Bad Blogger

Well, I've been a terrible blogger the last couple of weeks. I have to say though that no news means good news at least in this case. We've been so crazy busy with living life that I haven't had much time to blog about our life. We've had Dr Appts in Corpus every Tuesday and those end up taking most of the day with the 3 hour drive there and then of course the 3 hour drive back. Then we've had homeschool co-ops on Thursday which the boys absolutely loved! They each enjoyed their classes a ton.

This is Jaden's view of "God Made Daniel Stronger" From what I understand, Daniel is the blue/red one and God is the green one.

Well Logey only liked his class when mommy didn't disappear while helping someone else. As long as mommy stayed in view, all was cool. He has been very clingy since transplant. Not that I blame him at all. To him, he was doing just fine before transplant and then someone took him from mommy and cut him open and sewed him back up. I don't think he realizes quite yet that we did all this for his health. I'm sure one day he'll understand. For all of you kidney people out there, Logey's creatinine has been staying pretty stable at about 0.3 but this last time was 0.2 which was amazing! Surprisingly, his Prograf level was actually pretty high then too so it's possible that 0.2 is a true number. How crazy is that? I never would have thought he would ever have creatinines that low. Okay now for all you non-kidney people reading, creatinine is a number that the drs use to judge how well the kidney is working. Normal for Logan's age is 0.2-0.4. Normal for an adult is somewhere under 1. At one month of age (and the first time we knew anything at all about creatinine) his was 2.7 and just before transplant it was 4.9.
Logan's new favorite sport: Football! Sorry buddy, that's the one sport you really can't play.

We've also been busy with schooling and just really living life. So now I will share a few pics from the last few weeks. And then after that I'm hoping I can start posting more soon.

Grandma sent the boys a package. They each got either an outfit or a pair of pajamas, thanks Grandma!

Also, in an upcoming blog, you will see Jaden's hair cut finally. Though, by the time I get it up here, it may not be all that short anymore. Not that it's really that short. Jaden wouldn't be Jaden without his long hair. And I've also had several threats against my head if I cut it too short.

Prayers....

Hi, I'm posting this to ask for prayers for our dialysis baby buddy, Matthew. None other than Mr April.Baby Matthew has been our friend since both boys started dialysis back in July 2008. His mama and I have had our lives parallel in that while on dialysis both of our moms have also had heart attacks and quadruple bypasses and we both went to nursing school but did not finish, before our boys were born. And her name is also--Jessica. When the boys were little I asked Dr Al-Akash what the odds are that two babies would be born in the same area and that their mothers would both be named Jessica. He said much less than one in a million. Anyway, today I found out that he has peritonitis right now. Peritonitis in and of itself is never a great thing. It can be pretty scary in fact though most of the time it clears up pretty quickly with antibiotics. But, it also means at least another 6-8 wait for transplant. This is the part that has me thinking of them tonight. Matthew has been activated off and on since June. He was backup to Logan's kidney. And so, tonight I am thinking of him and his sweet mama Jessica. Please add them to your prayers tonight that this will clear up quickly and that he will get his miracle kidney soon! (sometime around Christmas would be awesome!)

Grateful

I am so grateful for the family who two months ago today made the decision to donate their son's kidneys. They looked past their grief and past their complete and utter heartbreak and made such a selfless choice. I pray that God will give them peace that surpasses understanding.


We are so happy for our Logey boy. He has grown I'm sure inches since his tranpslant. He doesn't throw up anymore. His labs look beautiful. Dr Al-Akash was right. He is talking more and does have even more energy. And though he was always a good sleeper, now he sleeps soundly and therefore, so do I. We are sleeping better now then we have since Logey was born. How ironic that with my best sleeper I actually slept less.

Also, if you think about it, we have some dialysis friends who could sure use some prayers. Baby Brandon got a bad case of peritonitis and has to have his pd catheter removed and go on hemo. He still had a fever last I heard and could use your prayers. Baby Matthew is having heart problems in addition to already having renal failure and needing hemo. These little guys are such strong fighters and could really use your prayers. I'm sure their moms could use some prayers as well. And speaking of moms who need prayers, MckMama could use them as well as Baby Stellan. And another mom who could use prayers is my friend Tiara. Her son Aidan is one of our dialysis baby buddies. On top of all that Tiara and Aidan have been through, her mom passed away this week. This mama has more strength and positive attitude than 10 regular people. She could use prayers and good thoughts. Aidan will be going to another hospital soon to talk about possible transplant in the near future. Prayers that things will go favorably for them please.

Who likes their new kidney?

I don't know how to turn the video once it's shot and of course I didn't think to tape it the right way. Vidal is always getting onto me abou that. Anyway, just thought it was cute.

Logey's first kidney biopsy... plus results

Logey had his first kidney biopsy last Friday--a week from today. It went well. It was a really easy surgery, especially when you compare it to the kidney transplant he had 7 weeks ago today. Our boy is such a big boy now! He doesn't even resemble a baby anymore. He loves to talk about babies too. We went and saw my friend Vanessa's baby and now everybody is a baby--or a mama.

Riding along in my.....wagon. Logey loves to go for walks in the wagon. His fun nurse Courtney was chasing him around too. He was eating up all the attention since the brothers stayed home for this trip.
Watching another little girl in the playroom. She was in there for about 10 mins and he was fascinated by her. The fascination was probably because she had the same feeding tube and machine as he does.

Eating like a big boy in bed. One of his favorites too! Spaghetti!

And finally asleep after a long day.

Hahaha.... I had to edit this post to include the biopsy results! The biopsy showed there are no signs of rejection or med toxicity! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Logey has a very healthy, and happy kidney.

It's great to be home!

Any words I say other than that will just be overwhelmed by this picture of two happy brothers so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Jaden's version of "God Made Daniel stronger"

Goodbye dialysis cath!!!!!!!!

Logey playing before his surgery. He was having a great time waiting for them to come and get him. He also got his stent out and was supposed to have his first biopsy though that didn't work out.



Goodbye our beloved PD cath! While I'm sure we won't miss you, you were great while you were around. For 13 months you did your job of making sure our little one got dialysis. Even when you had to be cut the few times or got a hole in you, you didn't complain. We will forever be grateful to you for the efficient way you worked with your friend, Mr Homechoice. We are left with only a small reminder of your presence. I was almost sad to have you taken out because you looked as if you had been there since the day Logey was born. Thanks again for all your help! Thank you for your dedication! The Flores Family.

more random outpatient pics...

Poor little Logey! He was so tired and cranky one day that I said, "That's it! I'm going to go get your Tylenol" Well, in his mind he heard "time-out" so he went and sat at the wall and cried. Poor little one.
Matthew's star. Our dialysis buddy Matthew was chosen as Mr April for Driscoll's 2010 calendar. He's an awesome little man! He got to "walk" down the runway with his mommy, Jessica, and everything.

Baby Matthew (who's not such a baby anymore!) and our Logey. Can you believe they are getting so big?

Trying to put on his own shoes. He gets very excited about putting his shoes on.

Random guestroom pics

We lived in the guestrooms at the hospital for the first month after Logey's transplant since we had visits to the hopsital 3 times a week and we live 3 hours away. The Drs don't like them to be too far away so quickly after transplant. Vidal was with us for the first week and then had to go back home and back to work. We were so sad to see him go but we got through it okay. Our days mostly revolved around Logey's dr appts and also going to the cafeteria for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On week 3 we ALL caught the flu. That was definitely interesting. It was our first case ever, for me, at least as far as I can remember back. I do have to say, Thank God for Tamiflu! Though Logey more than likely had the flu as per his WBC count, he was asymptomatic. YAY Logey! I know for sure God is looking out for him. Logey hamming it up.
My 3 boys "in time out." They look really upset about it, don't they? When ever the bigger boys have to go to time out, Logey goes too, and so we all end of laughing our rear ends off.

Logey has decided that baths are evil. If you even mention the dreaded "b" word he disolves into tears. Poor little one.

Pleading with me to never give him another bath again.

Logey in his cute little scrubs from either Miss Julie or Nana. They both got him a pair, thankfully in different sizes. And I do say, he wears them both ALL the time. They are so comfy for him.

A new kidney and a fishing trip....

After Logey was released from the hospital we were allowed to do outside outings as long as we kept him away from people. He was still a bit tired but thankfully at that point he would sleep anywhere. So daddy decided we should take the boys fishing. It was interesting. We caught quite a few little, bitty fish. But, a fun time was had by all. Jaden fished for a little bit and then found his true passion--organizing the tackle box and eating snacks.It was great to be out of the hospital for a little while! I knew we only had the first week with daddy and then 3 weeks on our own, carless, so we did the outside-ish things while daddy was with us. And this beautiful rainbow we saw while we were out. How appropriate! I had tears in my eyes just looking at it and thanking God for all of our many blessings.

Directly after transplant....

Our Little RockStar!

--a great OR nurse named Melissa makes specialized dressings for all the surgeries. How great is she!

So sorry to have taken a week long break from blogging. I'm trying to go in order to tell the story of Logan's transplant but it is a bit emotional still for me and honestly, I feel as though I'm still processing it a bit. It would have been great to blog while we were staying in the guestrooms of the hospital but their internet connection is very protective and apparently viewed blogger as a threat.

Anyway, after Logey's transplant, we heard that the kidney was in, Dr Al-Akash (nephrologist) and Dr Almond (transplant surgeon) came out to talk to us. It was also Dr Almond's birthday. I can guarantee we will never forget his birthday. (I asked him later if he at least had a good dinner when he got home from performing a kidney transplant on his birthday and he said he had cold spaghetti. LOL!)

We all prayed together in a circle. Then Dr Al-Akash said that I could go back and see him. On the way there he said though Logan looked great to him (because he knows what to expect) that he would probably look terrible to me. He really didn't look bad. Yet, anyway. He was a bit puffy and he was so tired and out of it. By the time I got in there to see him it was probably around 9 pm. Vidal went in to see him next and my cousin, Marilee, got to go see him as well as his Nana (my mom). She made it just after his surgery was over. I stayed with him until about 2 am and then since Vidal didn't want to go rest, I let him stay with Logan and I went to the room to sleep for a bit. I got back up there with him at about 6:30 am.

I really didn't want to leave him at all but I decided that it was best for me to get some sleep since I knew it would be a long few days. Logey really slept mostly the first night and most of the next day. The next morning Dr Al-Akash and Dr Almond came in to check on Logey and let us know that his creatinine was 0.3. It was amazing! For the first time ever, our son's creatinine was in normal range! It took less than 12 hours from his creatinine to fall from 4.9 to 0.3. At this point his urine was going pretty slow and they kept having to give him lasix. It was a bit scary and unnerving as he had tons of blood in his urine and blood coming from his pd catheter. I knew that it would happen that way but boy was it unnerving! Pastor Cynthia came by to see Logan that day.

Logey's first words after transplant were, "Ow mama!" My sweet boy. On day 2 Logey was probably even more swollen. He stopped needing the morphine sometime on day 2 as well and started trying to roll over to pull up so he could get to mommy. Logey's nurse, Tessa helped me pick him up and we laid in a chair watching Blue's Clues and sleeping off and on all day. They also started letting him have some ice chips. He really liked that! The night of day 2, Logey didn't sleep at all. His poor daddy! By day 3 he was starting to get a bit restless and wanted to play more. He started wanting to get down on the floor which of course he couldn't in the PICU. So, on day 3 in the afternoon Logey was moved to a regular room. It was great to see his 7th Tower staff and nurses. They've been with him since he was 4 1/2 months old and getting his PD cath. Excuse the crying look on his face. At this point he was nurse-a-phobic. We were released from the hospital to the guest rooms on day 4!!!!!As you can see, the boys were really excited to have their brother getting out of the hospital!

Before transplant....

After we got to the hospital, there was lots of excitement. The nurses were all excited because they knew Logan would be getting a kidney. There was also a sense of solemness as everyone knew that our happy day was someone else's most tragic day. Logey was in a great mood. While I signed paperwork, Vidal took Logey back to start his assessment. Dr Al-Akash was glad to see Logey though he had just seen him on Tuesday. This was now Friday morning. After all the nephrology stuff we took Logey over to the 7th tower where they were really excited to see him. They knew that he was getting a kidney and it was something they'd been anticipating almost as much as we have. Marilee and her girls, Makayla and Maranda, showed up soon after we got upstairs. Miss Lola bathed Logan and he played. The boys played and played with their brother. Then they took us over to the holding room. Logan was really happy and hamming it up! We got to talk to Dr Almond and Dr Al-Akash again. It was such a comfort to me that they would both be with him during the surgery. Since you're trusting your son's life with someone, it's great to know that you really truly trust these people. One of the awesome techs let all the kids in to say goodluck to Logey and give him hugs. Before the took him back, they gave him an IV dose of Versed and very quickly he was feeling pretty loopy. Vidal and I almost cried when they took him back.

The Call....

On September 3, 2009, life was going on as normal. That day I decided to keep us home from activites. I was just feeling like we should stick close to home. We did go to the grocery store in the afternoon and then we put the groceries up and I pulled something out to make for dinner. Then Cristian and Jaden wanted to go swimming and so I said, sure, why not? It was a really pleasant evening and the boys swam and Logan wandered around outside with me. At about 7:15 I got this overwhelming urge to pray for Logan's donor's family. Most of the time when I got the urge to pray it was for Logan's donor. I almost ignored the urge but decided I had better take a few minutes to sit down and pray for them. I sat down in our lawn chairs and felt I really connected to God. When I was done I felt peace. I even thought to myself that maybe I should pack our bag and do some laundry but decided instead just to enjoy the evening. We came back inside and I made dinner while Cristian and Jaden took a bath. We got Logey on the machine and I went to sleep early--for me anyway--at around midnight. After all the worrying and obsessing, I felt very calm and peaceful.

The next morning, before I even opened my eyes, I felt the phone vibrate. It was 7:04 am. I saw the number, it was a 361 areacode, and I knew. I spoke with our transplant coordinator Anita and she asked how we were. I told her I thought we were probably going to be having a very exciting day. She confirmed that. We still had three hours on Logan's dialysis because we put him on the machine late the night before. I called people and we packed. Our Pastor came over to pray with us and help us pack. She was a God send. I was really surprised at how calm I was. I had no worries at this point. My mom was still in the hospital from her heart attacks and then quadruple bypass.

We left the house around 10 am. While we were in a hurry, we didn't speed and we even stopped once.

Logan's last dialysis session

My boys--Cristian and Jaden already knew and we were letting Logey get as much sleep as he could since he would be having a VERY big day!

Logey's machine for the last time. Finish at 9:50 am. I really should have taken a picture of the last "End of Therapy" message. That is something we celebrated everyday. We would always cheer when Logey was done for the morning.

Not me Monday! Sick edition

Today we were not scheduled to go to our playgroup's pumpkin patch story hour time slot at my church. Well, I guess it's not only my church but I'm the only one in the playgroup who actually goes to this church. I have been super excited for days and days to show off my church and I also LOVE pumpkin season--that's what I call it and I even write it on my calendar as just that.

Today we do not have the stomach virus and I was most certainly not way more bummed than the kids that we wouldn't be able to go see our friends. I was not so bummed that I kept trying to rationalize in my head how we could still go. I did not eventually give up in defeat. A few hours and three million trips to the bathroom later I did not log on to facebook only to see that pumpkin patch had been canceled for today due to weather. I did not shriek with glee that I would not miss this! I am much more adult than that. I would never be so excited with something so silly.

My oldest child is not living in the bath today so that when he vomits or has a bowel movement it doesn't make a huge mess. My middle child is not basically fending for himself today as shown by the fact that he did not come into my room holding a half loaf of raisin nut bread. oh well, at least it's homemade. My youngest child is not sitting next to me on the bed taking all the wipes out of the container.

We do not have to leave at 4:30 in the morning tomorrow to go to Corpus. I am not dreading this trip more than I have any other.

We are HOME!!!!!!

Hello my blog! Oh how I have missed you! It has been a long (or short) month! When we left here a month ago, Logan was on dialysis and needed daily shots and required lots and lots of work. Though worth every minute of it of course. Now he is a normal baby. He isn't tied to a machine 12 hours a day. Gone are the days where I worry endlessly about his labs and gone are the days when I obsess endlessly about when we will get the call.

Logan has a kidney and for the most part he is a happy, healthy baby boy!

Many prayers please for his wonderful donor's family! While we have had a wonderfulmiracle this month...they are still mourning the loss of their 19 year old child. Not a day goes by that I don't think of their genorosity. I will start soon on a letter of thanks to them. But, how do you thank someone who has given your child the gift of life? Words cannot describe how indebted I am to them. I guess for now a simple thank you will have to do.

And now I am going to get to the task of arranging and rearranging our house. Trust me our house has been completely neglected the past year that we have lived here. So, off I go. : )