April 9th, 2009

I am exhausted!! We had a long day at clinic today and so I am just beat! David came home and took a nap, but I am forcing myself to stay awake so I can get a good nights rest tonight. We have to go back tomorrow for his infusion day, so it will be another long day at the hospital. The doctors think all is looking really well, so that is great news! We will have test results and etc sometime tomorrow afternoon!

My brother Ricky is still here and the two are doing what they do best, computer gaming. So I grabbed a quick picture of the two of them tonight. You may notice that Dave has some serious swelling in his face, this is from the medicine he is on and over time will go away. Some of you have sent me emails being concerned about this, right now it is only in his face, so no worries!

We are anxiously awaiting the rest of the family on Saturday morning and it will be glorious to spend Easter together and to actually all go to church together. David has gotten over the fact that he will have to wear that mask all through the service and has told us he is going to go with us, YAY!! It will be hard for him to sit through the entire service with the big mask on so I ask for you to pray for him on that morning, that the Lord will give him some sort of comfort so that he can sit and appreciate and enjoy the service and the Lord that he loves so much.

Next weekend is David's 20th birthday and boy oh boy do we have a celebration planned! Family from all over are joining us as well as friends, we are so excited to share the beginning of a new year with our child and rejoice to God for giving us the gift of making it to his 20th birthday!! So I will be busy next week on our off clinic days preparing for that big celebration! Fun Stuff!

April 8th, 2009

We have some great days over this way, I must say! Both of us are worn out from the company, but the change of pace has been very nice. Sondra left today, and I was sad to see her go! The visit was a great one and a very inspiring one, we haven't seen each other in quite a few years, and with this all happening with David it threw us together and gave us each time to realize that we needed to catch up and reconnect again, I personally am loving that. God, you are truly wonderful with the magic web that you weave for us in our lives, I am so glad you are providing us the direction and that we do not have to drive this road blindly.

My brother Rick drove up late last night and is planning on staying until Friday, so Dave is really happy about that as well. He loves hanging out with him and just chilling on the computer together. Also today we had a special visit from our new friend Sarah, she was one of our ICU nurses and we hit it off really well in the ICU, and our friendship has continued now that we are out of the hospital. I can truly see that we will be life long friends, and that again is something that I know the Lord had planned for each of us. We have all 3 really connected in a special way, and she has been great for Dave and I. She and I have really bonded and have become very close, and I am loving that. So she stayed and visited with us for most of the afternoon today, which was wonderful.

Dave is feeling really good, a little tired because of late night computer games (snicker) but overall really well. He is taking ALL of his meds PRAISE GOD, and behaving like a good little boy! I am really proud of him and all that he has accomplished in such a short time, what an example and motivation he has been for so many people, including myself. Tomorrow is our big clinic day, so we will be at the hospital all day long then on Friday he has to get an infusion done, so the next couple of days will be busy ones.

April 7th, 2009

So this has been a somewhat busy week for us! That is why I have been behind on my blog posting! I had to drive all over the state of California on Sunday delivering kids and then go back to Stanford so that was a long day, then yesterday we had clinic for most of the day so we were busy there, and then in the late afternoon our good friend Sondra Keckley drove up from Bakersfield to visit for a couple of days. So that has been wonderful! Dave has enjoyed someone to distract me, that is for sure! HAHA She and I have been scrap booking up a storm and I feel like I am finally doing something worthwhile for a change and it has been keeping me busy! She and I haven't caught up with each other in years so that has been fantastic to sit and do that as well. Dave has been up and around more as well with her, so that has been nice too!

Yesterday at the clinic visit they tested his thyroid because of his constant tiredness and his night sweats and it did come back a little bit low, so they are talking amongst themselves how they want to handle that. His Ejection Fraction was up to 68% which is awesome! Each appt it keeps rising and rising, PRAISE GOD! His magnesium levels were a little bit low so they added some more of that on board, but other then that all looked really good!

We also talked to the dietitian about his diet and he was relieved to hear that even though he has to be on a low sodium diet, he also has to eat a lot more calories then the normal person, so a low sodium diet for him isn't what we would call low sodium! He needs to be eating like 4000 calories a day because of his age and the fact that he lost close to 40 pounds before the surgery, so with that he can have almost 3000 grams of sodium a day. So he was happy to hear that he doesn't need to be really depriving himself.

Also, we want to thank his ship mates aboard the USS BOXER. They sent an INCREDIBLE gift to all of us, and it was much appreciated. They all know what they did but Doug and I just want to say thank you to all of them, it was a shock and a surprise, but something that will not be forgotten, so thank you for your consideration, compassion, and kindness. Dave was incredibly lucky to work beside people such as yourselves.

April 4th, 2009

Apparently all is going well over at the "homtel" with Doug and David, I only talked to them once today and at that time they were ready to get out and about which was good. Doug told me that Dave has really lost a lot of that fluid and that his feet are almost totally back to normal which is awesome. He has lost almost 10 pounds of fluid in the last week which is a really good thing, we think!! They did add another water pill on top of the Lasix on Monday so we think that did the trick, hopefully that will make it less painful for him to walk around and move around now that all that excess fluid is off.

This weekend has been wonderful for me, I haven't really relaxed much, but the change of scenery has been really wonderful. Yesterday I spend the entire day at John and Claire's school for their Easter Parties, and that was really great, check out our family website for pictures of that event. They loved having me there and I loved being there. While being there I got to catch up with my friends and colleagues and that was really good for me as well. The kids and I went out to dinner last night and just chilled at home the rest of the evening with a video, it was very nice. Today we ran a couple of errands and then had some friends over for dinner tonight and some really good conversation, it was wonderful and a great spirit boost for me right now.

I am driving the kids to Fresno tomorrow morning, where I will meet my mom and she will whisk them away to the Tehachapi mountains for Spring Break. The kids are looking forward to it, but I am a little sad, this is the first break that I will be without them. Lots of changes and new stuff this year, but it has been a growing experience for us and through it we are all learning something, each and every one of us.

Test Results......

Just got off the phone with Bonnie, our transplant nurse. Things look really good this week! He is at a 0 as in 0 in rejection status, so that is great news! He went from a 1 down to a 0, so that was pretty awesome and what we were hoping for. His Ejection Fraction is at 66% which means it keeps rising with each Echo that they do, and that is also great news! We don't have the results yet from the right heart cath, but we hope to have those on Monday when we go to clinic! So it was a positive day all around! I have talked to Dave several times and he sounds like he is doing much better mentally and I am glad about that. He is really tired today, but he had a huge day yesterday so I am not surprised!

Thanks for all the prayers! Keep them coming!!!

April 3rd, 2009

Today is like one of the best days ever, not just because it is Friday, but for several reasons, first off I know of 3 very cool people that were born today and all of them are very special to me! So here is a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to:

• LARISSA WHITE WHO IS 8 TODAY--- LOVE YOU BABY GIRL
• MY AUNT WENDY--- XOXOXOXOXO MISS YOU TONS
• CHRIS FERRARO--- WHO IS MARRIED TO ONE OF THE COOLEST LADIES I KNOW

Today is also special because 3 years ago today a very awesome young man that we just met and have had the extreme pleasure of getting to know received his heart transplant JOE MATTHEWS aka ENGLISH JOE. He was just a bit older then David when he had his transplant and his story is quite similar to Dave's, he had his done at Stanford as well and he has been such an inspiration to all of us. In the last couple of weeks he has really helped us with answers, support, and basically just saying "this is normal and you will get through this". Just an awesome guy- so congrats on 3 years out Joe! Looking forward to knowing you for the next 30 years out!! His website is www.englishjoe.net for anyone who is interested in knowing more about his story.

And finally it is an awesome day because I am home with the rest of my babies for the weekend, I am going to the school this morning to be part of their Easter festivities in their classes and I am really looking forward to it. Linda, my stepmother, went up yesterday late afternoon to spend the night and all of today with Dave until Doug can get there. Which I know she was looking forward to because she has only seen David once since transplant because she was fighting off a slight cold. It will be a good weekend for all, and we are all looking forward to the change of pace and the kids are really looking forward to going to grandmas for a week on Sunday, especially when they found out it is supposed to snow there!!

Dave's appts went well yesterday, other then the fact that we waited in the biopsy area for over 4 hours. His appt was at noon, we waited until 3 before they called him back, and then they weren't done until after 5. Since we had been there since 8am it was a VERY long day for the both of us, for him because he is just not used to sitting and standing for that long and for me because I still had to drive back to Sacramento after all of that! We will have the test results from everything back today, and as soon as I get them I will post them on the blog. The doctors told him that in another 3 weeks or so he can get in the pool and swim and he was really excited about that because he would like to do that for exercise.

Bonnie, our fantastic and wonderful nurse, really got on him about the meds and mask wearing, so I think it finally sunk in to him. Everything else is just going to take time and for awhile I am just going to give him the space he needs and let him try and work things out on his own. I am going to maintain a positive attitude and plan stuff for us to do and encourage him, but he is his own self. He knows what he has to do with this second chance of life regarding his mind, medicines, and masks.... it is just up to him to do it.

April 1st, 2009

Hi everyone! THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the swift kicks that you all gave my boy about the medicine!! He did take it once last night and I am working on him today! He is generally such a positive upbeat young man, and for those of you who really know him you already know this and lately he is just soooo down in the dumps! We are going to have a serious talk with him tomorrow in clinic about this med so hopefully we can get it all settled.

Today we ran a few errands and returned the 48 hour holter monitor that he was wearing and I made him get his rear out of the car and walk around while I did the errands. We walked around the mall for a bit, grabbed some lunch, then went to the grocery store so he could pick out some food that he felt like eating. Really he has been very good with his diet, knowing what makes him feel good and what makes him feel icky.

He is laying down now since this mornings activities wore him out, but I am going to keep pushing him to keep that attitude in check! He can get there and he needs to make a choice, so I need prayers people lots and lots of prayers!! I will post tomorrow after our big clinic day and we see the docs and such.