Happy Thanksgiving!

For all my friends and family who read this blog, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Here are some very wise words of advice - DON'T EAT TOO MUCH!!!

Here is a picture of my kids deciding to use chalk as makeup. Alanna told me they were movie stars :)

I finally got some Christmas lights up around the house. Now you might be thinking to yourself, "Wow, Josh is really on top of things." But don't be deceived. You see the real story is that I bought these lights three years ago, but this is the first time I have ever taken them out of the box. Now doesn't that make you feel better that you aren't the only one who procrastinates?

I found a new recipe that is guaranteed to take five years off your lifespan :). It's called "Deep Fried Stuffing." Basically you take sausage, enclose it in turkey stuffing, deep fry it, and then dip it in gravy. It really, really tastes good.

Having this woman in my arms, definitely makes this a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for my wonderful wife of almost 10 years. She fills my life with so many wonderful things that if I took the time to list them all, I would never finish this post. But I will suffice to say, Cecil is definitely on the top of my Thanksgiving list!

This is my family photo from our Thanksgiving get together. Starting from left to right: Me, Grandma Mabel, Alanna, Cecil, Ethan, my Mom Kathy, my nephew Jeremy, my Dad Wade, niece Lilly, my brother Jeremy, my sister-in-law Mary, and niece Bella. We had a great time at my parent's house in Vacaville.

Here is my Thanksgiving prayer for all of you: May God bless you with family and friends along the journey that will allow you to enjoy your achievements and successes. May you remember that only two things matter in life - God's Kingdom and relationships - and may you live your life accordingly...Blessings.

Happy 65th Birthday To My Father-In-Law

This past Sunday we had a small birthday celebration for my father-in-law, Cecilio. I am really blessed to have such wonderful in-laws. They have been so supportive of our marriage, helping with the kids, and just being wonderful people.

Some Final Pictures From The Hospital

I finally got around to looking through our photos from the final two days at the hospital. Here are a few of the better ones. As you can tell from the pictures, Ethan was very excited to go home. On Friday, when I told him that we were officially discharged and could leave, he quickly asked me to put him in the wheelchair. While I packed, he sat there and made up some wonderful songs about the joys of going home, seeing his sister, taking a nap, and leaving the hospital. Cecil and I have been amazed at how well he is doing. It's almost as if he never had surgery. Our pickest struggle now is trying to continually explain to him that he cannot run up and down the stairs, play baseball, or rough house with his sister or me. 

Thanks again for all your prayers!

We Are Home!

Well…the entire process is over. The surgery went perfectly and Ethan was moved out of the ICU after only one day. Then on Thursday, they removed all the final wires and tubes so that they could monitor him until discharge on Friday. On Friday he was discharged around 1:30pm. His doctors have been impressed by how quickly he has recovered. Cecil and I are worn out and very tired, but it’s a good tired since we know it’s over. Thanks again for all your prayers, emails, and phone calls. It is wonderful to know how many people care. When I'm a little more rested I will post some pictures of the last three days.

2nd Day - Out of the ICU

Today has been very busy. At about 5:00am this morning, Ethan was moved to a different section of the ICU to get ready to move upstairs. To prepare for the move, his nurses had to take out 3 of the 5 IV's. To say the least that made the morning and early afternoon very stressful. At about 4pm, his nurse wheeled him up to his new room on the 3rd floor. In his new room, Cecil and I are both allowed to sleep and eat in the room. After last night, we both could use some sleep.

Ethan is doing some light eating and drinking (crackers, jello, juice, and water). Tonight his nurse inspired him to eat by providing chocolate ice cream. Because he isn't having enough fluids, they are still giving him fluids through the IV. With all of the trauma of having his IV’s removed, Ethan has a phobia of nurses touching him. So tonight, I took his blood pressure and temperature to keep him from freaking out. Later on he asked me if he could sit on my lap. It took a little bit of work maneuvering all the tubes and wires, but we managed. Hopefully after a good night of sleep he will be a little more relaxed.

Thanks again for all your prayers, comments, and emails. They are encouraging to read and I share them with Cecil throughout the day.

 

Post Operation Pictures

Things are starting to calm down. They pulled out his oxygen tube and a few of the sensors. Ethan is finally wake for an extended period of time. Right now he's watching the movie Cars and he is providing us with narration, which is a good sign. He finally got to have a little bit of water and he is now waiting to have some apple juice once they bring it to the room. Our plan tonight is to do shifts. While one of us stays awake in the room the other one will try and get some rest in the parent's lounge.

Recovery

We were finally able to come in the room and see Ethan. I don't think anything could have prepared us for all the tubes, IV's, and wires that were sticking out of his body. I believe they said he has six IV's on various spots of his body, there are at least eight drips going into the IV's, and then of course all the monitoring devices. And that's on top of the chest drainage tube, catheter, and temporary pace maker wires sticking out of the center of his chest.We are starting to grow accustomed to the constant beeps and buzzes that seem to be ongoing.

So far Ethan is resting peacefully. If he continues to progress as they expect, they will begin to lower the amount of anesthesia and this will hopefully help him to begin breathing on his own. He will probably wake up sometime this evening at which time they will begin to pull out his breathing tube. We are a little fearful of how he will respond to all of the wires and IV's. Hopefully he will stay calm and be able to relax. Please keep us in prayer because it is very difficult to see Ethan in this condition. Of course we are so grateful the surgery went well but now we are just concerned about his pain level and his continued recovery.

Everything is okay!

Well, I can finally breath again...We just met with the surgeon, Dr. Reddy. He said everything went exactly as planned. They made a baffle from the tissue in the sack around his heart and used that to redirect the blood to the correct chamber of the heart. About 20 minutes after our meeting with Dr. Reddy, we met with the anesthesiologist and he said there were no complications with the anesthesia. In our conversation with him, he said that after they rolled Ethan out to the operating room, he told them he didn’t like their TV as much as the one that he was watching before, because it didn’t have his favorite cartoon, Curious George. So now we are waiting outside of the ICU for them to call us into his room. Cecil and I are doing well. We have had my parents here keeping us company which has been nice. Once we heard the good news, it was like a huge weight was lifted. Thank you all for your support, kind messages, and prayers! We are so grateful for our friends and family and all of the support we have received. Once I get some pictures, I will post them. Please keep praying for his continued recovery.

Just waiting....

Well, we are just waiting. We arrived at Stanford this morning at 7:00am. After meeting with the anesthesiologist, Ethan drank the medicine that got him relaxed. It was somewhat funny to hear him begin to slur his words and lose his sense of balance. After some tearful goodbyes, they carted Ethan off into the operating room.

This is the schedule for the day (give or take an hour):

9:00am prep for surgery

10:00am surgery should begin

11:00am our meeting with the surgeon and Ethan’s transfer to ICU

12:00pm we finally get to see Ethan

Thanks for all your prayers!

Second Pre-Op

Yesterday, Ethan had his pre-op (for the second time). Cecil told me he did great. Since I have been away at a seminar in Chicago, I asked my Dad to help with the pre-op. As you can tell from the pictures, Ethan had fun hanging out with his Papa. The surgery is scheduled first thing on Monday morning at 7:00am. During the appointment, the surgical staff recommended “quarantining” the entire family because at this moment we are all healthy. So Cecil and I made the decision to pull Alanna out of the school until Monday and also to keep everyone home from any activities including church until Monday as well. Of course I am the exception to that because of needing to work and most importantly teach on Sunday. Please pray for all of us to stay healthy as we near the surgery date. We appreciate all of your prayers and thoughtful comments. I will be doing my best to keep you posted as we approach the surgery date.