Balloons, Balloons!!

I'm sorry that it has been a few days since I blogged, but no news is good news right?? We have had a very blessed week. On Tuesday we went to see our favorite doctor and crew, they did an x-ray on Dylon and checked his blood pressure on legs and arms. The x-ray showed that Dylon's heart looked average in size. They also weighed him and he has already gained 2 1/2 pnds since pre-op!! His b.p. is 112/62 which is a little high for someone his age. Dr.K(family doc) said that he didn't see the need to up his medicine just yet. He wants to monitor his b.p., so we will go back in three weeks. The reason his B.P. is up is b/c his heart is used to having to pump so hard, and now that it is fixed, it doesn't have to pump as fast but his heart is still pumping fast right now, so he will take this b.p. medicine until his heart balances out. We are also scheduled to have an echo done at Sacred Heart(pensacola,Fl) in two weeks, just to get a better pic of his heart and the fluid. However the doc was amazed at how strong Dylon's pulse is in all his extremities. However he can still hear a heart murmur, but he said that it is small but its nothing to worry about at all. He also informed us that Dylon has some softening of his trachea, this was caused by the vascular ring rubbing against the trachea, was told that this should strengthen as time goes by. So because he still has softening, he still caughs, but it is nothing like it was, and rarely happens. While we were at Dr.K's, they presented me and Matt with a certificate for Best parent award, and Dylon for best patient award. Dylon was so excited, he loves his Dr.K!

(Dylon with his certificate)

We are just so blessed to be a part of such a great community and church family. Every night this week, our church Mt.Zion UMC has cooked us meals, its like Thanksgiving dinner at our house every night. These ladies really know how to cook and we are so thankful that they have done this for us. On top of all the food, we have also been recieving balloons from family and friends. Our boys love to play with them, and it has really helped to keep them entertained since we have to stay indoors. Thank You for the balloons!! It seems that every where we go, someone stops to ask about Dylon and tell us that he has been on their hearts and in their prayers. I feel that it is just a reminder of how God works through the midst of it all. We know that it is rare for a child to be sent home so early after such a major operation, and we give God all the glory for that. There's a song that I heard at a church in Louisiana, and the lady who sang it had been healed of Multiple Sclerosis. The song has been in my heart every since I heard it and the lyrics are so meaningful to me....

In the Midst of It All

by Yolanda Adams

I've come through many hard trials Through temptations on every hand

Though Satan's tried to stop me

And to place my feet on sinking sand

Through the pain and all of my sorrows

Through the tears and all of my fears The Lord was there to keep me

For He's kept me in the midst of it all

Not because I've been so faithful

Not Because I've always obeyed

Noo, It's not because I trust him To be with me all of the way

But it's because He loves me so dearly

He was there to answer my call

He was there always to protect me

For He's kept me in the midst of it all

Choir:I've come through many hard trialsThrough temptations on every hand

Though Satan's tried to stop me

And to place my feet on sinking sand

Because Jesus loves me dearly He was there to answer my call

There always to protect me For He's kept me in the midst of it all

Chorus:No He's never left me And He' never let me fall Oh yes He will protect you For He's kept me in the midst of it all

Vamp:Yes, He kept meYes, Jesus kept meJesus kept me (3x), in the midst of it allFor He's kept me in the midst of it all

So I just pray that whatever you may be going through, just remember that God loves you and he is holding you up and he will NEVER, ever let you fall.

Love,

Shelli

Laeton Reid sneaking some of that homecooked food!!

Not me Monday!

I haven't done a not me Monday in a while, and I figured it was about that time!

I'm sure that most of you know about our journey out in Texas and we were so glad to get home. But it has really been hard to get into the swing of things again, i'm so used to haveing just Dylon. So to keep my kids entertained, I did not fill a bubble maker up with some bubble bath because we ran out of the "real" stuff and let it run for hours at the time, at least it made my house smell like blueberries! I also did not attempt to "fix" our lawnmowers by kicking them, I would never do that, I mean besides we live on a busy road there is no telling who would see me do such a childish thing. I also did not call my dad to see if he had a mower I could borrow from his shop, and I also did not borrow it only to make one of the tires go flat. My family is a "tractor" family, I would never have such bad tractor luck! I also did not bribe my kids with icecream sandwiches just so they would eat their lunch, my kids are such healthy eathers! I also didn't convince Laeton Reid who at the time had a stinky diaper to go find his daddy and tell him "I Stink", only so I wouldn't have to change him. I also did not hide behind the door, while I watched Laeton Reid tell his daddy he stinks and start lauging so hard I had to go to another room. What kind of mom tells her one year old to do that, Not I!!

I hope you enjoyed My Not Me Monday, i'm sure I could do one every day~!

Home Sweet Home!

Our pilots Mr.Paul Armstrong(L) & Mr.Lee Reeves(R)

Dylon during takeoff, he LOVES to fly!

We are finally nesting down for the night. We had a great flight and are so thankful for and grateful to Mr.Pate, Mr.Armstrong and Mr.Lee. Thank You guys for getting us here quickly and safely. We were welcomed back by about 15 family members who were as excited to get us home as we were to get home.

You can see some really cute pictures of our arrival at the airport on Mandi's blog, just click on her name. Every time I see these picture's I cry...today has deffinantly been one of the most emotional days for me. I am so happy to have all of my family together again. The boys have been so sweet to each other and I can tell they have really missed each other. I am so glad to be back in Andalusia.

I had to run to town today and get Dylon's medicine so I went to Wal-mart, duh! I ran into a few people out there, that had been keeping up with Dylon through WAAO, a local radio station. I just want to thank you Blaine and Andrea for keeping everyone updated on Dylon. We couldn't have made it through this so easily had people not have been praying for us and I know that alot of prayers came via WAAO. So thank you again WAAO crew, we love ya'll!

I really have a bunch more to say, but I am really exhausted and am fading slowly. So I will do a better blog maybe tomorrow! Just know that we will be forever grateful for the prayers and all the help we have received to get out there. I wish I could go and tell each of you personally, but I don't think that's possible...so just know that We love ya'll and Thank You for joining us and helping us get through this journey. The power of prayer is what got us through this. Thank You Jesus for hearing all of our prayers!

Love ya'll

Shelli

Dylon during our flight, I was trying to get he to chew on some candy~

Great Report Today!!

We went to TCH this morning and talked with Dylon's cardiologist Dr.S. Dr.S said that he doesn't expect Dylon to ever need surgery again. This is such great news. We also got to see some pictures of Dylon's "new" heart. I am just blown away at how different it looks from before surgery. He basically has a normal looking heart. We still have to monitor the fluid around his heart, but we will do it locally. We will come back to TCH in about a year and then as long as everything still looks good, then we will only need to come every two or three years. We are coming home tomorrow around 9:30, and we cannot wait to get back to Andalusia.
This is the old Aorta with all the twists and turns...

This is the newly improved, looks like a normal aorta!

Results of Sedated CT scan!

We just got back from TCH and are very excited about the results. The testing went good, they decided to do an I.V. in his foot instead of his hand, and it made for a horrible 5 minutes of poking to get the I.V. started. I hope that this is the last of I.V.'s that we have for a really,really, really, really long time.

After the testing, Dr.S came out to the waiting room and spoke to me and Matt for little bit. He said that all the repairs are looking really strong and good. Just what we wanted to hear! He does still have some fluid around his heart, but doesn't look like the fluid has progressed. We will meet with Dr.S tomorrow morning and discuss more of the fluid. Dr.S also said that we might do a possible Echo tomorrow just to double check the fluid. Some tests show a better view of the fluids than other tests. Along with seeing Dr.S we will also have an X-ray and of course blood pressures on all legs and arms. Blood pressure should be the same on all four, or atleast close. Before the surgery, his upper body had high blood pressure and his lower body had really low blood pressure. But we are believing that our Great Physician has taken care of this...Great Physician meaning God.

We can't wait to get back to Home sweet Home, but we also know that this road is not over. We will never get back to life as we knew it, but we gladly welcome this new life with the acknowledgement of Dylon's "newer" heart. When we were released from TCH Tuesday, they sent a list of things we cannot do for atleast 4 weeks. I will try and list most of them just for your knowledge and for our close family and friends.
~no picking him up from underneath his arms, one must hold him like a baby to pick him up. The reason for this is to not put any pressure on his sternom.
~he is not allowed at grocery stores, church, school, family reunions for 2-4 weeks. This is b/c he was put on the heart lung bypass machine during surgery, and doing that results in really low immune system. This helps prevent infection.
~he cannot pick anything up over 5 pnds. He also cannot play on swingsets, jungle gyms, or anything he could fall from and hit his chest.
~he cannot go swimming for 2 months.
~ he cannot get a bath for 4 weeks.
~he cannot ride anything such as a bycicle or any ride on toys.

So as you can see we are going to have our hands full with trying to prevent any injury to his sternom. Just knowing my boys, they love to play hard and this will be an adjustment. I have also been told that my two boys at home: Houston and Laeton Reid are extremely spoiled, so if anyone will volunteer to do like baby boot camp with them before we get back, it would greatly help our homecoming ;)
Thanks again for everything!
Love,
Shelli

Hotel Atlast!

We have made it to our hotel room and are trying to settle down for the night! Dylon is doing really good with his pain management. He is just so tough. We will have a CT scan done on Thursday and then Friday we will see the cardiologist. As long as those clear we will be flying back, thats right I said flying. Another Andalusian donated his private plane to come and get us. We can never thank you enough. We will be flying out on Sunday.

I have such mixed emotions about going home and not being around TCH, but it's still knowing that God is in control of Dylon.

Thanks for all the prayers and phonecalls and messages, they have been what has gotten us through this. I love ya'll so much!

Oh I must send a special thank you to Crystal who's daughter had open heart surgery two weeks ago at TCH by the same Doctor. Crystal thank you so much for that sweet card, Dylon loved it and kept saying Bentley's mom, we prayed over Bentley's surgery together, and he looked at all her pics. It really helped prepare him for his surgery.

Also thank you to Aunt Tricia and Uncle Keith for their sweet card and uplifting note!

And Straughn Elementary School who sent Dylon a Care Bear card, he loved it!

Dylon and his cards and a drawing by Houston, his twin.

I also have to respond to a comment on the last post. Aunt Marilyn, Dylon has come up with a name for your baby mule.....Diego! Diego is his favorite cartoon character, but also has a great meaning, Diego in English means one who supplants, but if you trace it back to Biblical day, in hebrew it is may he protect.

Released to Houston Area

Just a quick update to let you know that we are being released today to the Houston area. However, we had an echo yesterday and it showed that there was a little bit of fluid around his heart. I have been told that this is expected from a child with the type of surgery that he has had. The doc's are not worried, but I am. Dylon will just be treated with motrin in the hotel room. We will then come back on Thursday and have a sedated CT scan. As long as this shows normal, then we will be able to come home on the weekend. We will probably be driving b/c the personal plane that flew us out here is out of town. I have looked into a commercial flight, but Dylon can't be around large groups of people like airports, church, school and release papers even said family reunions! I don't think I'll be able to keep my large family from loving on him. So anyway I am trying to find a rental car place locally and hopefully we will be back to a new normal over the weekend. This new normal is going to be so hard for Dylon and Houston. We just can't wait to get back. Well actually Im kind of nervous about being 9 hrs away from this incredibly hospital but they promised me that if anything changed with Dylon they would fly someone out to Alabama to get him. So please pray that the fluid goes away b/c there are so many dangerous things that could happen if the fluid progresses! The doc has told me everything to look out for, so also pray that I would be able to see the signs of infection if the fluid does progress!
THank You!
Love ya'll!
Shelli