We're healthy!

We had a busy but fun and enjoyable Christmas. Brycen loved tearing off the wrapping paper and playing with it. He got so many new toys he can't make up his mind what to play with. During the Christmas break, he figured out that he loves to hold onto things and stand up. It won't be long and he'll be walking. He has been go-go-go for the past week!

We had a rough start to the Christmas season due to me being in the hospital. Christy became supermom/wife and somehow got all of our shopping done and managed to keep our family in order during the hard time. She deserves more than I could ever repay her for her love and support. Brycen and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful mom and wife.

I am almost fully recovered now. I am eating anything I want again and have been up and out and about. I still lack some energy, but I think that's just from being in a bed for 2 1/2 weeks. I go to the doctor today to hopefully be cleared to drive and lift over 5 pounds. I couldn't take not holding Brycen any longer and started toting him around last week, so I expect the doctor to give me the green light.

Brycen had his check-up from his balloon procedure yesterday at Children's. Dr. Fontenot said everything looks and sounds great and we don't have to go back for 4 months! It appears that the bloodflow through his aorta may possibly be pushing back the rest of the coarctation. We hope that this is the case and we hope that the heart patch will continue to grow with his heart! We are so blessed to have had such wonderful care at Children's and even more blessed to have Brycen!

We did have some sad news while at Children's though. Those of you who have followed along with Brycen's situation from the beginning will remember Brycen's friend Caden who was at Children's during our first trip. As we were going to see our favorite nurses yesterday, we ran into Caden's dad. Caden had to have another open heart surgery earlier this month to take out a band placed on his heart during his first surgery. While they were taking out the band, they accidently poked a hole in his heart. This caused many complications and he has also contracted pneumonia. He is in CVICU and has an uphill battle to overcome again. Please remember Caden and his family in your prayers. They are ready to go home and have their Christmas!

We have experienced quite a year and hope that 2009 goes a little more smoothly. But as we look back we are so thankful for 2008. Without Brycen our life would be incomplete. God has truly blessed our family in good times and bad this year. We thank you again for all of your prayers and support this year and we make it our prayer that He will bless you and yours just as He has blessed us. Have a wonderful and happy 2009!

Happy Birthday Charlsie!!!

Kevin planned an awesome surprise 30th birthday party for Charlsie! Everyone was waiting at Shogun Steakhouse when they arrived for their so called reservation for 2 (really was 13). Charlsie was so surprised. After dinner some of us went out for a few drinks. Happy Birthday Charlsie!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas

Who is this funny looking man?

Ho! Ho! Ho! It's St. Nick!

Everyone needs a good laugh now and then

As you have seen in the past Brycen loves bath time. Tonight he was playing with his daddy in the bath and thought it was hilarious! Check it out.

Catching Up

Wow! What a long past few weeks. Brycen had his first tooth come in and double ear infections that have finally cleared up. He had his 6 month shots this past week. Brycen is 75% Height, 25% Weight, and 15% Head circumference. The doctor said "little b" will more than likely be tall and skinny. I think that sounds like a great plan but dad doesn't want him to be scrawny.

Happy "belated" Thanksgiving! This year we spent Thanksgiving at Nonnie and Grandpa's house in Conway!

Today is my 6 month birthday!! I am such a big happy boy.

My first snow! Can't you tell that I just love it. And yes I have a fever and ear infection.

I wish I could just taste the Christmas tree.

We are home!

We are home! We said the same thing about 6 months ago when we brought Brycen home. This time I brought Brad home. He is sore and tired but doing well. We visited with the Gastro doctor and he said the biopsy of the liver showed the mono type virus but they received blood work back and it did not say he had the mono type virus. The doctor believes the diverticulities was causing all the symptoms.
We are so glad he is home! He is on a full liquid diet for at least another week and can't lift anything for six weeks. Brycen can't figure out where his dad has been and why he is back now but won't pick him up. They will both have to adjust.
Thanks for the prayers and all the visits and help we had the past week!
Christy, Brad, and Brycen

patient update

The patient has a form of mono called Epstein Barr Virus. This is making his healing process take longer. He has not had fever in several days. Today he will get the drain out and oral pain meds instead of IV pain meds. Maybe tomorrow he can go home.

The Patient

Brad is in some pain of course (he did have his stomach area cut open). The doctor is pleased with surgery and has now allowed him to have clear liquids. The problem that is occuring is a high fever. They have done a chest x-ray but we have not received the results. They also did a urine test that turned out fine. They took some more blood for other tests this morning. Hopefully they will determine why he has this fever soon.

Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery is Over!!

Brad is out of surgery. We have not seen him yet. The doctor said he took out 7-8 inches of his colon. The portion of the colon that was inflammed was almost obstructed. The doctor was glad he got it out. Brad will be thankful he did not have to get a colostomy. The doctor said he will have a draining tube for five days or so. He will be in the hospital another week and then several weeks at home. The surgeon says that he will not be eating anything for a few days and then he will be on a strict liquid diet.
We are very thankful for the surgeon and his team! We pray that Brad has an easy recovery.

Surgery Time Set

After reviewing the CT scan the doctor decided that Brad needed another day of antibiotics to help clear the infection. The smaller the infection the better chance for no colostomy and easier healing. The surgery will be tomorrow (Sunday) around 8:00am. We are thankful it was not last night because the surgeon had already done 7 surgeries that afternoon/evening. We want him to be fresh.


We took Brycen to see Brad today and both of them perked up! I know they were glad to see each other.

Please continue to pray for Brad, the doctors, and our family.

bradupdates.blogspot.com

YES this time it is Brad. He really doesn't have his own blog but I feel like he should. As many of you know he has been trying to figure out what "sickness" he has had the past three weeks. He has been treated for sinus infection, kidney stone, and inflammed colon (diverticulities). Well apparently his diverticulities has created a hole in his colon. After some tests this morning the doctor called and said come immediately to the hospital. He was admitted and will have surgery tomorrow morning to remove a portion of his colon. Once again we ask for a little extra prayer!!! Hopefully 2009 will be a smooth sailing year for us. We are so thankful to have been blessed with Brycen and can't wait until Brad feels better so we can do family things again.

I will update after his surgery tomorrow. He will be in the hospital a week and then have 2-3 weeks of recovery at home. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

What can I do now?

Brycen is almost six months....
He can scoot across the floor.
He tries to crawl.
He gets really red cheeks by the end of the day (suggestions???).
He smiles and laughs (a lot at his daddy).
He has a routine.

He always sits up.

He really wants to stand up.

He likes to try to use his sippy cup.
He absolutely LOVES to eat.
He drools ALL day (no teeth yet).
He enjoys bath time.
He CAN sleep through the night (doesn't always do it though).
He has spent the night at both grandparents houses.

Just For Fun

Brycen is a much happier baby now that he feels normal again!

Baptism

Brycen was baptised yesterday. He had an ear infection and fever but we still managed to get a little smile for his picture.

Thank you to everyone who came for his special day. We appreciate all the support.

Happy Halloween!

Brycen had a great first Halloween.

The neighbor girls were our first trick-or-treaters! How cute are they???

Brycen's friend Bishop was "stinky."

Landon helped hand out the candy. Notice the way he says "Cheese" with his eyes!

The whole family enjoyed the evening!

Finally!

After looking at all of our friends blogs we finally loaded up the family and took Brycen to the pumpkin patch!

Brycen's Story on the Local News

Today we got to meet the nurses, Kristy and Judy, that found Brycen's murmur originally and then informed the doctor about it. This is a moment we've been waiting on since we arrived home from Children's, but it took us a while to track down Kristy, the nurse that heard the murmur.

Christy's mom and the administration staff from my office joined us in thanking these ladies and the staff at Willow Creek Hospital for the job they did and the role they played in saving Brycen's life. Two local tv stations were there as was the state newspaper. Below is the video from the news and the links to thier stations.

We continue to be amazed by the story that Brycen will live to tell.

www.nwahomepage.com and www.4029tv.com (no video yet).

Kristy and Judy, Thank You again for what you have done for our family!!!

Updated Pictures

As you can see Brycen was all smiles. He was up bright and early playing. His four month shots on Tuesday will probably hurt him worse than his heart procedure.

Back Home

Trip number 2 is said and done! Brycen is as happy and playful as he's ever been. He's doing excellent. I don't have the right cable right now, so I can't post pictures but he's all smiles.

We will go back for a check-up on Dec 1 to monitor how the procedure is holding up and see if we need more surgery down the road.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support! Have a great weekend!

Procedure Complete

The procedure is finished and Brycen is in a CVICU room. The procedure went well, but the problem wasn't fixed completely. Unfortunately, the recurrence of the coarctation wasn't caused by scar tissue. It appears that the coarctation is recurring at the point where a clamp was placed during his first surgery. Dr. Fontenot was able to open up the aorta most of the way and hopefully the area will stay expanded long term. But the area didn't open completely, and could be the cause for another surgery, and possible stint, down the road.

All in all, we're doing well. If you have called and we have not returned your call, we will do so within the next day or so. Brycen is in a room with a roommate, so we are restricted on cell phone use. We can't thank you enough for all of your support!

Progress

We just talked with the nurse technician and Brycen is doing well. The procedure involves going up the femoral artery into the aorta and taking a picture, then inserting the balloon, then going back and taking another picture. The first round of pictures showed that there was a larger difference in the gradient (blood pressure) on one side of the coarctation than the other, so the balloon was a little larger, but it has gone well so far. They are now in the process of withdrawing the balloon and will go back in and take the last set of pictures to make sure the area is expanded and to make sure that the gradient is equal throughout his aorta.

We should know more in about an hour. At that time the procedure will be finished and we will talk with Dr. Fontenot. We will update after we talk to him and get settled into our room.

Underway!

We met with Dr. Fontenot this morning and got to take Brycen back to the operating area. Brycen was hungry and fussy, but ended up falling asleep before we went back. We put him on the table and Dr Watkins gave him the laughing gas. Brycen was sound asleep and they are beginning the procedure.

We will be given hourly updates and the procedure should take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

We will post as soon as we know progress.

Off to Children's!

Brycen's procedure will be at 8:30 tomorrow morning. It is expected to take about 2 hours. We will post on the blog as soon as we can and will start the text message tree as well. If you get a text please pass the word along.

This procedure is MUCH LESS threatening than his original surgery, but has been twice as hard to handle emotionally. We can't thank you all enough for all of your prayers and support. You have been wonderful to us and we can't wait to share God's good news tomorrow!

Procedure Date Set

Brycen will have his procedure at Children's on Thursday, October 9. If all goes as planned he will be in ACH overnight and then sore and cranky for a few days after that.

Children's Check-Up #2

We had to go back to Children's today for Brycen's second check-up since his surgery. Unfortunately, we didn't get the news we were expecting today. The visit today included an echo (ultrasound) of Brycen's heart and it showed that there is recurrence of coarctation in his aorta.

What appears to be happening is that the patch that was put in during surgery is healing, but is forming too much scar tissue around the suture. The scar tissue is now causing blockage/narrowing in the aorta. This is a very common side effect from the type of surgery that Brycen had. For the problem to be fixed, Brycen will have to have a balloon procedure (we hoped for this the first time, remember) in which they will insert a long tube through his leg and that will go up to his heart. Once they find the narrow spot they will inflate the balloon and expand the area. The procedure will take about an hour and Brycen will be kept over night at the hospital for monitoring.

The good news out of this visit is that once again they caught the problem early. It is NOT life threatening at this time, but if let go, it would be. The scar tissue isn't an immediate threat to the blood flow, as was the PDA valve closing when the problem was first discovered. In fact, Dr. Fontenot wants to actually wait for another month before doing the procedure so that the patch can scar even more and become even stronger. That will also lessen the chance of having to repeat this procedure in the future.

Not the news we were wanting to hear, but we are so thankful the problem has been found again. We are so thankful for Dr. Fontenot and the staff at Children's, if not for them we wouldn't have this little guy.

We will keep you posted on the situation and let you know when they schedule the procedure. Brycen already can't wait to go back and kick butt again!!

Yum!

I like carrots!!

I can't wait until I can feed myself! I try now but it doesn't work very well.

3 Months Old

Brycen turned 3 months old last week. He is enjoying rice cereal, his "Hop 'N Pop," Chillin' in the bath, and of course Razorback football.

Put Your Dukes Up!!

Saturday was opening day of the 2008 football season. We decided instead of taking Brycen to the game, we would just take him to the tailgate party and then Christy would go home with him during the game. He did really well and had a good time.

Football season means we have to follow through with all of dad's crazy superstitions. Here we are Thursday night playing football on Playstation.

Here are all the guys that set up the tailgate spot each week. We started at 8am this week.

We had a superstar join our tailgate this week. Former Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor!! He helped Brycen learn to jab.

Enjoying our first of many tailgates.

Brycen hanging out under the tent with Jill.

PLAY BALL!!!

Tonight was Brycen's first time to attend a sporting event. Our friend Pat gave us tickets to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball game. We had a blast at the ol' ball game, thanks Pat!

We got the night started right by taking his picture with Strike the mascot. (Strike is on the left, HA!)

The 7th inning stretch was one of the highlights. It won't be long and he'll know all the words.

However, he soon learned that he finds baseball about as exciting as his dad does. Only 8 more days til football!!!!

A Busy Week

Brycen is really growing! He has started sleeping 5 to 6 hours at night- YEA for mom and dad!! He has started going to Mrs. Maida's house and is really enjoying it.

Brycen is really enjoying looking at his books now. He will be ready for school in no time.













Mom couldn't figure out how to play my first Baby Einstein video on the playstation so I had to watch it on my dad's computer. I only liked it for about 10 minutes.















My first day of school at Mrs. Maida's house!!
































What an event!! As we tried to leave the house for a cookout Brycen went through 3 outfits. So he had to wear a bib for a while. (They were out of the saying "Chics dig scars." )