Hello all. Our beautiful son Zander is now being held by God. He left his earth yesterday at 11:01 a.m. He was not in any pain and he was surrounded by many people that loved him. We are having visitation on Friday, November 7, 2008 at Red Bank Baptist Church (main sanctuary) here in Chattanooga/Red Bank from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. We are having a private graveside service on Saturday for Zander and he will be in a place where he can enjoy the beautiful trees. IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS CAN BE MADE AT ANY SUNTRUST BANK IN THE NAME OF ZANDER COVERT. We love each of you and thank you for the many blessings that you have given our family. Please keep Ethan, Raymond and the Weekend #31 men's team and candidates in your prayers. I will write again soon. Love to all. Zander, you don't have to move along anymore. You are home. Clancy

Election Day, November 4, 2008

Good Morning All! Today is the day we have all been waiting for. Tomorrow there will be no news. Yeah! Just kidding. I hope everyone is able to vote today. You will be a part of history today no matter who you vote for. Sorry for my delay in writing, but it has been hectic around the house and at work. Houston and Jackson are doing well and school is going well for both of them. Zander is doing well. We did see the ENT in recent days and this Friday, Zander will undergo surgery to dilate his esophagus again. Once Dr. Kelley finishes this part of the surgery, Dr. St. Charles will insert tubes into Zander's ears and then have an audiologist perform a detailed hearing test. As I understand it, it will be while Zander is under anesthesia so that the test can be as accurate as possible. The goal, at this point is to get Zander hearing something for developmental purposes. The quicker he can hear something, the better off he will be in his development. We are praying that the tubes assist him greatly and we still know that God is in control. Please pray for another miracle in our son's short life. Zander also sees the cardiologist tomorrow. Hopefully his heart problems are continuing to fade, but we will know more tomorrow. Thanks as always for the prayers, comments and encouraging words. We hope everyone is doing well and please keep Zander, Ethan and Raymond Powell in your prayers. I will write again soon. Keep moving along boys, We love you! Clancy

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Good Evening All! Zander wanted everyone to see his costume. We go to the spine doctor on Friday, but we wanted everyone to see Zander in his pumpkin (Yes he is really in the pumpkin).

Please keep Zman, Raymond, Ethan and Dr. Ted in your prayers. We got word tonight that Dr. Ted is coming home from Arkansas! Yeah!!!!! I will write again soon.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Paul! Go Devil Rays!

Love to all. Keep moving along boys.

Clancy

Here is Zander working out with his mobile earlier today. I hope the video works. I am testing this out.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 in the Evening

Good evening all. We hope that everyone is having a great week. Fall is definitely in the air and the weather is wonderful. This time of year in East-Tennessee is beautiful. Above are pictures of the Zman during physical therapy. The first one of him is his way of saying "your hurting me". The second one is of him saying "I'm going to the bathroom" and the third one is of him saying "Look, I'm a big boy!"

Jackson and Houston are at Jackson's soccer practice tonight. This is the last practice of the year and the last game will be this weekend. School is going well for both of them and they have been a great help around the house in recent days. School pictures for Jackson are tomorrow so I am sure that we will have to get up a little early to make sure everything is copacetic with his hair in the morning.

Zander saw Dr. Devoid (his GI doctor) yesterday. Great news. His liver enzymes are where they need to be and he no longer has to take medicine for the cholestasis (jaundice). More importantly, Christie learned how to take out the feeding tube and place a new one in. According to Christie, the doctor took it out and dropped it on the table and said "Okay put it back in." Neither she or I have taken the feeding (G-tube) out and changed it before so after she overcame the abruptness of it being out, she was able to successfully pull it out. Lastly, Dr. Devoid said that he no longer needs to see Zander!!!!Yeah! One doctor down 12, 13 or maybe 10 to go.

Zander also had his esophagus dilated today by Dr. Kelley. We were at the hospital today at 6:00 a.m.; however, we were not released until this afternoon. Dr. Kelley said the esophagus was significantly restricted, but this was to be expected. The procedure went well and Zander has slept for the most part since then. We will see Dr. Kelley again in three weeks for another dilation.

We have heard from Ethan's parents. His is currently about 12 pounds and is doing great. They did go to the transplant specialist in Cincinnati, and thank God, they have been approved for the transplant program. We are so happy for them and it was good to hear from them. We will keep you posted on Ethan's progress.

Tomorrow, we go to see Dr. St. Charles, Zander's ENT doc. We pray tomorrow goes as well as the past two days. We pray specifically for good news regarding Zander's cohanal atresia and hearing issues. We know that Dr. St. Charles is a great doctor and we hope (and pray) that Zander will be able to hear soon.

Please keep Raymond Powell, Ethan and Dr. Ted in your prayers. Thanks to everyone for the comments. It has been hectic and these kind words keep Christie and I going each day.

I will write again soon. Love to all,

Until then,

We love you boys. Sleep tight. Smile big tomorrow Jackson. Keep moving along Zander.

Clancy

Sunday, October 19, 2008 in the Evening

Good evening all. I hope that everyone is well rested. Sorry for my delay in posting, but we have been busy this past week with Fall Break and just life in general.

Houston and Jackson had a restful Fall Break. Grandma Pat took Christie, Houston and Jackson on the new River Valley Gorge ride, a new boat excursion through the Tennessee Aquarium over Fall break and above are some of the pictures from their adventure.

Zander is doing well. This past week, he discovered his tongue. It has been going non-stop since then. Think Michael Jordan. He is really starting to wiggle around a lot and he is noticing every aspect of what is going on around him.

Starting tomorrow, Zander has doctors and therapists appointments all week. Tomorrow he will see his GI doctor and attend physical therapy. Tuesday he sees Dr. Kelley for another dilation and overall check-up. Wednesday, Zander is going to see Dr. St. Charles, his ENT. Christie will be on the run for most of the week, so please keep her and Zander in your prayers as we should find out quite a bit with this week's appointments. Hopefully we will learn more about the hearing issue from Dr. St. Charles on Wednesday.

We remain prayerful for Zander's health and medical care. We have not heard from Ethan, but trust that he is doing well. Please keep him, Raymond Powell and our doctor friend in Little Rock in your prayers. Get well Ted.

Christie and I are tired, but doing well. We have had a few hiccups this week with insurance and nursing issues, but we know that God will take care of it all.

Thanks as always for the prayers, comments and encouraging words. They mean the world to us and we read and re-read them often. I will write again soon. For now,

Sweet dreams boys. We love all three of you. Keep moving along Zman.

Clancy

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 in the Evening

Good evening all. So sorry for my delay in writing, but we have been otherwise occupied with Zman and life in general over the weekend. Houston and Jackson had a great weekend with their Dad and Christie and I had a restful weekend with Zander until about 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Ashley, Zander's night nurse woke us early Sunday morning. Zander was bleeding from his nose, mouth and trach. We quickly readied ourselves and whisked the little guy off to the ER. On our way he had an outpouring of the red stuff and we proceeded to accelerate our arrival at the ER.

After being in the ER for a few hours and Zander receiving a breathing treatment that assisted in closing the capillaries in his nose, throat and lungs. Dr. Ledbetter (pulmonologist) came in to see the little guy. We felt so bad that we pulled him in from church, but Dr. Ledbetter said we did not need to worry about it. We are fortunate to have him as one of Zander's doctors.

In any event, we were admitted to the hospital and Dr. Harvey (Dr. St Charles partner, an ENT) scoped the nose, the mouth and the lungs/trach on Monday. We are happy that he did not find anything, but at the same time concerned that he did not find anything. While performing the procedure he did enlarge the left nostril/cavity, but told us that Zander will need surgery to correct and expand the nasal cavity and to correct the cohanal stenois in his nose/sinuses.

We were discharged late yesterday and Zander has been just fine since then. There have been no signs of blood at all since coming home. Dr. Harvey and Dr. Ledbetter both said that he may have had an infection that came to a head, so he is now on a new antibiotic. He does not agree with Demoral (sp?) a pain killing medicine that was given to him during or soon after surgery. While the Zman was coming down off the medicine he thrashed around and acted violently. Chrisite and I found it amusing a first, but soon realized that he may be allergic to it.

At this point, Christie and I are trying to catch up on sleep. She got little if any sleep while at the hospital. I came home Sunday night (there is no room at all in the rooms) and tried to sleep, but those efforts did not produce much sleep at all. We are happy and thankful that everything went well. Zander did just fine on his 69 night in the hospital. Before being discharged, Zander had visitors from church.

Machelle and Abby Hall came by to visit today and the above picture is of Zander and Abby. She has been praying for Zander everyday for several months. Zander enjoyed his visit with her and it was good for Christie to see Machelle and catch up.

Thanks to all for the prayers, comments and concerns for our baby and family. We will keep you posted. Please keep Raymond Powell, Ethan and Zander in your prayers. We are blessed. God is still in control and we are thankful for each breath he gives us.

Rest easy boys. Sleep tight Zander. We love you all.

Clancy