good times

I thought you might would like to see one of the highlights of my day today...



Hope y'all have a happy Friday!

Love,
Kami

heartbreak

I will start with good news...Rocco and Jagger had their one week post-op check up today. They are lookin' good and feelin' great! We will only have to go for follow ups every 6 months now.

As you know, Madden was not able to have his surgery because the anesthesiologist was concerned about his heart rate being too low. Boy are we glad she was! We were scheduled to see Dr. Brumund, the cardiologist, on Friday to get him checked out. Unfortunately, we didn't learn what I had hoped and prayed which was that Madden's low heart rate was normal for him and get a casual "he's fine" from the doc. Instead, we learned that Madden has a condition called complete heart block (third degree heart block.) Sound scary? Yeah, it kinda is. You can click on the link to learn more, but in layman's terms, his a-v node isn't sending the electrical signals fast enough from the upper chambers to the lower chambers....his atria is basically pumping 2 times faster than his ventricles. We learned that this condition was not congenital but most likely a viral infection caused the damage to the a-v node.

What does this mean for Madden? Well, if you asked him....he'd probably say:

"I'm fine Momma!"

Good news is his heart is structurally sound and he is not symptomatic...other than a lower than normal heart rate (70's). The natural history of this condition, however, is that it usually progresses over time which means that he may become symptomatic. Symptoms being an even lower heart rate (in 30-40's), fatigue, fainting, etc. So Madden will be monitored very closely by the docs and we also have our own built-in control group at home. By comparing him to his brothers and sisters, we should notice any changes or symptoms quickly. If he does become symptomatic, the doc will have to intervene by implanting a pacemaker in our little fella. I am told that a pacemaker will let Madden live a normal active life just like the next person (with the exception of avoiding some contact sports.) I should note that while he is not symptomatic or if he does not ever become symptomatic, he will also lead a normal active life. He is not restricted in any activities.

Friday night Madden was put on a holter monitor for 24 hours. Dr. B wanted to see exactly what his heart was doing in all situations....sleeping, eating, throwing a tantrum, etc. We received the results back yesterday and they were not anything surprising to the doc so this was good. It did confirm that he had complete heart block 100% of the time, but his heart rate did not reach any of those alarming low rates. Monitoring is paramount so he will have to wear the holter monitor for 24 hours at a time every six weeks to 3 months depending on symptoms or the lack of.

I have a feeling this thing is gonna get harder to keep on as he gets older!

While receiving this news was a blow to us, we have been through tougher. We know Who is in control and we will trust Him now like we always have. It is our prayer that Madden's heart is healed and that our God receives all the glory.

"We love you "little" bro! Hope your heart gets better real soon!
(Sloan, Rocco, Jagger)

Love,
Kami

Happy Mother's Day!

We hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day...either being celebrated or celebrating your mom yourself! We sure did...

Going to church
(Jagger, Rocco, Sloan, Madden)

4 Generations
(Maw-Maw with Jagger & Madden, Me with Sloan, G.G. with Rocco)

Grandmama with Sloan, Rocco, Madden & Jagger

Momma & Sloan

Momma & Rocco

Momma & Madden

Momma & Jagger

Momma & her boys

Love,
Kami

Buh-Bye Adenoids...Hello Tubes!

Yes, we finally made that decision, with our pedi's guidance of course, that it was time for the boys to get tubes. They have had ear infections back-to-back (or so it seems) for the last 5 or 6 months and the poor fellas needed some relief! Once we met with the ENT doc for the consultation, he recommended we remove the adenoids while we were there.

Our morning started at 5:15 when we woke up, got dressed, transported the sweet sleeping boys to the van and made it to the surgery center for 6am. Sloan, by the way, had a fun night and day with Grandmama. The boys were so good. No fussing...just a few looks of confusion. Not to mention, they are always fed breakfast within 20 minutes or so of waking up, and of course they couldn't not have anything to eat or drink until after the surgery which was scheduled for 7. Each surgery only lasted 8-10 minutes. I was concerned about how they would do but really they were uh-mazing.

They don't look too happy here! How cute are those hospital gowns?

First up...Jagger. Doc said everything went fine, but his ears were really bad especially the left one and his adenoids were a bit swollen too. Me and Grandaddy were waiting for Jagger when they brought him to the recovery room while Daddy, Big Pop & G.G. were with the other two. He was a bit groggy/fussy when he came out but was pretty easily consoled by rocking him. He stayed a bit clingy the rest of the day but by the late afternoon he was feeling like himself again.

Daddy loving on Jagger pre-surgery

Second...Rocco. Again, doc said everything went fine with Rocco. By the time Rocco came out of the surgery everyone was in the recovery room with us because they had already sent Madden back. He was also a bit fussy coming out of the anesthesia. BUT by 12:30 or maybe even earlier, you would have never known that he had surgery today. He was back to his sweet happy self!

Momma playing with Rocco pre-surgery

Last...Madden. During Madden's assessment, the nurse had mentioned that Madden's heart rate was a little lower. They took him back to the OR and ran an EKG. The anesthesiologist determined that Madden's heart rate was too low and she would not be comfortable administering any anesthesia in his condition. So Madden will only have to suffer with his funky ears for a few more days (hopefully) until we can be cleared by a cardiologist for surgery. It would have been nice to knock 3 out all in one day, but we are very appreciative to have the opportunity to get his little heart checked out and have the doctors confident that no problems will arise.

Grandaddy (giving Madden his breathing treatment ) and Big Pop

G.G. and Madden

So hopefully I can say (at least for Rocco and Jagger)....good riddance nasty ear infections!

Love,
Kami