So much to be Thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am up at the crack of dawn so that I can do my pre "stuff my face" run - which will include decidedly less stuffing since  I have made decent progress at Weight Watchers over the last month and am not willing to give back any of my recently departed 10.4 lbs!  I did however make this little gem last night that I only hope tastes half as yummy as it looks...


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As I was putting Nate to bed last night - I asked him what him what he was thankful for.  And while I did get some of what I expected, "I am thankful for my toys, etc." I was surprised by the sweetness of my little man. "I am thankful for you," he said. "And daddy and Finney and Rosey.  I am thankful that Finney smiles when I tickle her and that she likes to play with me.  I am thankful for daddy because he do so much for us..." And on and on it went and eventually wrapped up with being thankful for his toys again.  Out of the mouths of babes...coincidentally one of the things I am thankful for.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  We have so much to be thankful for this year.  And its not that we haven't been thankful in the past, but everything that has happened over the last year, not only is that in and of itself plenty to be thankful for - but its made us immensely more grateful and aware of the small things.  And so...here are some of the things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful for my friends and family.  I don't think that I can find words to properly express my gratitude to you.  Without you, our family would be in a very different place today. 

I am thankful for all of the amazing doctors and nurses and therapists who have endeavored to give Finley her health and happiness.  We have received so much from you - your tireless devotion to your jobs and our princess are invaluable.

I am thankful for all of the people we have met on our journey thus far.  People that we may not have otherwise been so lucky to meet - Gigi (Finley's caregiver), Sylvia (our respite volunteer), The Nunez Family (our NICU friends), Joyce/Jaime/Lindsay, etc. (our amazing nurses who we now call friends), and many many others - Thank you.  You are amazing and we are so happy you are in our lives.

I am thankful for my health and will work hard to be the healthiest me I can be - so I can set a good example for my kids and be here for a long long time to take care of them.

I am thankful for Mike.  You are an amazing husband and father and work so hard so that you can give us the world.  There is nothing more special to me than seeing you with our kids - the way you care for them and play with them and love them.  And I just know how understanding you will be when you get the credit card bill this month - post Black Friday Xmas shopping expedition!

This list could really go on an on.  And while I do try to express my gratitude as often as possible, I must get better at this because I think that in general - we all get so caught up in the craziness of our daily lives that we don't share our gratitude with those around us often enough.  And so on this Thanksgiving - please make a point of sharing your gratitude and telling your loved ones what you are thankful for!

Thursday, November 25, 2010 | |

 

1 comments:

mary nunez said...

Nate is so sweet! We are also so very thankful that our girls brought us together!!!

November 26, 2010 at 4:15 PM  

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Finley's Medical History

Born on 8/8/2009 - Finley is taken to Children's Memorial Hospital via the transport team 12 hours after she is born.  She is having trouble breathing and is turning blue.  She is immediately admitted to the NICU.

8/9/2009 - Finley is diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect and laryngomalacia, a condition that causes her to aspirate whatever she swallows in to her lungs.

8/21/2009 - Finley has open heart surgery to place a Blalock Taussig shunt to help facilitate proper blood flow.  When she is older, she will require a full repair of her heart.

9/10/2009 - Finley is released from the NICU.  Because of her laryngomalacia and reflux, she is fed 100% through a nasal gastric tube.

9/14/2009 - Finley is re-admitted to the hospital for an infection in her surgical wound.  Finley's genetic test comes back - she is diagnosed with CHARGE Syndrome.

9/15/2009 - During a CT scan to assess the infection, the doctors notice something strange on her CT.  It appears Finley has a malrotated bowel and will require surgery.

9/23/2009 - Finley is examined by the opthalmologist and she is found to have colobomas, a condition common with CHARGE Syndrome, in both eyes.  The degree of her visual impairment is unknown.

9/30/2009 - Finley has the Ladd's Procedure to correct the malrotation and also has a g-tube placed.  

10/7/2009 - Finley has a sedated ABR to check her hearing.  She has a mild hearing loss in her right ear and a moderate to severe loss in her left.  Her loss can be at least partially corrected with hearing aids.

10/8/2009 - Finley is supposed to be released from the hospital today but she has been having low blood sugars.  The endocrinology is called in to evaluate her.

10/29/2009 - Finley is finally released from the hospital with a unconfirmed diagnosis of hyperinsulinism.  Actual diagnosis requires fasting blood tests - because of her heart condition, it is not safe for her to fast.  She needs to have her blood sugar tested every three hours and we are taught how to administer an emergency glucagon injection in case her blood sugar gets to low.

11/1/2009 - Finley requires emergency injection because she cannot sustain her blood sugar.  She is taken to the local ER and transported via the transport team to Childrens Memorial.

11/10/2009 - Finley is discharged from the hospital on a 24 hour continuous feed.  We add polycose to her milk to help her keep her blood sugar at an acceptable level.

11/22/2009 - Finley is taken to the local emergency room with a bad cold - she is having trouble breathing and her oxygen saturations are low.   She is transported via the transport team up to Children's Memorial.

11/25/2009 - Finley is released from the hospital - just in time for Thanksgiving.

12/8/2009 - Finley is taken to the local emergency room for observation - she has a bad cold.

12/21/2009 - Nate is chasing the dog and the dog runs in to Finley's IV pole, knocks it down and pulls out her g-tube.  She is taken to the ER at Childrens to have it put back in.

2/10/2010 - Finley is admitted through the ER at Childrens - she has a bad cold again.  Oxygen saturations are low and breathing is labored.

2/13/2010 - Finley is released from the hospital.

4/17/2010 - Finley is taken to the ER at Childrens - she has pus draining from her belly button.  They suspect a urachal cyst - they send us home with orders to return on  Tuesday (during our scheduled visit) for an abdominal ultrasound.

4/20/2010 - Finley is admitted to Childrens for an overnight stay.  She will have a swallow study and abdominal ultrasound on Tuesday and a CT and sedated echocardiogram on Wednesday which will require anesthesia.

4/21/2010 - The anesthesiologists have trouble intubating Finley, so they call in her ENT to have a look at her.  He observes that her airway is 75% closed off - partially due to scar tissue from previous intubation and partially due to an infection.  The diagnosis is subglottic stenosis and may require her to have surgery on her airway.  She is immediately admitted to the PICU and put on a 24/7 breathing treatment and antibiotics and steroids to help reduce the inflammation.

4/26/2010 - Finley is well enough to be taken off of all oxygen.  Immunology and Infectious Disease are called in to examine Finley because the culture of her throat are growing staph and strep.  Infectious Disease is trying to figure out what could have caused her infection.  Immunology labs will be drawn to determine if Finley has an immune problem which sometime occurs with children with CHARGE.  This is the second significant infection she has had since she was born.

4/27/2010 - The lab calls to say that they mis-read Finley's airway culture.  It's not growing staph - its only growing strep.

4/28/2010 - Immunology labs are back and don't show anything significant.  Finley's lymphocyte counts are low but that isn't unusual for a child who is fighting an infection.  The doctor wants to re-examine her before her first birthday.  In the meantime she cannot have any live vaccines.

4/29/2010 - Finley is discharged from the hospital.  The ENT will do a bronchoscopy before her heart repair surgery to determine next steps on her airway issue.

5/11/2010 - Finley has open heart surgery to repair her heart.

5/17/2010 - Finley begins to show signs of infection which is later identified as a urinary tract infection.

5/25/2010 - Finley is discharged from the hospital.

5/30/2010 - Finley goes to the ER at Childrens because of fussiness, sweating, heavy breathing.  And echo later identifies that the pressure gradient around Finley's pulmonary valve is an astounding 90%.

6/1/2010 - Finley is admitted to Childrens to try a medication called Propranolol to help ease the pressure in her heart.

6/2/2010 - The Propranolol brings the pressure in Finley's heart down from 90% to 50%.  Finley has a positive test for C. difficile which will require antibiotic treatment.

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