of his face seemed somewhat droopy. I asked him what was wrong and his response was "I don't know, my vision was just off, I need to lay down for a few minutes". My heart starts racing. That just did not seem like him but he has been mentioning that he needs to see the eye doctor lately to get a new prescription for his vision problems in his left eye that he has had for years.
He lays on the couch and I am drilling him with questions. He has a coy smile on his face, almost like he was mocking me for being concerned. I ask him to smile. Smile was fine, face reacts on both sides of the face. I ask him to stick out his tongue. Both sides of his tongue look like he has been clenching down on it and there are teeth marks running along both sides. Then our conversation goes like this:
Me: "I am calling 911"
Chris: "No you aren't, I am fine, just let me rest and you guys start eating dinner"
Me: "No Chris, I am calling 911"
Chris: "Stop, I am fine, you are not calling 911"
Me: "Fine, I am calling my mom to have her come over and watch the kids in case I need to take you to the hospital for some reason"
Chris: "Fine"
I call my mom and tell her that Chris isn't acting right. I don't know what is wrong but he just doesn't seem right and he is telling me not to worry or call 911. She says "Jennifer, call 911, I am on my way".
I start pacing. Trying to decide if I am overreacting (which I have been known to do), or if there was really something wrong. Then I hear him say "the coach emailed us about the protocol of the defense". I picked up the phone and called 911. He is still looking at me like I am nuts and should not be concerned but he just was not himself. I hang up with the 911 operator and within minutes I hear the sirens of the fire engines. I talk to the kids and let them know that there will be a lot going on in the house in a minute and they are coming to make sure daddy feels OK and they need to stay out of the way. I move all the toys and shoes and make a clear path from the front door to the couch where Chris is.
The firemen walk in a few minutes later and start hooking Chris up to machines and asking him questions. Zach, of course, is trying to help them. Hannah starts panicking and wants nothing but to be held. They ask Chris if he knows where he is and he knew our address perfect. About 5 minutes later, he got one of the numbers wrong. Most questions they asked him were basic and he answered fine. Things like his name, day of the week, his birth date. They asked me to ask him questions that only we would know. I asked him Zach's birthday and he knew the day and month but got the year way off. By this time the EMTs had shown up as well. The wonderful woman driver had pulled Zach to a little corner in the house and talked to him and kept him occupied. They prepare to bring the gurney in and are looking at the tight fit (our house is small). Chris says "No, I can walk out", which he did. He laid on the gurney which they had on the porch. They strap him in and start loading him in the ambulance and the kids say goodbye. They were very excited about the stickers the firemen had just given them. I am standing there in shock and a neighbor walks over and asks if I need anything. One of the firemen says to me "you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible because we have no idea if what he is saying is true." I turned to my neighbor (who I had met in passing but did not even know her name) and said "Can you sit with my kids? My mom should be here within 10 minutes" and I jumped in the front if the ambulance. On the way over I was pretty hysterical and the driver (who had just finished keeping Zach occupied) was trying to keep me engaged in conversation. She asked if I had someone to come to the hospital to sit with me. I hadn't even thought of that. All I was thinking was taking care of Chris and making sure the kids were taken care of. I call our friends Doug and Kelly and ask if they can keep the kids for the night so my mom can come up and be with me. We work out arrangements and they, once again, come through for us and come pick up the kids from my mom. As we are driving over to the hospital in the ambulance, I cant hear much of what is going on the back but I do hear them asking Chris if he did any drugs when he went to the store to which he answered "yes, I smoked some marijuana". I asked the EMTs in the back "What did he say?! He is totally full of it, he did not, there is no way". They all kind of look at me like I am nuts or lying to them to protect Chris. Then they ask him "What is your doctors name?" and he says "Dr McNerney". I said "No, that is our kids pediatrician". They started an IV and that was about all I knew that was happening on the ride over.
We get to the ambulance bay of the ER and they are unloading him. It was quite chaotic so once I knew where he was going to be, they took me to a little waiting room to wait for my mom and so that they could get things going. I waited for what seemed like an eternity and finally went back to his room. The ER doctor explained that they think he is having a stroke (which I already figured by that point) and that they are going to do a CT scan to be sure it isn't a brain bleed and at that point we will talk and I will need to make some choices. By this time, the ICU doctor had come down and was working closely with the ER doctor. Being that they suspected a stroke and he would be moved to the ICU they worked as a team.
By now, Chris had moved past the point of speaking coherently and he was completely talking gibberish. Some things that he said would make sense but it was like it wasn't even him talking. His expressions were nothing that I recognized. He could not squeeze his right hand. One of the doctors asked him to raise his right leg. He raised his right leg. The doctor asked him to raise his right arm. He raised his right leg. The doctor asked him again, to raise his right arm. And again, he raised his right leg. The doctor asked him again to raise his right arm and he looked at the doctor and said "What do you think I am doing?!". He had lost all movement in his right arm and hand. I asked him if he knew who I was and while I could tell that he recognized me, he could not tell me my name. I paced between his room and the hallway outside his room. It was hard for me to be near him because it scared me so much and with every minute that passed, he seemed to be falling further and further away from me.
They took him back for the CT scan while I waited, alone with my thoughts. I wondered how I was going to get through this. I was convinced that he would never be the same person. How would this change our family? Would he still love me the same? Is our marriage strong enough to get through the aftermath that this will cause? Will he survive this? Could I handle being a single parent?
The CT scan was over fairly quickly. The ER doctor confirmed what we all suspected. He was suffering a stroke. He told me that time was of the essence and I have a decision to make and I need to make it quickly. We stood in the ER room talking over Chris. Me to Chris' right and the doctor to Chris' left. Chris asleep between us. He explained that a stroke is a blood clot that has traveled to the brain and he went on to explain my options to me.
Option 1: They will administer a drug called tPA through his IV and it takes an hour. It is a drug that is used to break up the clot. Approximately a third of people who have this treatment will have no residual side effects from the stroke. Approximately two-thirds of people will have some sort of side effect. A speech problem or a limp or something of that sort. And then there is small percentage of people that will die within minutes of administering the tPA and another small percentage of people that will die within the hour. This treatment must be administered within 3 hours of the stroke starting. By this point, we were at about the 2 hour mark.
Option 2: There is a fairly new procedure where they insert a catheter into the brain and break up the clot that way. This allows a 6 hour window of time to administer the treatment. The hospital we were at do not do this procedure, nor does any hospital in our county. He would need to be air lifted to Santa Barbara. And he laid out all the risks associated with that procedure. This one did not really seem to be a feasible option. I am all for new medical breakthroughs, for other people. But if I am even going to consider it for me or my family I would need a lot of time to research and educate myself and obviously there was no time for that now.
Option 3: Do nothing.
My mom got there while they were explaining Option 2. I looked at her and told her to tell me what to do. I mean, I could tell that Option 1 was the typical protocol but those weren't really good odds to me. I wanted another choice. I wanted the choice that would make Chris him again. A third of a chance that he would be 100% again?!? That is not really good odds. But I didn't have much time to think about it and doing nothing didn't seem like an option so, I decided that tPA was going to be my choice. A choice I never wanted to be making. Never did I think at 32 I would be making a choice on how to save my husbands life.
We stood in the hallway talking to the doctors while they started the treatment. It is probably good I wasn't in there because I would be panicking. Panicking that we would be that statistic. That small percentage of people that die within minutes of it starting. The ICU doctor asked me if I had any other questions and I said "yes, but you cant give me those answers! You cant tell me whether or not my husband will be OK so no, I don't have any questions." and he just quietly put his head down. The nurse came out about 10 minutes in to it and said he was doing well. I felt like we passed one hurdle. He didn't die. Let's keep focusing on overcoming more hurdles.
We all went in to talk to him as he was awake now. That quickly, he was able to squeeze his hand again. He still could not lift his right arm. I asked him if he knew who I was. He said "Stop It". I said "No really honey, what is my name?". And he could not tell me. He said "you're my wife" and then said a few different names and finally thought hard about it and said "Jen". He still spoke a lot of gibberish. Lots of stories that did not make a lot of sense. Most were about soccer. One story seemed that he was thinking about work.
At this point, they took him up to the ICU and got him settled up there while the tPA treatment finished. My mom and I sat with him for a couple hours and talked with his doctor and nurse. He was extremely tired and told me to go home and sleep. I debated on staying in the ICU with him for the night but I knew that we had a long road ahead and I needed to get some rest. I had the direct number to the nurses station at the ICU so I was able to call and get updates on him through the night.
I went home to an empty house and sobbed myself to sleep. This could not possibly be happening.
To be continued...... Part 2
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The hits just keep on coming....
We are all getting over a stomach virus. It started with the kids both puking last Wednesday night. It was super quick and they were both fine the next day. Come to find out that it spread through their daycare. 7 of the kids had it and a couple of the parents.
Saturday afternoon/evening I had *ahem* tummy issues. Thought I was going to puke, but had other things going on. I thought maybe it was just something I ate since I had a burrito from a gas station on Saturday for lunch. (Chapala in Morro Bay. I know everyone raves about them but still... It's a burrito. From a gas station. And since I had never eaten there before I thought it could be that).
Then Hannah puked all over me Sunday. A lot. While we had company dropping off a meal for us. I actually don't think she was sick. She had chugged 2 cups of cranberry juice which is very unlike her and I think it didn't sit well. She was feeling fine right after she got sick.
So last night Chris has the runs. Zach comes in this morning at 5:30 and tells me that he pooped his pants. (Yes I have a 6 year old not fully potty trained. Don't judge) He had diarrhea. I clean him up and have him go more in the bathroom. Chris gets out of bed, goes in the bathroom and does his business and then comes out and collapses on the floor on his stomach in the living room (I thought he was just laying down) but he is totally passed out and starts puking. Face down in it. So I am trying to lift his head up so he isn't breathing it in and he is just dead weight. Zach is trying to "help". Chris finally comes to and he gets cleaned up. It was horrible. Scared the crap outta me. Like having a stroke on me WASN'T ENOUGH?!?
Saturday afternoon/evening I had *ahem* tummy issues. Thought I was going to puke, but had other things going on. I thought maybe it was just something I ate since I had a burrito from a gas station on Saturday for lunch. (Chapala in Morro Bay. I know everyone raves about them but still... It's a burrito. From a gas station. And since I had never eaten there before I thought it could be that).
Then Hannah puked all over me Sunday. A lot. While we had company dropping off a meal for us. I actually don't think she was sick. She had chugged 2 cups of cranberry juice which is very unlike her and I think it didn't sit well. She was feeling fine right after she got sick.
So last night Chris has the runs. Zach comes in this morning at 5:30 and tells me that he pooped his pants. (Yes I have a 6 year old not fully potty trained. Don't judge) He had diarrhea. I clean him up and have him go more in the bathroom. Chris gets out of bed, goes in the bathroom and does his business and then comes out and collapses on the floor on his stomach in the living room (I thought he was just laying down) but he is totally passed out and starts puking. Face down in it. So I am trying to lift his head up so he isn't breathing it in and he is just dead weight. Zach is trying to "help". Chris finally comes to and he gets cleaned up. It was horrible. Scared the crap outta me. Like having a stroke on me WASN'T ENOUGH?!?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A whirlwind month....
Our February has been kind of crazy. Where to start? ...
At the end of January I got a call from my mom that my grandmother was having chest pains and was really scared. My mom left work and drove up to her house, which is about 3 hours north of us, in the middle of the biggest storm we have had so far this year. The next day they went to see a cardiologist who immediately admitted her to the hospital. They performed all of the heart tests and determined that she needed her aortic valve replaced. After more testing they also discovered that one of her arteries was almost completely blocked and she would also need a bypass. They were able to take the vein from her mammary gland instead of her leg so that would help with the recovery. She had surgery Wednesday January 27th. We drove up on the 28th to stay a couple days so that I could go up and visit her at the hospital. She looked great. He color was good and was recovering nicely. On Friday (the 29th) my mom received a call that her neighbor was in the hospital. He was having some serious health issues and was given anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to live.
Don is much more than a neighbor. He is like a surrogate grandfather to us. My kids adore him and call him Papa Don. His family mostly lives out of state so he spends family dinners with us and has joined us for each holiday meal for the past several years. He is an amazing man with tons of interesting stories and life experiences that we are lucky to be able to hear about. Over the years he has given me and my family some beautiful gifts. Some old. Some new. All gifted to us with so much thought.
We drove home on Saturday. My mom was planning to stay with my grandmother longer but couldn't not say goodbye to this friend, who was so much more. She came home Sunday.
Sunday our plan was to prepare for the work week and in the afternoon, drive over and say our Goodbye's to Don. That morning Chris woke up with the stomach flu. He spent most of his day in bed or in the bathroom. By the afternoon he was feeling better so we went over and the kids and I went to see Don. Obviously the kids have no idea what is going on. They just knew he was sick and gave him hugs.
Don is still alive and kicking. He is weak but he has outlived the doctors time lines.
Monday we went to work. Chris was feeling better. After work he was really hungry and we had Mexican Food for dinner. (I know, terrible idea, but he said he wanted it). That night around 9 his stomach hurt pretty bad. He thought it was the food not sitting well and he went to bed. I went to bed not long after. Around 10:30 I woke up and he was laying next to me just trembling in pain. I told him I was calling someone to sit with the kids and we were going to the hospital. He said no. That he was fine. And that he would drive himself. I insisted and he agreed. I knew at that point it was bad. Our friend Doug came and sat with the kids. We got to the ER just before 11. Got him all triaged and put him took him back. They gave him some initial exams and started an IV to take some blood and start pain medicine. A little while later the doctor came in and examined him some more. Their assumption was appendicitis. They sent him back for a CT scan and their assumptions were confirmed. They told me they would be keeping him for the night and he would have surgery first thing in the morning. I left around 1:30am to go relieve our friend. When I got home I was surprised to see Doug and the kids wide awake. Not long after we left, Zach started throwing up everywhere. He got the stomach bug Chris had. Doug is such a saint, he caught puke, cleaned it up and even scrubbed puke off Zach's mattress. Doug went home and Zach continued to puke for another hour or so before he finally fell asleep. Hannah at this point was wide awake. I finally got her down around 4.
In the middle of this I called my mom. Probably around 3am. I felt terrible waking her and putting yet another thing on her, but I just needed to talk to someone. I felt totally alone in the middle of the night with the stench of puke and the sound of the washing machine and I just needed some sort of comfort. Someone to tell me it would be ok. I knew Zach wouldn't be able to go to school the next day and I would need someone to come sit with him so I could go up to the hospital to see Chris. My mom came in the morning around 7. I took Hannah to daycare and went up to the hospital.
I got there towards the tail end of the surgery so I didn't get to see him until he got out of recovery. He was doing really well and it was a relief not to see him in so much pain anymore. I sat with him for a couple hours and I was just feeling terrible. I didn't know if I was delirious from not sleeping the night before, or if I had gotten the stomach bug. I told him I would go home for a little bit and take a nap and be back in the afternoon. I went home and slept a couple hours. When I woke up, it hit me. I had the stomach flu too. It was horrible. By that time Zach had taken a long hard nap and eaten some food and was feeling much better. My mom packed him a bag and took him home with her so I had one less thing to worry about. I spent the afternoon resting and getting sick. Kelly (aka Doug's wife, Max & Molly's mom) offered to keep Hannah for the night so that I could recover. It was nice to not worry about anyone but myself. I was able to not worry about anyone else but myself for a few hours and I slept the sickness off. Needless to say, I didn't make it back up to visit Chris that day.
Wednesday morning I slowly started putting food and liquid back into my system and felt mostly better. Chris called to let me know he was getting discharged soon. My mom was bringing Zach back over so she offered to go with me to the hospital to get Chris. We took Zach to daycare and went up to the hospital. After some more nurses checking on him and giving him discharge orders, we were out of there. The rest of the day was relaxing and restful. Thursday I took the kids to daycare and Chris and I continued to rest at home. My mom spent the day at her house with the stomach flu.
By Friday, the spot on Hannah's bottom was no doubt an infection. I got her a doctor appointment in the morning and they said to just take her to the ER. She would need to be sedated and have it drained. Off to the ER we went. Luckily for us, we knew Hannah's nurse and she was phenomenal. Because Hannah had eaten that morning she had to wait a few hours before they could sedate her so I had to keep her entertained in the ER and outside. Finally they were able to do the procedure. They got her all monitored just in case she didn't do well with the sedation. It was such a scary thing to see her eyes open but she was just blank. They cut and drained the abscess and packed it. Then we had to wait awhile to make sure she came out of the sedation fine and was feeling ok before we took her home.
It was a long trying week, but we made it!
At the end of January I got a call from my mom that my grandmother was having chest pains and was really scared. My mom left work and drove up to her house, which is about 3 hours north of us, in the middle of the biggest storm we have had so far this year. The next day they went to see a cardiologist who immediately admitted her to the hospital. They performed all of the heart tests and determined that she needed her aortic valve replaced. After more testing they also discovered that one of her arteries was almost completely blocked and she would also need a bypass. They were able to take the vein from her mammary gland instead of her leg so that would help with the recovery. She had surgery Wednesday January 27th. We drove up on the 28th to stay a couple days so that I could go up and visit her at the hospital. She looked great. He color was good and was recovering nicely. On Friday (the 29th) my mom received a call that her neighbor was in the hospital. He was having some serious health issues and was given anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to live.
Don is much more than a neighbor. He is like a surrogate grandfather to us. My kids adore him and call him Papa Don. His family mostly lives out of state so he spends family dinners with us and has joined us for each holiday meal for the past several years. He is an amazing man with tons of interesting stories and life experiences that we are lucky to be able to hear about. Over the years he has given me and my family some beautiful gifts. Some old. Some new. All gifted to us with so much thought.
We drove home on Saturday. My mom was planning to stay with my grandmother longer but couldn't not say goodbye to this friend, who was so much more. She came home Sunday.
Sunday our plan was to prepare for the work week and in the afternoon, drive over and say our Goodbye's to Don. That morning Chris woke up with the stomach flu. He spent most of his day in bed or in the bathroom. By the afternoon he was feeling better so we went over and the kids and I went to see Don. Obviously the kids have no idea what is going on. They just knew he was sick and gave him hugs.
Don is still alive and kicking. He is weak but he has outlived the doctors time lines.
Monday we went to work. Chris was feeling better. After work he was really hungry and we had Mexican Food for dinner. (I know, terrible idea, but he said he wanted it). That night around 9 his stomach hurt pretty bad. He thought it was the food not sitting well and he went to bed. I went to bed not long after. Around 10:30 I woke up and he was laying next to me just trembling in pain. I told him I was calling someone to sit with the kids and we were going to the hospital. He said no. That he was fine. And that he would drive himself. I insisted and he agreed. I knew at that point it was bad. Our friend Doug came and sat with the kids. We got to the ER just before 11. Got him all triaged and put him took him back. They gave him some initial exams and started an IV to take some blood and start pain medicine. A little while later the doctor came in and examined him some more. Their assumption was appendicitis. They sent him back for a CT scan and their assumptions were confirmed. They told me they would be keeping him for the night and he would have surgery first thing in the morning. I left around 1:30am to go relieve our friend. When I got home I was surprised to see Doug and the kids wide awake. Not long after we left, Zach started throwing up everywhere. He got the stomach bug Chris had. Doug is such a saint, he caught puke, cleaned it up and even scrubbed puke off Zach's mattress. Doug went home and Zach continued to puke for another hour or so before he finally fell asleep. Hannah at this point was wide awake. I finally got her down around 4.
In the middle of this I called my mom. Probably around 3am. I felt terrible waking her and putting yet another thing on her, but I just needed to talk to someone. I felt totally alone in the middle of the night with the stench of puke and the sound of the washing machine and I just needed some sort of comfort. Someone to tell me it would be ok. I knew Zach wouldn't be able to go to school the next day and I would need someone to come sit with him so I could go up to the hospital to see Chris. My mom came in the morning around 7. I took Hannah to daycare and went up to the hospital.
I got there towards the tail end of the surgery so I didn't get to see him until he got out of recovery. He was doing really well and it was a relief not to see him in so much pain anymore. I sat with him for a couple hours and I was just feeling terrible. I didn't know if I was delirious from not sleeping the night before, or if I had gotten the stomach bug. I told him I would go home for a little bit and take a nap and be back in the afternoon. I went home and slept a couple hours. When I woke up, it hit me. I had the stomach flu too. It was horrible. By that time Zach had taken a long hard nap and eaten some food and was feeling much better. My mom packed him a bag and took him home with her so I had one less thing to worry about. I spent the afternoon resting and getting sick. Kelly (aka Doug's wife, Max & Molly's mom) offered to keep Hannah for the night so that I could recover. It was nice to not worry about anyone but myself. I was able to not worry about anyone else but myself for a few hours and I slept the sickness off. Needless to say, I didn't make it back up to visit Chris that day.
Wednesday morning I slowly started putting food and liquid back into my system and felt mostly better. Chris called to let me know he was getting discharged soon. My mom was bringing Zach back over so she offered to go with me to the hospital to get Chris. We took Zach to daycare and went up to the hospital. After some more nurses checking on him and giving him discharge orders, we were out of there. The rest of the day was relaxing and restful. Thursday I took the kids to daycare and Chris and I continued to rest at home. My mom spent the day at her house with the stomach flu.
By Friday, the spot on Hannah's bottom was no doubt an infection. I got her a doctor appointment in the morning and they said to just take her to the ER. She would need to be sedated and have it drained. Off to the ER we went. Luckily for us, we knew Hannah's nurse and she was phenomenal. Because Hannah had eaten that morning she had to wait a few hours before they could sedate her so I had to keep her entertained in the ER and outside. Finally they were able to do the procedure. They got her all monitored just in case she didn't do well with the sedation. It was such a scary thing to see her eyes open but she was just blank. They cut and drained the abscess and packed it. Then we had to wait awhile to make sure she came out of the sedation fine and was feeling ok before we took her home.
It was a long trying week, but we made it!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
First Soccer Practice!
Zach had his first soccer practice on Friday. It was pretty low key and was more signing up and getting things going, then actual practice. We found a really cool special needs soccer league. It was so cute to see Zach all dressed and kicking the ball around. Of course dad was right by his side showing him the ropes.
Here Dad, this is where you kick it:
Here Dad, this is where you kick it:
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Daughtry
This year at the Mid State Fair, Chris Daughtry was on the concert line up, so Chris and I decided we were going to get tickets when they went on sale. We got them back in May and were pretty happy with the seats. We were about 35 rows from the stage. The show was this past Saturday night and it was a great concert! He is such a wonderful singer that I am really happy that we got a chance to see him live. It was a little shorter than I would have liked, but being that he only has 1 album, there was only so much he could do. He is definitely not a studio singer.
Here's a couple pictures from the show:
Here's a couple pictures from the show:
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Water Fun!
We finally got Zach's cool little water pool/toy out that he got for his birthday last year (yes I know, bad mom) and he loved it. Him and daddy cooled off on Sunday in the freezing water. Zach loves to stand up and jump and land on his bottom. He did it so many times and he would say "watch this" with his cute little Zach accent.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Those little teeth are SHARP!!!!!!!!!
Sorry Chris! I know how much it hurt, but I couldn't resist sharing!
Sunday, January 1, 2006
The two loves of my life....
I LOVE this picture. Last night Chris and Zachary were playing basketball while I made dinner.
I can just see the love that Zach has for his daddy all over his face and it makes me almost weepy. When I was pregnant, we already knew I was going to stay home with Zach as long as financially possible, so Chris used to say that our son was going to be a mama's boy. But he couldn't have been more wrong. Zachary just adores his daddy. He has gotten to be a little more of a mama's boy since I went back to work, but something about daddy's and their sons.....
Oh ya, Happy 2006!!!
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