Well first of all we would like to say Happy Birthday to Jann! It's not late it's just spreading the joy out to another day. :)
Well Father's day started out pretty good for me. I went to church and both class and the sermon was really excellent. I typically have a really hard time paying attention to the preacher for any length of time (ADD). But He was on fire on Sunday and he kept my attention. Both class and the sermon was about connecting/community within the church. We took Greg out to Cozymel's for Father's Day. It was pretty yummy.
Then Dana called...
Braxton was having an episode (as she puts it). His heart rate was up to 290. They decided to take him to the hospital, because they couldn't get it down themselves. So I rushed to their house to take care of Dalton. They took Braxton to Summit Hospital. It was not set up for cardio pediactrics, but they were able to get him stable. His heart rate was still high but stable. It took 4 times to convert him to get him stable. The last time this happened this bad, was 3 years ago on Father's Day, so it hasn't been the best day for them.
Summit wanted to trasfer him to Vanderbilt Childrens, but Vandy was slammed packed. They didn't want to take him because he was stable and they just didn't have the room. And Summit didn't want to keep him because they didn't have a pediactric cardiologist. So this went on and on for hours. Finally Vanderbilt agreed to take him. So then the next hurdle...the summit ambulance didn't want to take him because they were not set up for pediactrics. They had to wait for a Nashville ambulance to come and transport him. No one wanted to take responsibility. Obviously this was quite frustrating for Dana.
All the while, Braxton is hooked up to several wires and is hurting and just wants to go home.
They finally got him to Vanderbilt approximately 2:00AM. They were able to get his heart rate lowered. Now I really don't understand what happens, but I believe Dana told me they have to stop his heart to make it slow down and start pumping normally. Dana and Mike held it together very well. On the way over to their house I prayed for all of them as well as for myself to not be a basketcase because I knew they didn't need that to deal with too.
Dalton was SO good. He asked, where is Braxton? or Where is Brax? or Where is my brother? several times. Dalton and I played with trains and drew trains. Then around 8:30PM I said it's time to wind down. So I put on Thomas DVDs. Dana told me he would fall asleep on the couch. But he must have been too wound up. So by 11:00PM, I was tired too and I just said, "OK Dalton, I love you it's time to get in your bed." I hugged him and said I am right here. I really didn't think he would stay there, but the phone rang. It was Dana giving me an update and she told me where the CD player was. So I went in to turn it on and Dalton was out...just like that. It made us laugh a little bit.
So Mike came home around 3:30AM to relieve me and I went home to get a little sleep. I got 3 hours of sleep, poor Dana got something like 35 minutes. I was still tired so I sent my kids to a friend's house and came back and slept 3.5 more hours.
On the way home Dana called me and talked to me so I wouldn't fall asleep. And she was telling me what she would like to do for Jann's birthday. So Jann we were going to send you some really fun email (and we still might). I can't believe how she was thinking of others at this time, but she was. She is such a wonderful friend.
Please continue to pray for Braxton, this looks like something he will need to deal with the rest of his life now. Also, pray that Dana and Mike make the right decision in what medicines to give him. Some that are prescribed are very dangerous...if given too much he could die. So please keep them in your prayers.
WOW! more on this later, but I just got a call from a friend who is really struggling with religion. I've been on and off the phone with her for over an hour. It's strange how we got 2 different things from the sermon on Sunday. I was so excited about it, I took it as how we should be and she was reminded of how we used to be. Even though this has been a difficult conversation, it is really helping me hone in on what I truly believe and why. So how about keeping me in your prayers about saying the right thing; and for her to not hurt and be able to find a place where she can talk about God freely.
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6 comments:
Oh my gosh, Chelle..I feel so bad, I wish there was something I could do to fix it and make his heart better..one thing I do know how to do: PRAY. I pray that God puts his hands on this little guy and heals him allowing to go through life with NO medication. Bless his little heart God. I believe it will be done in Jesus name.
Hey Chelle-Doris and I just read your blog. We are both praying for Dana's son. I can not imagine the stress that she is going thru and I'm so thankful that she has such a wonderful friend like you to support her and to call in support from your fellow scrappers!
Jeremiah 30:17 has been prayed for Braxton!
Thank you for calling me and telling me about sweet little Braxton.
So scary.
They will be in my prayers.
I am so glad that you and Dana have become such great friends and that you were there for her.
What a blessing you both are!
I will be praying for you two. IF you need anything either of you please call me.
Thank you Chelle and thank you to everyone who wrote and called. We really appreciate your sweet words and prayers. I thank God for all of you. You have all been such a blessing to me.
Braxton is doing well. He had another short-lived 'mini' episode today, but his heart was able to convert back to normal on its own. Now we just have to make decisions about therapy and whether or not to do surgery now or wait until he is older. Fortunately, the surgery that he needs is much less invasive than it used to be.
He struggled with this heart condition when he was an infant. In fact, his first episode was on Mike's first Father's Day. The doctors kept asking us how we knew he was in distress as he wasn't showing the normal outward signs. Internally, he was nearing heart failure. They told us that he easily could have died that night if we had let him sleep and didn't bring him in to the ER. He went on to have a few more episodes, but he has not had a major one that required hospitalization since he was 10 months old. The doctors took him off his meds over a year ago - they thought he had outgrown the heart condition. Unfortunately, as we found this weekend, that is not the case.
The good news is that this condition is treatable. Now that he is older, he can better tolerate the episodes and he is able to alert us to the fact that there is a problem. As a result, the condition is not as dangerous as it was when he was an infant.
I cannot thank you all enough. Chelle, you are amazing. I called Chelle and told her that we may need to take Braxton in and would she be able to watch Dalton for awhile. Before I knew it she was at our house prepared to stay as long as we needed her. Greg was wonderful as well. You both helped more than you will ever know. It was so reassuring to know that we only had one child to worry about that night. I knew Dalton was in excellent hands.
On to another friend. Please say prayers for our friend Jann as she has to deal with some serious family issues right now. Our love goes out to her.
Thank you all for providing so much love and support. Dana
Hey, Dana, just know that you and Mike and Dalton and especially Braxton are in our most fervent prayers.
Lots of love,
Greg
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