9/30/04 "Spoke Too Soon!"

Well...Cass won't be released tomorrow. Infact, we're not sure when now. The whole issue of insurance and home nursing care is not working out yet. We got our hopes up too soon. Please keep praying he'll be home soon, please! Thank you!!

9/30/04 "Fingers Crossed"

I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but we're trying to get Cass home tomorrow. Hopefully all will go well; insurance, medical supplies, and staffing the home nursing care along with no complications with his health. I will be able to have all my family under one roof once again. Cass has been doing well this week, having a few nights of fever, but it hasn't happened for two nights now. He will get better at home more quickly, and we can get back to some sort of normalcy or what it will be from this time on. I'm a little worried about caring for him at home because he is needing so much attention and care still. During the day it'll be fine, I'll be home but at night he still needs someone to be up all night to suction and care for him. We'll have a nurse for 24 hours for a little bit but I'm not sure how long it'll last. Ryan nor I can stay up for 24 hours seven days a week to care for him. We're hoping we'll be able to get home nursing care for longer. Hopefully as long as we may need it.
Thank you for your continued prayers and thoughtful words of encouragement. For those who know us, we're very private people and try not to burden others with our dealings, but this has been nice to hear so many sending their love to us via message board. It has helped us as a family know that we are loved and that their are so many good people. Thank you for letting us reach out and draw upon your strength too. I know Heavenly Father gave us the ability to feel joy and pain so that we may know what others are feeling and help each other through trials. We are so thankful for you all.

9-26-04

I've been pondering a lot upon this past month how drastically my family's lives have changed. It has been a very trying time for our family, and will probably continue to be so, but I think the worse is over, meaning the unknown. My two oldest who are still babies themselves, are trying to adjust and are doing quite well for children who are used to having their mom home everyday with them to seeing her only when they wake up and go to bed. I haven't shared how we're doing and have tried to use this post just for an update on Cass, but since we are a family and believe that we are a family forever, this affects our whole family. We're all being tried of our faith, and hopefully we will only grow stronger. I'm learning my limits, or maybe my limits are being stretched, but I know we won't be tried more than we can handle. I pray that we can remain faithful, hopeful and prayerful throughout this time and that we will come out stronger in the end. I know that God lives and He loves us and knows each and everyone of us. He knows our burdens, He knows our trials, He knows our weaknesses and He has sent His Son to guide us back to Him that we may all live together again someday.

9/23/04 "GOOD DAYS AHEAD"

Sorry we haven't updated since last week. Cass is doing well. Like I said before, he is a fighter. He's slowly being taken off the medication that temporarily paralyzes him, but he is still on some pain meds. He is awake and tries to take the ventilator off. Monday morning was the first time he was awake in a week and when he heard my voice, he started kicking and smiling. It lifted my spirit to see that he knew who I was. I still haven't held him, but I'm just happy that he is awake. Yesterday he had surgery to have a feeding port put into his stomach. The opening sits on the outside of his stomach, goes through his stomach to his small intestine so the food bypasses his stomach directly. This will help, hopefully, on discouraging the reflux and the aspiration. He looks to be slowly gaining weight, so this week has been a good week. I feel comfort from our Father in Heaven knowing he is with us and has not forgotten us. He loves us and is blessing us with this sweet baby, and the trials we go through will only make us stronger. Thank you for helping us get stronger, and our baby.
Love,
Cass' mom:)

9/15/04

Sorry we haven't typed lately, but there hasn't been any change. He is heavily sedated so he won't move while the trach heals for seven days. For now we are waiting and praying that this time will pass quickly.
Cass' older brother and sister don't understand what's happening, naturally, because of their age, but know that their baby brother isn't 'feeling well'. This week we've been trying to spend more time with the older two since Cass is basically in a drug induced coma. Monday they will slowly take him out of being sedated and try to let him breathe on his own, then we'll see when the other surgeries will take place. So please continue to pray for our little trooper.
We feel so very blessed to be where we are. The care at the hospital has been superb and we are thankful for Heavenly Father's guidance since Cass has been born. We're so very thankful for family and friends, newly made and from before. Thank you for your support and love. We know you all are waiting as anxiously as we, and keeping a prayer in your hearts for him. We love you all!
--Cass' mom

9/13/04

Cass went into surgery about 10 am today and we waited with full hearts in the surgical waiting room. After about 2 1/2 hours all they could get done on him was the trech because they had a difficult time intibating him. The other two surgeries will have to wait for now, but atleast he will have an open air way. They are finishing up the operation as we speak. What an emotional day, but we feel comfort in knowing that it is all in the hands of our Heavenly Father. Will write more later--Cassmom :) (12:30 p.m.)

Night before surgery

Today was a very surreal day. We're just waiting for the surgery tomorrow and the more I think about it, the more stressed I get. Cass had an echocardiogram done and it looks like his VSD has closed (the hole between the ventricles) which is good news. The other three problems; ASD, PDA and the Pulmonary Valve are not budging. Hopefully they will resolve themselves too.
Keep us in your hearts and prayers, tomorrow especially. I'll write as soon as we learn more. Thank you again for the words of love and encouragement.
Love,
Cass'mom :)

9-10-04

I just wanted to inform everyone that the surgery is rescheduled for Monday morning. We thank you all for your words of love and encouragement. Even though we have not met many of you who have posted your compassion, we feel we have friends from all over the world who are feeling through this trial with us. We are so overwhelmed with the out pore of love people have showed us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't how we would be able to deal with so much without friends and family. Heavenly Father is sure taking care of us.
We'll keep you all posted. Thank you! :)

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9-9-04

It looks like the tracheotomy scheduled for Friday will be put off until 9-13 or 9-14 so that the right amount of time and doctors are in place to do the tracheotomy, fix the hernia and put the port into the stomach for direct feeding to bypass the problem area and help reduce reflux and aspiration episodes.

The latest on our sweet baby Cass

Our baby Cass came to us on Wednesday July 14th, 2004. He was born with some heart issues, namely; ASD,VDS, PDA, a Pulmonary Valve that doesn't function well and a few other things with his heart that are all known to be a heart murmur. He also was born with some genetic defects that have resulted in his difficulty to breath on his own, eat on his own and his pinky fingers aren't fully developed. He has been in the hospital since the 25th of August with some difficulty breathing and keeping his food down. Since then has been through a grueling regimen of tests and a feeding tube since. To say the least, he has been a trooper. On Labor Day the doctors determined that his breathing troubles were the result of a sever case of Laryngomalacia. It's good to now know what is going on and be able to move forward with treatment. The doctors say that most kids grow out of this condition on their own in a year to a year and a half. More info is readily available on the internet. We just need to get Cass to a stable condition that we can maintain at home in a normal setting until he is able to out grow his condition.

Last Friday night he was taken to the PICU due to being in distress. His blood oxygen levels have been stable since they've kept him on a CPAP machine. The latest is that on Friday (9-10) Cass will have a tracheotomy done to help keep his airway open and bypass the troubled area until it can heal on it's own.

He is a sweet baby, a blessing to our family and we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for the many prayers and blessings he has sent our way. We thank you all for your love!
Love,
Cass' Mom :)