Surgery!

Ok, bear with me. This is going to be kind of a long post.

So we left to go up north on Thursday morning. We stopped in Scipio and picked up Keanna. If you remember she has been staying with my parents. She had been there almost 3 weeks. We have missed her a lot. So my parents met us so we could pick up Keanna and they were going to tend our two little dogs while we were gone. After picking up Keanna we were on our way to Lagoon. Thanks KCSG for the tickets.

We had a great time at Lagoon. Sorry no pictures. I didn't feel like lugging the camera around with us everywhere. Ray, Ambrea and Keanna went off together to ride all the "scary" rides. Ashton and I walked around looking at things and going on the more mild rides. You know, things like the merry go round and the train. Keanna insisted that they go on Rattlesnake Rapids, so those three were soaking wet afterwards. But they were nice and cool. We ended up not leaving there till a little after ten. Then we headed to the hotel to try to get some sleep to prepare for the big day.

We stayed at a Marriott hotel and they were wonderful. We were making a bed out of the extra pillows on the floor for Ashton and Ambrea went to the front desk to ask for an extra blanket. They asked her if she needed a blanket or a comforter and she told them what we were doing. So they brough us three of the down filled comforters. Keanna put two of them over the pillows and one on top of Ashton. He had the softest bed in the room.

Then up bright and early the next morning. Poor Ashton was so nervous. He was having a hard time controlling the tears. Because he is not able to eat we make it a rule that no one can. That just wouldn't be fair. Well, Ray and I left before nine to get Ashton there. The girls weren't quite ready. But they made it in time to see him before they took him. They took the hotel shuttle to get to the hospital. The gentleman driving them asked them why they were going to the hospital, so Ambrea explained. He asked her if we had received a basket. She said no (cause we hadn't) and he proceeded to ask her a little about Ashton. Things like his age.

First Ashton was weighed and measured. He now weighs 54.5 lbs. Yea, he has gained some weight. Then they check his ears, take his SATS, etc., etc. He was so nervous. He kept saying he just wanted to go home. In the room we had the anethesiast, the cardiologist with a Fellow, the nurse and a gal who was talking to us about doing a study. The anethesiast is really funny, but Ashton just did not think so at the time. He was just too scared.

Then off to the cath lab. This nurse is Leann. She took care of Ashton as a baby. She remembers him and the girls. She couldn't believe how much they have all grown up. (Notice she has a blanket. It is always freezing in the hospital, and I'm not the only one that thinks so.) There were a lot of tears at this point. This is the first time we have taken any of the others kids with us. They now have a new understanding of what he goes through. They let Ray go in with him while they get him to sleep. This is good!
This is a picture of the cath lab.

Walking into the cath lab.

They took him at 10:30 and were not done until about 2:30. It went well, but they weren't able to accomplish everything we had hoped. The main thing was they couldn't open up the shunt. They were able to coil a big collateral, which is a good thing, and the left artery going to his left lung looked good. After the cath the cardiologist always take us in and shows us on a computer what he did. We talked about what to do now. We are hoping that the coiled collateral might bring his SATS up. And we talked about having oxygen at night. The dr. will call us during the week and see where his SATS are and talk about the oxygen. So all in all, it was good and not so good.

This is in recovery. He did awesome this time. Usually he wakes up very grumpy and grouchy. Not this time. He was quite pleasant and cooperative.

Another picture in recovery. Notice we also have blankets now. :)

This is a picture we took while waiting for Ashton. (This picture is a little deceiving. Everyone looks so happy. Honestly though, it is very stressful.) So as I said before we are being a part of a study. Well, Ray and Ambrea were brave and had their blood drawn to be a part of the study. Keanna and I were chicken. And notice Keanna's cute purple blanket. While we were filling out the papers for the study Keanna was cold and the nurse asked her if she wanted a blanket. This is the cute blanket she got. She is spoiled.

Close up of the bandages from the blood draw. And if you notice in the above picture, Ambrea babysat Ashton's horse while he was in surgery. In this picture you will see his name tag that he has on, just like Ashton.

At 6:30 we got to go home. Ashton was so excited. Actually, we went to the hotel. When we got into the room there was a basket and a gift basket waiting for us. In the basket were some fun things for Ashton. In the bag were things that Keanna said were all good for a mom. She took the lotion and body wash though. There was a note from the hotel staff wishing us well. We thought that was very nice of them. Ambrea freshened up and went to a friends sisters reception (did you get that). The rest of us ate and then me, Ashton and Keanna crashed. This was about 8:00 or a little after. Ashton and I woke up at 10:00, did some coloring and some more relaxing. Ambrea got back about 11:30 and after having a snack climbed into bed. In the mean time Keanna had woken up. She watched a little TV then went back to sleep. We did not start waking up until 10:30 the next morning. And to be honest, I really could have slept longer. In fact Keanna did. Oh, and by the way, she slept on Ashton's nice soft bed that night. Ray was awesome and got us a late check out, 2:00. So we took our time getting ready and packing up. We went to Ray's parents to visit and pick up Randy and Natalee's car. Ambrea was driving it back home for them. Then we went to the AT&T store so Ambrea could buy a new phone. She finally got the one she wanted. I think she is pretty happy now. Then we headed to Santaquin to meet Carolyn Q. and her family. Carolyn is the Pres. of IHH. I only know her from email and phone conversations. It was so good to finally meet her and her cute family. She welcomed us in and had some yummy cheeries they had picked for us. We could have talked forever. Her little boy Cole played and played with Ray. For some reason kids are attracted to him, and Nate also. Carolyn is a sweetheart and I look forward to getting to know her better. Thanks Carolyn for letting us barge in for a visit. No pictures this time though. They had spent all day putting in a sprinkler system and were just not prepared for pictures. Next time.

Then our next stop was Scipio again, to pick up the dogs. Dad bought us dinner and we visited for a little bit. It was nice. Then finally on our way home. It was about midnight by the time we got home. So needless to say, we slept in again.

We want to thank everyone for the prayers and concern. We could honestly feel them appreciate you all.