Owen Is So Happy

Owen had a check up today and the results are so far so good.  He has been on the feeding tube since the surgery and is so ready for a "bite".  Today he was given the approval for soft food.  Melissa said when they got home she got out the yogurt and a spoon and Owen went crazy.  He was so excited and happy to eat something.

The plan will be to stay on the soft foods and feeding tube for another couple of weeks.  We can work him off the tube once he is able to eat enough to keep the calories up.  Right now we have to start very slow and work him up on the amount of food he can eat via the mouth.  Doctor said the worst possible thing that could happen now is if he vomits.  So hopefully the food intake will go well and he does not get sick.

Iris also had a check up today regarding her hearing and she is doing great!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school and three of the four headed off.  The girls were so excited to start school.  Iris getting to go to school with Ansley and Elliot.  Ansley having 5th grade in the pod at school.  Elliot did not want to show his excitement so he played it cool.  But when i put him to bed tonight he gave in and told me he thinks he is going to like school.

Owen is still recovering and was trying to figure out what was going on today.  He is doing great and is ready to start eating again.  Sometime next week we will let him start having some soft foods.  He was good with getting some liquids via the mouth but that did not last long and he is wanting a bite! 

The Comeback Kid

Owen is so happy to be at home and is doing very well.  He went back to hospital today for a chest xray and check up with the surgeon.  So far so good.  Owen is going to start getting some liquids via the mouth so maybe that will satisfy him until he can start eating again.  In a week or so we are going to start feeding him soft foods.  A few weeks after that he will eating regular food.

A few pictures of his battle wounds and what he is having to deal with.  He still has a broken rib but is slowly coming off the pain medicine.  The little man is tough!

The three other kids all start school tomorrow.  The girls are excited but Elliot could think of a lot of other things he would like to be doing tomorrow.  Hopefully he will be excited once he sees all of his school friends.

We are home!

He did it!  We are home and resting.  They did his video swallow test and it was closed, no leaking.  Praise the Lord.  Then he got his chest tube out just in the nick of time.  It was about 2pm. when the resident came up to remove Owen's chest tube.  He did such a great job.  After we stayed the appropriate amount of time for supervision, we were given the all clear to go home.  The greatest words ever spoken.  "If you feel like it you can go home", or you can stay one more day just to monitor it.  Let me see, I think we will go home thankyouverymuch. 
Thank you to everyone for all your help and prayers.  Now on to tackle that mound of laundry.

Will today be the day?

I (Melissa) got to the hospital last night around 8pm.  after I got off work.  I was very happy to see Owen again.  He was just as happy to see me.  Not that Dad didn't do a good job, it is just that Owen is a Mommas boy big time.  I am not complaining at all.
Joel said that Owen had a big time this weekend.  He had lots of visitors.  Thank you Adams, and Annings.  Owen has been holding his chap stick all night and it was the first thing he asked for this morning.  I guess my kid is a little strange!  He loves all the toys and books he has received, but the chap stick!
Owen's day started very early this morning. The students started rounding at 5:30am.  Then we had a stream of doctors after that.  It is now almost 8a.m.  and we are waited to find out what time Owen is scheduled for his swallow test.  We are still waiting for Dr. Schropp.  He said he had a very full surgery schedule this morning so we might not get the chest tube pulled until late in the day.  So worst case we are out of here on Tuesday.  So today is just a case of hurry up and wait.  And wait we shall.  I would hate to miss Dr. Schropp because we were out on a walk. 

Update from Dad - Melissa called this morning and we have some good news.  Owen had his swallow test and it showed no leaking!!!  Finally some good news for the boy.  We hope and pray this remains closed and he is finished with esophagus issues.  Melissa and Owen are now waiting on the doctor to remove the chest tube.  We will let you know how that goes, does not sound pleasant.

The Final Stretch?

Owen had another good day yesterday and got to go for a wagon ride with Melissa.  After work the kids and grandma's came up to visit.  Uncle Jake, Aunt Sue, and cousin Alex were there when we arrived.  Owen was excited to see everyone.

He was not so excited when the group left and Melissa went home as well.  Melissa had to work this weekend so she went home and dad took over hanging out with Owen.  He actually did pretty well and went to sleep shortly after they left.

He had a tough stretch from about 10:30 pm - 1:00am.  He was in some pain and when that happens his breathing starts getting heavy and the staff gets nervous.  The challenge is that each shift brings a new group of people who have not seen Owen and have to go through the motions to get familiar with him.  So this involves a wake up about every 20 minutes for a check, poke or prod.  Owen was not too happy which made the breathing worse which in turn makes the staff even more nervous.  The staff here is great so I do not want to make this sound like I am questioning anyone here.  It just seems a good night sleep would do him a lot of good.  After about 1:00am things settled down for Owen (dad is still so sleepy!).

This morning we received multiple phone calls from Melissa wanting updates and details.  All is good and still hoping to come home Monday (could turn into Tuesday if surgery team does not get down here to remove the chest tube and start the swallow).

Owen and I went for a walk in the wagon today and he loved that.  Went went outside for a while and got some fresh air.  Hopefully today will remain un-eventful and Owen can just focus on getting better.

The Comeback Is On!

Owen had another good day today.  When I (dad) arrived after work to Owen's new room he was sitting in the chair with Melissa.  It was nice to see him not laying in the bed.  They moved the Big O out of PICU and into a regular room.  He continues to improve and was in great spirits today.  His only frustration now is that he want to eat.  They are feeding him with the tube and the intake has been ramped up.  He still wants "bite".

The other great thing was Owen did not have an IV in either arm (it was a mistake to take the second out).  There is still a line in one of his feet so they are going to try and ride out the storm with the one in his foot and hopefully not have to stick him again.  He also does not have any wires connected to his chest so he is looking better all the time.  He still have the chest tube and we are hoping that comes out soon.  Surgeon does not want to take that out too soon just in case. 

Doctor on duty tonight told us that he will be here at least until Monday.  So it may be Dad's turn to stay at the hospital since Melissa is scheduled to work this weekend and we need the money!

The last several days have been mentally tough as I think about Owen when he had this same procedure in China.  According to the paper work he was in the hospital there for a few months.  The sad part is he had nobody to love him and comfort him.  He would have been there all alone with only the hospital staff coming to his room.  Melissa has never left his room since he got here. I know there are kids in this hospital who probably have no family or anyone coming to visit, it is just sad.

Keep praying and hopefully Owen will be back to normal and heading home. 

ALSO, we are so blessed to have two Grandma's so close and willing to help us.  They have been so helpful and we want to say, "Thanks". 

Prayers heard and answered

Owen had a much better day today.  He got his art line taken out and stayed off the oxygen.  He even got up in a wagon and went for a ride around the PICU.  He wasn't too thrilled about that.  He is still pretty sore when you have to move him.   The kids came up to see him and his spirits really picked up.  He is asking for "bite"  he  wants to eat.  They have restarted the tube feedings.  So far so good. 
Owen loved watching Grandma's IPhone.  Ansley put Bear in the Big Blue House on for him and he just loved it.  He also enjoyed watching Big Will make Iris walk on the ceiling.  Thank you Grandma's and Will and Jess for coming to visit him.  It really made his day.  His heart rate and respiratory rate have been very high the whole time he had been here.  Once his family came in the heart rate and respiratory rate dropped down to a normal rate and he didn't set off any alarms until the nurses came in to check on him. 
Thank you everyone for praying for our sweet boy.  Please continue to pray for him.

Hoping for a better night

I am asking for prayers for Owen.  He has really struggled today with the pain.  It is so hard to see your baby in so much pain. 
Owen's surgery went really well.  The doctor was very happy with what they found once they were inside.  It turns out my boy is 1 in a million (I already knew that).  He apparently had 2 fistulas not just one.  So it seems China did in fact do a good job fixing his fistula, only they didn't notice the second one.  Our doctor said it is very uncommon for a child to have 2 so they fixed the first one and didn't go looking for any more.  Surprise!  Doctor Schropp said this was in fact good news.  Now he is the first one to repair this fistula.  The chances for a re-fistulation are pretty high on a site that had been repaired previously.  Dr Schropp feels like he stands a very good chance of this finally fixing him.  Praise the Lord. 

So we are in the pediatric intensive care unit where they are taking very good care of him.  They are having trouble keeping his pain under control.  They don't want to give him so much pain medication that he stops breathing.  They do not want to put him on a vent.  He has a chest tube in so he is very sore.  He  wants to keep me in his sight at all times.  He will only calm down if I am holding his hand or rubbing his head.  So of course I am happy to do that for him. 
We are hoping he feels like having the kids come to see him tomorrow evening.  They are dying to see for themselves that Owen is doing alright.  We also have high hopes that he will be able to start the feeding tubes in the morning.  They tried to start him on it today and he just wasn't ready for it.   He is off the oxygen now and able to maintain his oxygen levels. He is also running a fever. 
Owen is such a strong little guy.  He just amazes me.  I am so blessed that I get to be his momma.  I get to be here to offer him all the love and comfort he needs.  The last time he had this surgery he was all alone. That just breaks my heart.  It is no wonder he wont let me (and his thumb)out of his sight.  
Now we are going to try to get some sleep before they come back in to check on him.  Please continue to pray for Owen and his healing.

Owen Has The Big Surgery Today

Owen had his Big Surgery today and is now recovering.  We arrived at the hospital at 6:00am for a 8:00am surgery.  He was in the operating room for 6 1/2 hours.  The doctor informed us that Owen did great and he was very happy with what he was able to do in surgery.  There was a lot of scar tissue from his previous surgery in China so that made the surgery last much longer than anticipated.

Pre-Surgery After Taking "Happy" Juice

There are a lot of details we discussed with the doctor but it is late and it has been a long day.  We will try to give more details in the coming days.  Owen is going to be very uncomfortable for several days.  The had to "move a few ribs" and that can not be pleasant.  Hopefully the can monitor the pain medication to get him through the tough times.  He was such a little trooper today!

When the surgery was finally over the doctor came out and said he was asking for his "Mama".  When we arrived back in recovery the first thing Owen said was, "bite".  That his his way of telling us he is hungry and ready to eat.

Owen in Recovery

It was amazing how many people at the hospital knew Owen and Melissa when we arrived.  This poor little guy has been through so much and deserves to catch a break with his health.  We are praying this is it.

Ansley Is Brave!

Tonight was a huge night for the Chambers family, especially for Ansley.  We all went to the swimming pool after work to beat the heat.  With not much encouraging Ansley followed dad to the diving board.  She did it for the first time!  And the second, and third!  We may have a little fish on our hands.

Ansley is very brave and willing to step out there and try new things.  We love you Ansley and are very proud of you!