He Called

Dr Day did call yesterday, just as we had predicted. He called in the evening and apologized for not getting ahold of us sooner. It's like, are you kidding? We just so appreciate that he will take the time to check up on Ashton. Like us, he is frustrated that the hospital didn't do more for us. They're supposed to be this great hospital and they didn't do much to help us. One of the cardiologists said he wouldn't look at Ashton because he is a pediatric patient. We weren't asking him to do anything with his heart. Just look at the incision for us.

Anyway, Dr Day called in an antibiotic for Ashton. We are taking him to see the surgeon here tomorrow morning. Depending on what he says will determine if we take him up to Primary Childrens and have it looked at. Ray called the hospital this morning and let them know of our experience. Whoever he talked to was surprised we didn't receive better care. Its not just something you ignore and hope it goes away. It wouldn't be good if it got infected. We were trying to get on top of it so it wouldnt get bad and just did not receive good care. Hopefully it was just a one time thing because it makes us a little worried as to what would happen if there was an emergency with Ashton.

P.A.

Thank heavens for good friends and neighbors who are P.A's and will take time out of their evening to come over and help us to make sure we are treating Ashtons wound correctly.

Thanks Cara, for helping us out tonight. You're the best. We just want to do it right so it will get better, not worse.

UCLA, to the rescue...

This morning Ashtons wound still does not look good. We finally just decided to call UCLA. Mary, the surgeons nurse assistant (not sure of her official title), answered the phone. She remembered us. Anyway, she explained what is going on, why it looks like it does, and how to treat it. So now Ray gets to be the nurse or dr. He handles stuff like this much better than I do. Ambrea also handles things like this well. We just need to get this to heal up!

Aaay Ok

So the blood work came back ok, the chest xray looks good and unless something major comes back on the culture then we will hope everything will just heal up. We can have the cardiothorasic surgeon from here look at it on Wed if we are still concerned. We will call our cardiologist on Monday to get his opinion. But knowing him he will be calling us because they will have sent him what they found.

ER

Here we are in the ER at Dixie Regional. It's not really an emergency but this is where the oncall cardiologist from Primary Childrens told us to go as a start. Ashtons "zipper", or the incision, had a big scab come off the other day and it has been kind of oozy since then. We want to make sure there is no infection. We dont think there is because he hasnt had a fever and has acted fine but we need to double check.

Actually, they really didnt know what to do. They get nervous to treat a kid and that he is someone elses patient. We have been sitting here for what seems like forever. They finally decided to do an xray, a blood test and a culture on the ooze. So we will see what the tests say.

....Mayberry....

Today Natalee and I enjoyed a little taste of Mayberry. We met up and had lunch at a fun little restaurant called Twenty Five and Main. We enjoyed a delicious salad and then a cupcake. They have the yummiest cupcakes. But mostly we enjoyed being able to sit and visit for 2 hours in the beautiful St. George weather and finally get caught up on each others lives.

Life is so busy and time goes by so fast. I treasure the Mayberry moments whenever i can.

Yoga......Hot

Yesterday Lacey introduced me to yoga. I've done pilates before, but not yoga. Only this yoga has a little twist....it's hot. The temperature is 98-104 degrees with 40% humidity. I wasnt sure if i would like it. But I loved it. I do love the heat, but thats really warm. But I really liked it. Sometimes it was a little strange, but I'm so impressed with the people who have been doing it for a while. They are so strong, flexible and have great balance. I'm hoping to have more core strength because it makes you a better runner. Anyway, thanks Lacey for showing me what yoga is all about.

Little Mermaid

We went to Tuachan to see The Little Mermaid at this past weekend. It was amazing. Especially the special effects. For those of you who don't know, Tuachan is an outdoor theater. It is absolutely beautiful. If you ever have an opportunity to go, we highly suggest it. And Little Mermaid was so good we are going to send the kids.

Fundraiser Yard Sale Sat. June 4th 8a-1p

Since Ashton's surgery we have been calculating the medical costs and insurance coverage. The mail is stacking higher and higher, so with the help of family & friends donating and cooking items, we decided to do a Fundraiser/Yard Sale in his behalf. This is what we put in the classifeds (KSL & Craigslist) "Our 13 year old son just had open heart surgery so we are having a Fundraiser/Yard Sale in Washington Fields 62 West 1905 South, Sat 6/4/11 from 8a-1p. Come see the lightly used or new Furniture, Electronics, Sporting Equipment, Clothes and Games. Oh and not to mention Hot Dogs, drinks and other baked goodies 25 cents each. Your treasures are waiting for you. Just look for the balloons in the sky at 62 West 1905 South, Washington Fields. See Ya there!!"

Cardio Appt.

Sorry I've been so bad at keeping updates posted. I'm so behind. But I did want to put an update on Ashton's latest appt. We met with his cardiologist on Tuesday. The good news is he has gained a pound (only 6 more to go to get him back to what he weighed before surgery, his oxygen saturation is doing better on room air (this means his lungs are healing up), and the fluid was no longer in his right lung. Because his lungs are doing better they took him off the lung medicine and because there is no longer fluid on his lungs he only has to take the diaretic once a day now. The blood work showed that his electrolytes are low so he needs to drink a powerade or gatorade every day. It also showed that his heart is working harder now than before surgery. This concerned us but the cardiologist said that it is to be expected right now and the number is not in the danger area yet. But we do need to keep an eye on it. Overall it was a very good visit and he is doing well.

We were able to spend the weekend at moms. We got up early Saturday morning and got there just in time for Ray to start on his "to do list". He loves to go and do things around the yard and house that are harder for her to do. While he works Ashton and I got to visit with Rick. He had us just laughing. He has a giggle that is very contagious. On Sunday we went to the cemetery to decorate the graves. They looked so pretty with all the flowers. Then on Monday we headed to SL. We got to spend time at Nate's that evening and play with the kids. On Tuesday after our appt we headed back home. We had a very nice weekend.