Saturday, July 26, 2008 in the Evening

Hello all. Sorry for the delay in writing, but it has been a restful, lazy Saturday here on the mountain.

Houston has returned from MFuge in Charleston, SC with the Youth Group. He had a great time, but he is exhausted. After picking him up from the church, we all went to see the Zman at the hospital. Zander enjoyed seeing his big brothers and he continues to rest well.

The nurses told us that he has had a good day. Earlier in the day he was smiling and looking around, so this is our positive note for the day. Jackson and Houston enjoyed visiting with Zander and the Zman continues to rest well. He is still on pain meds and sedatives, but the nurse indicated that these will likely be decreased in the coming days. Zander is still taking 15 ml of milk every 3 hours and he has not had any rejections.

Tomorrow, he will have more xrays done to see what is going on. We are praying that his espohagus is showing signs of stretching. We are also praying that the drainage from his chest tube remains zero as there has not been any fluid from the chest tube in about 24 hours.

I hope that each of you have a restful Sunday. I will write again tomorrow afternoon after seeing Zander. Christie and I thank each of you for your continued prayers and comments. We definitely feel the strength of the church and others through this journey. May God bless each of you!

May your dreams be endless Zander...with all our love.

Clancy

Friday, July 25, 2008 in the Early Evening

TGIF everyone. It has been a good day for Zander. Christie and I spent the afternoon with him today and it would be an understatement to say that he is resting much better. He literally is a different baby. Before, he was struggling as if he were having a seizure just to be able to breath. Now, he rests comfortably and only uses the muscles in his chest and abdomen that we use when we breath. It definitely makes you appreciate how much we take breathing for granted.

Dallas, one of his nurses said that he had a great morning and that he was alert at times, but that he was sleeping much deeper. While we were with him, one of the many machines that he is hooked to was removed because his respiration has so greatly improved. We brought his frog blanket to him last night and Dallas indicated that he has been sleeping with it. In fact, as the pictures show above, he clutches to it like Christie and I would like to be clutching to him. At one point this afternoon, Christie and I contemplated picking him up and running, but I told her that my days as a football player were long ago. As such, we decided just to touch and kiss him as much as possible while he slept.

On a positive note, Zander's plumbing below the stomach is working well. While present he made a deposit that I would have had a hard time getting out. They have increased his feeding to 15 ml every 3 hours; however, it appears that he may be going up later tonight.

Although it is difficult to imagine what this sweet boy is going through, Christie and I are grateful for the care he is getting and the fact that he is much more comfortable with the trachea tube.

THANKS TO ALL FOR THE COMMENTS. I CANNOT ADEQUATELY EXPRESS IN WORDS (AND I HAVE A BIG THESAURUS) WHAT THESE MEAN TO US. THE PRAYERS IN THE COMMENTS AND THE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT UPLIFT OUR SPIRITS HOURLY.

I will post again tomorrow afternoon or early evening after we have seen the Zman. In the meantime, I hope that each of you enjoy your Friday evenings.

Sweet dreams and rest easy Zander. We love you.

Clancy

Friday, July 25, 2008 in the Morning

Good morning all. Zander's surgery went well. It lasted about 45 minutes to 1 hour. He is now on a trach and he is breathing much better. Unfortunately, he will like be on the trach when he comes home, but we are still praying for complete recovery before we bring him home. His stomach has enlarged and he is now on 15 ml of milk every 3 hours. Thank God he is resting better. He seems to be be more comfortable. Thank you to everyone for the prayers to get the Zman through surgery. Dr. Kelley is considering going back in next Wednesday and tightening the traction sutures. I will write later in the day. We are helping Christie move her stuff into the school today. Several of her teacher friends are helping, but I am just the strong back for the morning. I will post again later today with pictures of the little guy. Thanks again for the prayers and comments. They really get us through. See you soon sweet boy.....rest well. Clancy

Thursday, July 24, 2008 at about 2:00 p.m.

Hello all. The Zman is not having a good day. Chrisite and I received a call from Dr. Kelley about 12:30 p.m. Dr. Kelley said that the current breathing configuration (C-PAP) is making the little guy work way to hard. He had 2 or 3 episodes throughout the night. Dr. Kelley said that Zander's trachea now has some malasia (sp?) (softness/floppiness) in it. It should be more rigid. Dr. Kelley said that due to the softness in the trachea Zander is basically breathing through a straw (his trachea) that is flexible on the end. Each breath he takes, is like trying to breath through a straw that had flaps on the end of it. This causes build up of mucous and other secretions down around the trachea and into the lungs. He is not aspirating on the mucous, but it does cause him to work much harder to breath. As a result, Zander is now back on the ventilator for the next few hours. Around 4:00 p.m. he will be taken to surgery and a tracheotomy will be performed. By doing so, Zander's trachea, his throat and the accompanying membranes will be allowed to rest and grow stronger. Dr. Kelley said it would be a temporary thing until the cartilage in the trachea becomes stronger along with the supporting membranes. Dr. Kelley will also inject contrast into his stomach to see how it is growing. We should know more later tonight. Sorry there are no pictures, but I will post some later. Zander is resting much better at present. As parents we are worried about his little body being able to handle the surgery, but we understand why this has to take place. The care he is getting is wonderful and we thank God for all the nurses, practitioners, therapists and doctors everyday. If you get a chance on your drive home today....ask God to look over Zander during surgery. I will write later this evening. God bless each of you. We love you son!

July 23, 2008 in the Evening

Good evening all. Christie, Grandpa Paul (my grandfather) and I just got home from seeing Zander. The little guy was doing well and we were thankful to have talked with the Nurse Practitioner on duty, Melissa.

Melissa told us that Zander had a pretty rough go of things earlier in the day (before lunch) when he had 3 pretty hairy episodes. We found out that his oxygen level fell to about 11 out of a possible 100, but they were able to give him oxygen and he recovered. These episodes also occurred at 2:15 p.m. and about 7:30 tonight. They have increased his oxygen intake and he seems to be tolerating it well. Melissa said that he was doing much better than earlier in the day. She also told us that although he appears to be working really hard to breath she said he is not working as hard as others in the same situation that she has seen. He is using muscles that you and I do not use when we breath, but that it is okay.

Zander is resting more now. When we were there to see him, we still could not touch or talk to him, but I broke the rules when he had his eyes open and he looked around at Grandpa Paul, which I am pretty sure my grandfather enjoyed. He does seem to be resting better and he was not startled into an episode when he looked at us while we were there.

He is beautiful and we are so thankful for him. We just pray and hope that he is not in too much pain. Please keep praying that his breathing gets better and that he is not in too much pain. The comments and prayers give us strength each day. Please also pray for a safe trip for Grandpa Paul to Florida as he will be braving the Atlanta traffic.

I will write again tomorrow afternoon after we see Zander (in the afternoon). Christie and I are spending some time together in the morning just the two of us. I apologize in advance to everyone for this delay (Mom), but the next post will be a good one.

Sweet dreams son.......Mommy and Dad

Clancy

July 23, 2008 in the Afternoon

Hello all. We just returned from seeing Zander. He is still on the C-PAP machine and continues to struggle with breathing. His nurse said that he had 3 episodes since 7 a.m. this morning which required intervention (oxygen mask) in order to get his oxygen levels up and his respiration stabilized. She also indicated that Dr. Kelley was in to see Zander before lunch. Dr. Kelley has increased his feedings from 6 ml to 10 ml per feeding. He has not rejected any of his mother's milk.

At this point in time, they are continuing to monitor his breathing. Christie and I were there for about 2.5 hours and he did not have an episode. We are unable to touch him and we really cannot even talk because it startles Zander and sends his breathing into an erratic downward spiral. It does appear that the little guy is really still working very hard at breathing so everyone is somewhat concerned that the ventilator may be the way to go at this point especially if his episodes continue. Dr. Kelley also examined Zander and removed the suction catheter from his nose and placed it into his mouth. By doing so, Zander now has no obstruction in his right nostril to breath through; however, as noted last night, his left nostril is very tiny.

On a positive note, Zander's jaundice levels are dropping and they do not think that he will need to be under the light for this issue.

Christie and I are planning on going back this evening. My grandfather (Paul Covert) is permanently migrating from Columbus, Ohio to Florida and he will be staying with us this evening. He too is excited to see the Zman.

I will write again later tonight if anything has changed. I think that Dr. Kelley was going to look in on Zander before he left for the day. Your prayers and comments are appreciated more than you know and they give us strength each day. God bless!

Rest well Zander....we will be to see you in a few hours.

Clancy

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 in the Morning

Sorry to all that I did not post earlier this morning. We are getting ready to go down and see Zander. We have been cleaning up around the house this morning. It needed it.

We spoke to Alisha, Zander's nurse about 9:00 a.m. this morning and she told us that he was still fighting on occasion. He is still able to calm himself and hopefully the time will increase between his spats so that the little guy can get some sleep. Alisha also told us that he has lost a little weight, but that is expected.

That is all we know at the point. We remain prayerful for Zander and that his breathing continues to progress with less difficulties. Thanks, as always for the prayers, comments and concerns.

I will write again tonight after we spend some time with Zman today. See you soon little man...

Clancy