Summer 2013 Pictures

We are way behind on posting pics from the summer and Landon's birthday!  I kept having techincal issues with Blogger and gave up but it seems like this time the pics are loading.  Here are some from our summer vacation to North Carolina.  We stayed in the mountains for a week with my (Allison's) immediate family at the end of July and then I went back to Raleigh with Landon for a few days to see some more family.  Birthday photos and new family pics to come soon!

 

 

At Lake Junaluska

 

 

We went to see the train - Landon loved it!!

 

Had a great time catching up with Tess and Kyle and their family!

 

Celebrating Mom's birthday 

 

Landon and Grandmama

 

Fun at Pullen Park!

 

Mommy, can I have all of the donuts?

 

Already Mr. Tech Saavy

 

Tickles with Aunt Jenny

Cath & Surgery Rescheduled

We have new catheterization and surgery dates that we hope this time we'll be able to keep!  I talked to the people in scheduling who called both Landon's cardiologist and the surgeon and they felt that there is no need for a gap between cath and surgery as had originally been scheduled so they will now be the same week.  Here are the new dates:

Monday, Nov 4 - Cardiac Cath (& some pre-op stuff)
Wednesday, Nov 6th - Surgery

We still expect a 2 week stay after surgery.  It's possible Landon will be admitted to the hospital for the night after his cath but we will probably stay in Denver for the day between either way.

Landon is doing better but still has a runny nose and a cough and I (Allison) have a little bit of congestion too.  We need to all get well and stay well for the next few weeks which is a difficult thing to do in October!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Change of Plans for Cath

Landon has had a drippy nose all week and the last few days he's developed a cough that won't quit.  He has a low grade fever, nothing to be worried about, but proof that he's fighting something.  Poor guys has had trouble settling down to sleep and has been feeling pretty miserable the last few days. 

So after talking to some people at the hospital, we have canceled the catheterization for tomorrow.  We expect to hear from them sometime in the next few days to reschedule - we hope that will be this week but it depends on Landon getting better and when they can fit him into the cath schedule.  We aren't sure yet if this will affect the surgery date which is currently set for October 23rd but we'll just have to wait and see.

Please pray that Landon's cough would subside so he can get some good sleep and get better quickly.  Pending procedures aside, having a sick toddler is not much fun! And of course now that we've planned and anticipated cath and surgery we are anxious to get them over with.

October Surgery Update

We have so much to post about what a great kid Landon is and the things he's into as well as many overdue pictures!  That will come soon but this update is specifically regarding the medical procedures he has coming up. 

We have scheduled surgery (The Fontan Procedure) for October 23, preceded by a long day of pre-op appointments on the 22nd.  In preparation for surgery, Landon will have a Cardiac Catheterization ("Cath") on Monday, October 7th.  This is not nearly as big of a deal as the surgery but is still very significant since he'll have to go under anesthesia. 

We will plan to update the blog as frequently as we can as Landon goes through these procedures to keep everyone posted on his status.  These next few months will be a challenge both for him and us but he is such an energetic and determined young boy that we are sure he will recover quickly and fully and get right back to life!

We will try to keep the prayer request list on the side of our blog updated with specific prayer requests for the next several weeks and we would so appreciate your prayers!

Long Overdue - Landon Update

Our little guy is nearly 2 years old (23 months).  Time is flying.  He is very communicative and is learning to say and do new things everyday.  His memory has already proven to be iron clad.  He's the treasure of our lives.  We still need to do a blog post around our summer with some updated photos to share with everyone.

Since our last post, he started getting more ear infections.  A lot more of them.  This led to a visit with an allergist and positive tests for a milk allergy and seasonal allergies.  While very annoying that he also has had to deal with these issues, it has cleared up his ear infections and we got our lovable and happy boy back.  He is still very much a daddy's boy at this point.  He always wants to be doing whatever daddy is doing, but deep down he knows mommy is the boss and the one he relies upon. 

He has started to swing the baseball bat off a tee and is quite good already.  He throws righty but swings lefty.  A perfect situation.  I'm (Gary) slightly jealous that he hits lefty.  It's a lot of fun already and I'm excited to see him expand his interests in these areas.

Last week we had a cardiology appointment and was a very good boy at it.  Everything came back great on his echo cardiogram and Dr. Brames was very pleased with what he saw.

The plan right now is to have a catheterization around October 1st and then have his surgery two to three weeks after that, likely depending on schedule at the Children's hospital.  Dates could move around a bit slightly, but this is the plan for now.  It was either now or in the Spring based upon what Dr. Brames saw on the echo and felt confident the size he was would be more than sufficient to move forward.

The Dr. said that we wouldn't have to limit his contact around people much before the catheterization and he recommended about a week before his surgery.  Average time in the hospital for this surgery is 10-14 days.  It could be anything really.   Since Landon seems to be above average for kids in his situation we're hoping for a speedy recovery.

All this said, I'm pretty terrified about this next surgery.  Basically 1B for the most important person in my life is about to go through a pretty risky surgery.  Please pray for us as we ready to deal with this next obstacle in the road.  More to come as we find out the dates and get closer to surgery day.

Landon is 18 Months Old...

Landon is 18 months old now.  Hard to believe.  He is walking about 80% of the time now.  He learns new words everyday (too many to count now) and is becoming more independent in everything he does.

He recently underwent developmental testing.  A few things that stuck out to me (Gary).  He is 71st percentile for weight (25.5 lbs for those scoring at home).  A minor miracle in itself.  He was born underweight and spent the first month of his life struggling to eat.  Dr. Hoover (his pediatrician) said it was a miracle at how well he is doing.   

Further, they concluded that cognitively he processes things like a 24-month old.  It's a huge blessing to see him thrive.  Allison said that we shouldn't enroll him in Harvard quite yet, but to be six months ahead of schedule is really awesome.   

Unfortunately, we're not done yet.  He still  needs one more surgery.  I think about it a little more everyday.  It will be happening sooner than I want to believe, but not fast enough so that it can be over.

On the surgery note, Landon had his cardiology appointment with Dr. Brames.  Everything is progressing well and we got the first timeline guesstimate as to when his third surgery would occur.  He stated that this next surgery is mostly based on size.  Dr. Brames said that November could be a time-frame that we look to do the third surgery.    Dr. Brames wants Landon to be between 12 - 14 kilograms when it is performed.  Landon is currently 11.6 kilograms.  Basically, if Landon gains around a pound a month (which has been his pace lately) he would be 14 kilograms in six months. 

Here are some of my favorite things about Landon currently: 

I can look at him a certain way that says I am going to tickle him and he starts laughing without even being touched.

 He loves stacking blocks and making the noise an elephant makes and acting out the trunk motion with his arm.

He loves many different foods.  While not a perfect eater, he mostly loves to eat.

Elmo rules the day.  If sending a gift, wrapping an Elmo in Elmo wrapping paper is cloud nine for him.

He loves to blow you kisses when he is saying good-bye.

He loves his plastic rings.  It's like his rubik's cube.  I can relate :).

He loves books, especially the ones that make sound.  Animal sounds are the best.  See elephant comment above.

He loves to talk.  Many things that are said now have a meaning.

But what rules almost everything, and might give Elmo a run for his money, are baths.  Landon absolutely loves being in the water.   

He surprises me with something new that he says or does just about everyday.  I think one of the best questions that Allison and I can ask each other everyday is "Did Landon do anything different while you were around him?" 

What an honor it is to call myself his dad.

Gary

  

Old post sent out

if you get email updates of our blog posts you may have received an old post last night from a year ago. sorry about that! I'm not sure what happened but I'm guessing maybe it was a glitch with Google or something because we didn't post anything yesterday. rest assured Landon is healthy and happy and not in the hospital like he was a year ago!