So way back when when Jaden needed the stent put in, his artery had narrowed to 2, they then ballooned it to 6. Today they saw that it had gotten down to about 5 1/2 which was OK but he had gotten soooo big that he needed it to be bigger. So they then ballooned it 8 1/2. The maximum is 12. Hopefully this will last for quite awhile and we won't need them to go in again to make it larger.

Because they had to do the ballooning, this is why he has to stay the night.

At 11am they called Sal and I to the back to where Jaden was waking up to be with him. He was noooootttttt happy at all. He was screaming, hitting, kicking and trying to pull his stuff all out. They needed him to lay flat for 4 hours. He wanted nothing to do with that. Sal and I wrestled him to try and keep him flat for over an hour. I'll tell you, he is one strong boy. They had to give him pain meds and morphin because he was way to wild. Jaden still faught through all of it for the hour. A tough cookie he is. It all finally kicked in and he was in lala land.

We then came up to the childrens floor where he will stay until tomorrow. Grandma came last night to sleep with us at the Ronald McDonald House and then she brought the kids over this morning. Grandpa & Mattie came as well as Tia Kelly & baby Whitney. Auntie Robyn and Lee are coming tonight to see the champ.

It has been a very hard day overall, but good outcomes. Thanks to everyone for sending your thoughts and prayers. We could not do this with out you. So now we wait to see what the surgery date is going to be.

Jaden went in at 8am this morning and daddy went with to help put him to sleep. Mommy is WAYYYY to emotional to do that. They called down to the waiting room around 9:30 to let us know everything was going well. They had said it took them quite a bit longer then expected to put the lines in. (We knew that would be the case). They then were going to start with the cath. They called again right now 10am to let us know that his heart looks good for surgery but he has outgrown his stent. So they are going to have to go in and fix that. This means longer time in surgery, more possible complications and Jaden will have to stay the night forsure for evaluation.

We will let you know when he is down and what the status is. Check below at the photos I posted.

Mommy and Jaden having some snuggle time before the surgery.



Daddy and Jaden watching a little cartoons.



Jaden testing out his bed with JoJo & Pengy & his Mater blankie.



Daddy taking Jaden in to help put him under.

Jaden will be having his heart cath. this Wednesday. We need to be to the hospital by 6am with a scheduled start time of 8am. We need heavy prayers for everything to go well and that there be no complications. We are supposed to be in and out the same day. This is a pretty serious procedure with possiblities of many different complications though. If there are any problems they will keep Jaden in the hospital to monitor over night.

Below is a link to describe what they do in the procedure. Many of you have asked me to explain and that is one thing I have a very hard time doing. You can also look up his condition "Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome" on this site as well if you are interested in the full details of Jaden's heart. There are also some really cool websites from different university's that have some very detailed pictures. Just do a google search if you are interested.

www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4491

Ethan got a fever yesterday and threw up this morning so please pray for our family to stay healthy and that we don't pass anything on to Jaden as it would postpone everything.

We'll keep you posted on Wednesday as we progress through the procedure...

Ashley, Ethan & Jaden sitting in a school session at Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead.



Jaden driving Ash & Ethan in the covered wagon. The highlight of his trip.



Jaden didn't want to put the cat down.

We wanted to yell out a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all of the pop tabs that are pouring in. The kids are so excited to bring the pop tabs to the Ronald McDonald House. We have so many. So thank you to all. Keep them rolling in.

So now that it is a few days later...

I meant to say that Jaden had Croup not Whooping Cough. I was a wee bit on the tired side and could not quite think as clearly. I knew what I meant but didn't write it that way.

So Carrie ended up taking Jaden to the clinic on Friday and the Dr. said everything looked good so no concerns there. I then had Candise bring Jaden down to stay with us at the hotel. So Candise and Jaden got to go into the expo and play with all of the oils, have Ninja Red shots and have some yummy oil infused chocolate. Friday night we were expecting another bad night of coughing for Jaden as it always last 3 nights. But he coughed once which didn't even wake him up. We had put oils all over him that helped with respitory issues. I know as a fact this is what ended his Croup. It was really amazing to see the power of the oils.

Jaden and Candise went and hung out at the expo with the oils again on Saturday morning and then Candise brought him home. He now however has a cold. It is not yucky, just a lot of cough during the day but not too bad.

Because he has a oold we now have to postpone his heart Cath. It is now scheduled for the 30th. Hopefully the surgery will still be the week following. If Jaden has his cold even a tiny bit, he will not be able to have the Cath. done on the 30th and we would have to reschedule again. We will keep you posted on his health.

As always, Jaden wants to remind us we are not in control.

So I am away from home for a few days. Since Jaden was born, I have been to scared to be away from my kids. One night Jaden had a sleep over with his Gma and one night he had a sleepover with his Tia Kelly. Otherwise, I have been with him every night. Well I am at a Young Living Convention in MPLS Wed-Sat with my mom (They sell Essential Oils and other Purely naturally things). It was very hard for me to come. I cried a few times as it was so emotional for me to leave my kids.

Well last night at midnight Sal calls me and Jaden is screaming in the back ground. He got Whooping Cough. And just a few hours before I had told my mom since Ash got a cold I can guarantee Jaden will get sick. I could hear him sounding like a seal. He has had this many times before. Sal could not get him to stop crying and at one point on the phone Jaden got so bad that Sal was like, "Jaden just breath." I was so scared as was Sal. We talked through what to do and then Jaden finally settled down. He then called again at 2am with another episode. We talked through that again and Jaden settled down.

Of course when Jaden gets anything he likes to challenge us and go full out. There's that Gonzalez/Krueger blood of his ;-) And of course the one time I actually take some time for me and leave this happens. I will be calling his Dr. today to see what we should do as I know he will have episodes again tonight. Do I stay or do I go home. I have been brainstorming on options.

His heart cath is in one week and we need him strong not just getting over being sick. So of course loads of prayers.

The time has come for us to move forward with Jaden's surgery. We went to his Cardiologist a few weeks ago. Jaden needed to be 30 pounds which he is a pound or so short of that before they wanted to perform the surgery. He however has had much less energy, he has been more blue, his sats have been sitting in the low 70's which they are supposed to be in the low 80's. He is starting to slowly fail which is the biggest sign that it is time for him to have his surgery. His Cardiologist said it is definitly time. It has been a long wait and we just want to get this over with.

There are a few issues that are not sitting so well with us and we are asking for prayers. The first is for the surgeon and his team. This will be a new surgeon. The other one, Dr. Harrington, performed his first two surgeries. Her thumb prints are on Jadens heart. She moved to CA. The new surgeon has not performed this specific surgery at this hospital. We have not meet with him yet so I am not sure if he has ever done this surgery at all. Either way, he has not done many and he does not know Jadens heart.

The second is his cardiologist, Chip, said at Jaden's apt that his heart muscle, the one which does all of the major work in pumping the blood to the body is not as strong as he would like it to be. Jaden is taking the full amount of medication which helps in strenthening the muscle which he can for his size so we can not at this time do much to help strengthen his muscle. We will see at his heart cath if this will be a problem.

The third is he is not 30 pounds which is what they want to see him at so they are more certain he is strong enough for this surgery. However, being that he is half Gonzalez/half Krueger he is EXTREMELY strong willed & spunky and should be as strong as a 40 or 50 pound child would be ;-)

At this time, his heart cath is scheduled for next Friday the 25th. It should be in and out in the same day. However, if there are any complications then he would have to stay. His surgery will hopefully then be sometime in the first week of October. We do not have the date for this yet. I am not sure if we have to wait for his heart cath before we can schedule it. I will start updating much more often now as many of you have already been wondering and waiting for information. Your support on this blog has always been my biggest support. It helps me through each day and it helps me feel connected to those I love. So thank you in advance again for all of your endless support.

Love, Steph