The $3200 Garage Sale

You read that right.  $3,200.  The garage sale that we kept putting off due to sheer fear of the quantity of "stuff" ended up netting $3200 for the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation!  We ended up having the sale on July 8th and 9th.  Mike got the pleasure of coming home from his 7 day business trip to Columbia and enduring a two day garage sale!  I have to say though - we picked THE BEST weekend as the weather was gorgeous - certainly a million times better than the pressure cooker we are living in today!!

The sheer volume of sale items was insane.  I am incredibly grateful to all of our friends and family who donated their stuff, their time, and who even came by to shop.  A special thanks to my mom, Tammy, Gigi, Margaret (my mother in law), Amanda Marshall, Annie Cue, Cari Miller (and her mom!), Colleen Creedon, Gina Byers, Liza Parke, Lisa Michalak and many others who made the garage sale a HUGE success.  We raised just over $1000 and with Baxter (Mike's employer) matching the entire $1100 check we wrote and Aon Hewitt (my employer) matching up to $1,000 - our little garage sale made $3,200 for the Foundation.  Not bad.  As much as I cursed myself for coming up with this hair brained idea - it was indeed worth it.  In fact, our very special garage sale was made even more special as another CHARGE family from the area - the beautiful Crystal Masionis and her kids Eva (who also has CHARGE) and Bailey and her girlfriend Sarah and her little man Charlie.  It was the first time I had a chance to meet all of them in person and they drove quite a ways from Round Lake Beach to visit us.  Eva is 6 and she is an amazing little girl who in so many ways reminded me of Finley.  Our two princesses have many of the same mannerisms and watching Eva was almost like watching a grown up version of Finley.  Here are a couple of pictures of the ladies.  I especially like the second one because it looks like Eva is telling Finley a secret (and she probably was)!



Its been a busy month as we've had tons of doctor's visits hitting at once.  I feel like we are finally riding the down side of the wave though and I have admitted more than once in the last few weeks that I have definitely bitten off more than I can chew lately but I am vowing that after the CHARGE Conference next week, I will be laying low for a while!  That said, the week before last I took Finley to her appointment with Dr. Chin, the pediatric surgeon.  The visit was to address what course of action we'd take on her hiatal hernia.  Dr. Chin ordered a upper GI so that we can assess exactly how big the hernia is and then he will be consulting with Dr. Holinger (her ENT) and Dr. Bass (the GI doc) to get their opinions on how successful they think doing a Nissen Fundoplication would be for Finley.  Dr. Chin explained that normally they would not surgically correct a hiatal hernia for someone with no outward symptoms of reflux but since the reflux is exacerbating her airway issues, Finley may be a good candidate.  We will certainly not be rushing in to anything though.

Finley is getting around so well these days, the feeding pump, nor anything else seems to stop her.  When we brought her home on a continuous feed - we joked that if we had to eventually follow her around with the feeding pump we would if that meant that she was mobile and most days - that's exactly what we are doing!  The good news is that she is eating exceptionally well and able to be off her pump for most of the day now since she's tolerating bolus feeding so well.  She is making tremendous progress and we are just sitting back and watching in amazement!

Finley's PT brought this old school walker to see how she liked it.  She didn't know to move her feet but she sure loved standing in it!
On Thursday of next week (the 28th) Mike and I are heading to Orlando for the CHARGE Syndrome Conference.  Its a bi-annual conference and it will be our first and we are so excited (Okay - me definitely more so than Mike - he doesn't get as jazzed about these things as I do)!  I love seeing all of the posts and messages on Facebook from all of the other families that are going.  So many people that we've never had an opportunity to meet in person - not only families who have children with CHARGE - but many, many individuals that have CHARGE - young and old - it will truly be an experience like other!  The only trouble I foresee is that there are SO many incredible sessions scheduled - I worry that we won't possibly be able to get to all of the ones we want to.  This will however be the FIRST time Mike and I have ever been away from the kids overnight.  Yes, its true.  In nearly five years Mike and I have never had an adult only vacation or even sent the kiddos to the grandparents house for a sleepover.  So we are nervous.  Not that we are worried anything bad will happen, we are worried that Nate might be a basket case.  I hope its not a long 4 days for Gigi and the grandmas!

Gigi and her girl!

Nate trying to beat the heat!
No joking - he fell asleep like this on the stair after a long day at the garage sale!

Nate wearing my boots (note the foam sword tucked in to one)

Nate's bowling field trip - Daddy was a chaperone!

This picture did a good job capturing Nate's face of disgust when it was time to go home!

The sunflower that Nate planted at camp.

My beautiful tomato that I am waiting patiently to ripen!

The basil plant I nursed back to life.  Can't wait to combine this with the aforementioned tomato and some fresh mozzarella! (That is rosemary and a pathetic lavender plan in the background)
I hope you all are enjoying the summer and staying cool!

4 comments:

Melissa Dylo said...

Hi hon! I am the worst and have been a total slacker about checking your blog! Summer is whipping by and I see by your posts that you have been super duper busy! Congratulations on the success of the sale and have a GREAT time on your trip to the Charge Conference next week. I think about you all lots and love to see the pics. I swear one day we WILL get together. I have yet ot meet Nate or Princess Finley! I think Mols would have a blast chasing after Nate. Have a great rest of the week! Love and Hugs! Melissa

Annie said...

Hey! I'm so happy to hear the garage sale was a HUGE success!! Love the pics, especially Nate in your boots...classic :-) Den and I had our first adult only vacation from the kids back in April and it was truly awesome. I too was really worried about how the kids would do, but with the great childcare you have, it will run smoothly and on schedule, just as it did for us. It was nice to reconnect and remember you were a couple before these little munchkins rocked your world!! Have a blast :-)

Kurby Family said...

Congrats!!! What a HUGE success your garage sale was, I am more than impressed! So glad you got to meet Eva and Crystal too, a wonderful family. Looking forward to seeing you in a week at the conference!

Kurby Family said...

Tracy--just wanted to say thank you again for coming out to the run today...you did awesome! We didn't raise as much as your garage sale, but we'll keep trying! Again thank you!

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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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