Happy Birthday to My Wonderful Wife!

My wife celebrated her birthday on Wednesday this week and I celebrated my birthday today. This is the 10th birthday we have celebrated together since we got married and the 17th birthday since we first met in 9th grade. I have found that my wife is like a fine wine, she gets better with age (I know that's a cheesy line but it's true). In fact, my love for Cecil has continued to grow through our years of marriage. She isn't perfect, but she's closer to perfection than anyone else I know. And of course, anyone that can put up with me for all of these years deserves some serious extra credit. Cecil, thanks for so many wonderful memories. I love you with all my heart.

We had a great time out tonight for dinner and then a slice of Coco Kahlua Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!

PS - Special thanks to Lee & Carrie, we had a wonderful time at MacArthur Park Restaurant. Thanks for the recommendation.

Alanna's First Field Trip

All parents will understand exactly how I feel when I say, "Kids grow up so fast." Yesterday, Alanna had her first field trip to Joann's Farm in Livermore. It just seems like yesterday that Alanna was just learning to say, "Dada," or that Cecil was teaching her the alphabet. Today, as you can see from the pictures, she is becoming a vibrant, beautiful young lady. She is full of energy and life. We also got her first report card yesterday and we were so proud that she received all +'s. Of course it is kindergarten but still, I'm a Dad so I get to brag :)!

Thanks for the all the comments and emails

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who are taking the time to read and respond to my blog. It's great to see the comments and get emails. One of the small blessings that we have experienced during this difficult time has been the outpouring of love and concern from so many of our friends and family.

Surgery Rescheduled

The new scheduled surgery date is Monday, November 16. Because of the length of delay, Ethan will need to go through pre-op again. The pre-op is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10.

Postponing the Surgery

It can’t be said that we didn’t try hard. But regardless of our best efforts, Ethan is definitely sick. It first started early last week with a slight cough. By this Thursday it became a running rose. This afternoon it became a fever, watery eyes, and sneezing. So we are going to have to postpone the surgery. Once I have the new details I will be sure to update everyone. Please continue to pray that everyone in the family will get healthy. Also pray that we can get back on schedule. The last two weeks have been a combination of illness (for me) and then preparation for the surgery. All that to say…I have a ton of things to catch up on at the office.

Two days and counting

Well, the last few days have been very challenging. On Thursday morning, Alanna started coughing. So we kept her home from school. Later that day her symptoms got worse. By about midnight, her fever was 104.7. So I stayed up with her through the night to make sure she was okay. Thankfully her fever went down to 103 around 5am and I was able to get some rest. Of course that meant Cecil (who was still recovering from her own illness) had to take care of the household. Then on Friday night and this morning, Ethan began running a low fever (about 101). Thankfully it was gone by about 10am this morning.

Because of the upcoming surgery, we are trying to keep the entire family quarantined. So we have either stayed in the house or gone outside to the park. Today we were all very tired of being cramped up inside, so we went to the beach in Half Moon Bay. It was a beautiful day at the coast and the salty air seemed to help the kids.

Please pray for all of us to get well and especially that Ethan will be totally healthy by Monday morning. Both kids seemed to be doing better tonight before bed, but who knows what tomorrow holds. I still think everything will work out for Monday morning, but if there is one thing I've learned, it's that you never know what will happen tomorrow. Also, pray for Cecil and me. The closer the surgery gets the more nervous and anxious we are. Tonight, I just spent some time holding Ethan and praying silently before I put him to bed. The other night as I was putting him to bed, I told him how proud I was of how he handled the pre-op visit and how brave he was. His response was, "Dad, I really don't like those blood tests."

Sometimes I wonder how aware he is of what is going to happen. Those of you who know him, know that he is a very energetic boy, so I am praying that he will be able to be patient through his recovery. His favorite thing to do is "play wrestle and tackle with Daddy." Of course he won't be able to do that for about 2-3 months.

I'll give you another update tomorrow night. Thanks again for your prayers.

PS - feel free to post comments if you would like. I am somewhat curious to see if anyone is following my postings.

Ethan's Surgery Updates

With so many of you praying for Ethan, it was getting more and more difficult to continue emailing everyone, so I decided to post about his surgery. For those of you who aren't quite aware of what is going on you can check out the previous post.

Today was the pre-op. As you can see from the pictures, Stanford is being very cautious about the H1N1 virus. When we arrived at 7:30am we had to check in with security and they then directed us to a nurse's station where they checked Ethan's temperature and gave us masks to wear. Starting last Monday, Stanford has a new policy that no one under the age of 16 is allowed in the hospital unless they are the patient. Unfortunately this means Alanna will not be allowed to visit her brother, which is another reason I am going to post pictures so that she can stay connected.

Here is what happened during the day:

1. Admitting - signed all the paperwork for the surgery
2. Chest X-Ray
3. Echo cardiogram - they did a thorough and complete check of his heart which took over one hour. The staff were so impressed with how great Ethan did that they gave him an extra special gift...a Luke Skywalker figurine!
4. EKG
5. Appointment with the surgical staff - our surgeon, Dr. Reddy, decided to push the surgery back to Monday since Ethan does have a minor cough and runny nose. (more on this later)
6. Lab work - After today, Ethan hates anything remotely connected with blood tests.
7. Donation of blood - I stopped by the Blood Donation Building to give another unit for the surgery.

So all in all the day went well. We are somewhat relieved that the surgery was pushed back to Monday. Cecil has been very sick and she continues to need R & R. Hopefully this gives our whole family time to heal up and get ready for Monday. The staff suggested that we isolate Ethan as much as possible. So we will not be attending church this weekend since we don't want to pick up any new illnesses.

Thanks again for your prayers, phone calls, and emails. It is always a blessing to know that we are so loved. I intend to continue posting updates and pictures all through next week so hopefully everyone can stay in touch with what is happening.