Brief Update

I've been too busy to update lately. However, I just wanted to update on Isaac's health. On October 5th, Isaac had stage 2 of his ear surgery. It went really well & healed extremely fast this time. Also he was blessed to have many people pray for him, which I believed help Isaac be almost completely free of pain. There was discomfort, but not pain medication needed after surgery. Isaac is really happy with his ear. Isaac loves Doctor Fairbanks, the plastic surgeon. This is another blessing, to have a wonderful doctor who genuinely cares for his patients. I've noticed his patients are passionate about doctor Faibanks, he is one of a kind.
Isaac saw his Cardiologist on October 21st (his Dad's birthday also). THe report was good. He said that Isaac's heart was still leaking, however not any worse than before. It's too risky to fix at this point. I hope we find a way for it to heal on it's own without surgical intervention. Even Heart Catherizations make me nervous, I've heard stories about Cath nightmares. Anyway, I am thankful Isaac is stable. I try not to worry about when things might change. I am always thinking about how to not take our time together for granted, as well as my other children. I have a perspective that is weird to some, and too real to others. I try to live my life with no regrets.
Isaac won an Award of Merit today for a Reflections project he entered at his school. He is real happy that he won, even though it was not a medal. His sister Brianna won five medals today in the same competition.
Thanks, to all of you who stop by to check on Isaac, I appreciate your concern.

Microtia Surgery Stage 1 (re-Do)

For some of you, you might remember Isaac having reconstructive surgery almost two years ago on his left ear. I just didn't feel good about the first surgery, almost every aspect of it. I feel bad I put Isaac through a painful surgery again, especially when it turned out to be a mistake. This time I feel bad he has to go through so much pain, however, I feel that the surgeon is perfect for the job. After much thought I went to doctor Siddiqui (a very skilled plastic surgeon I met at Primary Children's Medical Center in 2003), to see if he could do Isaac's second stage of Microtia Surgery. Dr. Siddiqui looked at it and said it was not done right and needed to be redone. He reffered Isaac to Dr Grant R. Fairbanks (a plastic surgeon/sculptor) who does re-do's as they call it. Doctor Fairbanks glady took Isaac as his patient, and carefully planned out the reconstruction of Isaac's ear. Doctor Fairbanks is one who takes great pride in his work and thinks out the best scenario for his patients best interest. He takes the time to do everything extremely well and considers the patients future like no other. I have been very impressed by his caring hands in giving the best for Isaac. He is truly a doctor who cares about the welfare of each patient, going well beyond the call of duty. I am thankful Isaac was lead to such a skilled and caring surgeon and I feel he will be the best to complete the next two steps of Isaac's ear reconstruction.
Isaac's surgery went as well as planned. After surgery, recovery was a long process. Isaac retained a lot of fluid, which gave him some setbacks for a few days. Also, Isaac has had a lot of chest pain, due to rib grafts and removal of one rib. Isaac came home after about five days in the hospital. His ear and chest are healing well with no signs of infection. I expect his chest will continue to be very sore for a while.
At the end of July Isaac will be attending second Grade at CopperHills Elementary. We are excited to work with Mrs. Wright (his new teacher). We look forward to a sucessful school year.

Why am I a Bad Mom today?

Why do I feel like the worst Mom ever? Because of strict attendance policies at school, I sent Isaac to school with a stomachache. Knowing that I just am getting over a flu that lasted for a little over three days, and he probably caught it. Also knowing for a fact that Isaac had a croup episode early Monday morning. I also am bugged because the steroids he had to take for his croup have their side effects, which include lower anti-bodies, crankiness, insomnia, anxiety and increased heart risk. All of this leaving me to feel like I am not a very good Mom, just before Mother's day. I really hate making judgement calls like that. Especially when it REALLY BUGS me when other parents send their children to school sick. I wish we could re-write some of these policies. I feel that as long as children that have missed exessive days from school, can do well enough on their testing at the end of the year to show that they are not a truant that the test should show enough to say that the student is not trying to be a truant. Especially for a first grader, come on now, let's get real. Sorry, if this is a bit annoying, but I had to vent today. I am seriously feeling rotten & guilty.

Catching Up

Isaac is doing well in school and finally catching up in his developmental delays enough that he is transitioning to a regular 1st grade class for half a day now and back to the Special Ed class in the afternoons. He will probably be in a regular class all day very soon. He is very smart and reads better than any first grader I have ever met. Isaac is reading Chapter books such as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and loves it. Isaac will still need a little help with his social interaction skills, but not much more than that. Isaac, much like other heart kids, spent a lot of time in a position where he couldn't do much physically for so long, he learned from everything going on around him. It is amazing to watch how his brain works, I like to pretend with him that I steal his brain through his ear so that I can be smart like him and he loves to yell at me to spit it out. Isaac is such a character, and so much fun to tease in a fun way, I am thankful I have this time with him to play. I feel bad that some of my heart friends had such a short time with their loved ones to play like I have been able to enjoy. I guess each one of us has a different mission in life and we all will get a chance to be with our loved ones again someday. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's Plan for us & the chance to be with our loved ones again & for the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all especially at this Easter season as well as throughout the year.

Strept Throat

I kept Isaac home from church yesterday & school today due to a bad cough and mild sore throat. Today I took him to the doctor just to make sure it did not turn into something more serious. The pediatrician looked at his throat and decided to swab it. A few minutes later the medical assistant came in and told us the Strept test was positive. This is the first time I can remember Isaac having Strept, which is a real blessing after seven years of other health issues. I am thankful I can still find plenty of blessings to count. I think I have just learned to see the blessings around me better. I feel so blessed that he is not as sick as many kids are when they have strept. I sometimes feel better about bacterial infections since they usually can be treated easily with anti-biotics. Viruses scare me a lot worse.

Late January Update

It's been a busy couple of months. Isaac had his 7th birthday on Thursday January 14th. He was fortunate to get out of school early that day. He chose to celebrate his birthday with his Mom, & sisters Lauren & Brianna at Chuck E Cheese's pizza. He had lots of fun there and came home later to blow out the candles on his cake. Isaac's sister Brianna celebrated her birthday the following Friday, and he had fun with her and Lauren at the Discovery Gateway Children's museum. he also had fun for several weeks buying various toys with his birthday and Christmas money.
On the morning of January 27th, Isaac woke up with a bad case of croup. He was blessed most of the winter and didn't have to suffer with it as much as in previous winters. He stayed home from school for a few days and finally felt better by Friday. All through December & January, Isaac frequently had pain with his first loose tooth on the bottom. On the evening of January 31st, Isaac finally lost his first tooth. He was really quite surprised that it didn't even hurt when it came out. That night when he went to bed, he put his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. He had bad insomnia during the night possibly due to the tooth fairy. I didn't think he would wake easily in the morning after a bad night of sleep, however, he woke up bright eyed and rich from the tooth fairy visit. The tooth Fairy left him an entire dollar and he was smiling from ear to ear. He was in the best mood that morning that he'd been in since Christmas.
Isaac is progressing well through life, although he still struggles with his ongoing heart issues. We still worry in the back of our minds about Isaac's future and what it will bring, however we have so much hope for a bright future. Isaac has been blessed with some great talents as well as caring family and friends. We look forward to see where his talents and abilities will lead him as well as his two older sisters.