Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Gonzalez's Heart

Thank you all for being so patient. I was not by the computer yesterday at all. Before the update, Sarah, let me know when works best for you. You can call me. (320)260-9096. Leave a message if you get voice mail. I am at the hospital a lot and can not use it. Cindy, you can stop by also. I am not sure how far we are. You can find out and then give me a call if it will work. And Megan, why are you at work reading the blog? You silly girl, you should be working :-) And yes if you were here we would just be crying. You are so correct.

They closed Jaden up Monday evening and Dr. Harrington came out and said he was a "Gem" and it went wonderfully. He did pretty good through the night. His blood pressure dropped a bit but this was expected.

Yesterday morning I was here for the rounds and they called him "the star of the place." It is so encouraging to hear the Dr's so proud of how he is doing. He did really good through out the day.

Now for some very sad news. (You might want to grab some Kleenex for those of you who are extra sensitive.) Sal showed up last night. Well he did not come for a happy reason. As many of you know, Amber our dog got sick right before we had to leave. Well, she passed away last night around 6pm. She had a heart attack out of all things. She was at the vet and Sal was there talking to the Dr. about the surgery that they wanted to do on her and while they were talking, it happened. They tried to revive her but it did not work. It has been so hard for me!

We will not tell the kids until Jaden and I get home. They knew she was staying at Wendy's house so we will just let them think she is staying there still. It is going to be so hard to tell them. They have been asking to see her for days. They have complained that they miss her so much. I think that Amber took the pain and problems of the heart so Jaden would not have to. I had forgotten that she had a heart murmur and with her Lyme disease and a few other things that were going on, it made her heart struggle and stop. I am truly sorry to tell you all this news. I just wanted to make sure that for those of you who knew, that you would not mention it to the kids. I want to make sure that I am there to help them through this when they find out. We will not tell them until I come home.

The Dr's. Are still talking about taking Jaden off the respirator this afternoon. They say once he is off, I will get to hold him all the time as long as his blood pressure is good.

Please pray for Jaden's strength but also all of us as we work through the loss of our dear Amber. Sal will have to avoid the kids questioning of Amber and not be able to grieve as the kids will always be around and I will have to grieve without him. I am feeling very bad as I was not there to take care of her when she was sick and before we left I was so busy getting ready, I did not tend to her like I should have. I know it is not my fault and there is not much I could have done, it is just my mother inside me needing to be the care giver.

I will know that you are all praying for us and we do not need to hear about your sympathy for Amber. That will just make it that much harder for us to cope. I am trying to stay strong when I am with Jaden so he does not feel this emotion from me.

Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers.

Love to you all, Steph


5 comments:

Krista said...

Hi Steph,
I am so happy to hear the great news about Jaden!!! You have all been through so much! He feels your love every day!!!
Hopefully things will go well when they try and get him off of the ventilator, better than last time, since he has gotten so much stronger!
Take care and know that we think of you often and continue to pray!!
Love,
Krista

PS. I have another grocery bag of pop tabs to get up there too!!!

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful news about Jaden! PRAISE THE LORD!!! You will have to nickname him The Star now! :)

I'm so sorry for your loss of Amber. I can tell you are taking this hard.

I have been looking every where for the address to the hospital...why can't I find it? Probably because I'm so incredibly disorganized right now!! Could you post it again or email me (seecindy4candles@yahoo.com). I'll find out how close it is and will let you know. :)

Miss seeing you at school. Take care of yourself.
God bless, Cindy

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear that Jaden is pulling through all of this like a trooper! They must really be confident that he is getting better to let him off the ventilator - that's great news!

This is a great blog! What a clever idea! I can check it every day and see how all is going...and you don't have to talk on the phone all day!! :) I love that you add pictures...they're so fun to see!

What are the best days to visit? I know that Sal and the kids come on the weekends...does that mean you're open for visitors all week then? Is there a private/quiet day that you'd prefer we respect?
I'd love to come and visit again!

Anonymous said...

I was with Steph last night for her first official sleep over.(Sorry Sal-you don't count for sleepover guests). When we were at the hospital, Jaden's nurse for that shift (who was very informative and caring) told us that Jaden is doing so well that he must have read the manual on how to succeed with HLHS! It is so exciting to hear this great news! I KNOW Jaden feels God holding him in his hands, Gonzalez love, and the love,prayer and support of everyone who thinks or prays for him. I know this is what helps him and Gonzalez family to continue with strength and get stronger everyday. I feel it when I get to visit sweet little Jaden at the hospital. So from an outsider's perspective...I thank you too!

P.S. Steph-Glad those Brillo pads came in handy. I sure know how to pick out those "must have" surgery gifts.

Steph T said...

Go Jaden Go!! I am praying that he is so happy to get that ventilator out of his mouth that he starts breathing with no problems. I know that you two can't wait to get to know each other a little better. ;-) Thanks so much for the update!!

Love ya
Steph T