History

Sunday, June 22, 2003 8:47 PM CDT

hallelujah!!!! We're going home...20 days after being admitted! Evan finished his antibiotics at 1 am Sunday morning and is fever free so we will be discharged sometime Monday afternoon.

Evan continues to feel much better and is still eating solids very well. The formula feeding is still a problem. He loves other liquids like apple juice and lemonade, but the formula..yuck..he seems to say!

Having Trevor and Trent up here since Sat. morning has been a tremendous help. He just smiles and laughs at everything they do.

Talk to you all soon,
Sherry

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 6:24 AM CDT

Hello All,
Evan was moved up to the heart center floor yesterday. He has begun eating solid foods as well as his formula. He prefers the solid foods...not sure why he isn't liking the bottles?

He is still on three different antibiotics. Unfortunately, the liver is working overtime to process them all so his urine is cola colored and his skin is copper colored again. He didn't sleep very well last night and he no longer receives sedatives so we had a long night.

He cries whenever I am not right at his bedside, which means he is probably crying now. So...I'd better go tend to him because the nurses don't tend to the crying babies. I feel so sorry for the babies whose mommies don't stay with them.

Sherry

Sunday, June 15, 2003 12:24 AM CDT

Hello Everyone,
Sorry about not updating you until today. This week has been very stressful because Evan's progress was slow and he had many hurdles to overcome. He is still in the ICU today, but will be moving to the regular heart recovery floor tomorrow. Thank you all again for your continued prayers. God surley has been honoring all of our requests. When issues would come up that seemed to be hindering Evan's recovery or even setting him back, it was comforting to know that so many people were interceding on his behalf. "The faithful, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!" So many people say to us..."How do you make it through these times...I sure couldn't deal with it" I love this question because it affords me an opportunity to share our family's faith in Christ.

Evan has been off of the ventilator for two days now. His breating rate is still a bit too fast, but all other aspects of his respiratory health are excellent. His blood pressure and heart rate are also great. I got to hold him this morning, but he is still in some pain so I put him back in bed to stretch out and relax. He gets morphine every couple of hours. I think I will get to feed him pedialyte today and if he keeps it down okay, I'll get to feed him his formula. He has lost the extra pudge he had put on prior to the surgery so I am anxious to "fatten" him up again :)

Trevor and Trent are here today. I missed them so much. We've been playing UNO and they dearly want to touch Evan, but he has been sleeping.

More info later,
God Bless You all,
Dirk & Sherry

Tuesday, June 10, 2003 10:36 AM CDT

Happy Anniversary MAMAW and PAPAW!!!!!!!

The past two days Evan has progressed very well. He is now off of the paralytic drugs and is tolerating the breathing tube ok.

Praise the Lord...his chest X-ray today looked great. He still has some gunk in the right lung, but there are no "de-flated" areas anymore.

They started his vitamins (a, d, e, k) again to help with nutrition. His urine is really dark today. I think it is because they added another antiobiotic due to his fever going back up to 101 again. He did that about 8 pm last night, but after he cooled down a couple hours later the fever has stayed away. They did a second set of blood, urine and speutum cultures to see if he had an infection. Initial tests showed nothing!

Just about an hour ago, the nurse reduced his sedative drug so he could begin to breath on his own along with the respirator. The respirator number was changed from 32 to 30 so he can start taking over. This process will go on all day today as he begins to take control of his breathing..slowly but surely :)

more info later,
love to you all,
Dirk, Sherry & Evan

****Hi Trev & Trent! We miss and love you both...Mommy & Daddy!*****

Thursday, June 5, 2003 10:59 AM CDT

Hi Everyone,
Evan is about 1/2 way through the repair and doing well. The nurse who keeps the families updated said they just got him on the lung/heart by-pass machine. The repair comes next.

Late last night the urologist stopped by to say Evan won't have to see him anymore. The renal ultra sound was normal as was the bladder test.

June 6, 2003 9 pm

Evan came out of surgery yesterday just fine. Later in the evening he began to become semi-conscious and become very agitated. This made him bear down on his intebation tube and subsequently he need to be bagged to get his oxygen levels back up. Needless to say, we were very frightened.

Today (after 5-6 more episodes throughtout yesterday evening) they gave him a parlytic drug so he wouldn't be able to seize up anymore. This has helped tremendously. One other problem we've dealt with today is bleeding. They put a central line so they would have a better access sight. He wouldn't stop bleeding from around the sight because his clotting factors were off. Finally at 8 pm (after I suggested at least three times to three different people) they gave him Vit. K to boost his clotting factors.

He is very peaceful right now and is resting comfortably. All of his vital signs are great. I don't know when he will be off the ventilator so this means more days in the ICU.

Finally, I have one more thing. I can't go into much detail, but please pray about Evan's left pulmonary artery. We've had an issue with it today that needs pray.
Thanks & love you all.

Saturday, June 7
Hello everyone,
Evan is still resting peacefully. His temperature is still going up and down so the docs have done some cultures to rule out bacterial infections. He is still on 65 percent oxygen; this must come down to 35 percent before they will consider removing the breathing machine. He started out on 90 percent so he is progressing. He will probably be in the ICU another 2-3 days according to one of the doctors. Please say a prayer for Trevor and Trent. They are dealing with a stomach bug that has been on-again/off-again for a week now. I feel terrible that I can't be there for them. Evan's Vit. K shot worked beautifully last night. He is no longer bleeding profusely from the central line site. I guess sometimes Mom's do know best :o)

***Sunday June 8

Evan made great strides last night. He went from 65 percent oxygen to 45. He hasn't had ibuprofen for his fever since 5 am this morning. It is hanging around 99.4 degrees, but we are not ice packing him or treating it with the motrin. It's best to let the body work through it.

They reduced the sedatives and parlytic drugs today. The idea is to wean him off of the drugs slowly so that he doesn't wake up too suddenly. He has begun to move his head and feet. The thought is he will be ready by tomorrow to come off of the ventilator (three days later than they initially had anticipated!)

In an early journal, I had mentioned an issue with the left pulmonary artery. Here is what happened....since Evan was not responding respiratory wise very well after surgery, they began investigating things. An ultra sound of the heart showed the left pulmonary artery had very little blood flow and anatomically looked a great deal smaller than it had upon physical examination during surgery. No one had an explanation for this. To compound matters, Evan's lower half of his right lung (which was receiving the better flow of blood) collapsed. Thus...his poor recovery after surgery. Since then he has recieved breathing treatments of albuterol and percussions to the right chest to break up all the mucus. It has worked and this is why he has improved.

Another look at that left pulmonary artery today showed the same narrowing and poor flow. As Evan's condition progresses, one of the doctors told us that we can put off investigating this mystery until a later date. This gives his body time to recover. So....that's where everything stands so far. Keep us in your prayers.

keep you all posted later,
Dirk and Sherry

Saturday, May 31, 2003 7:02 PM CDT

June 4, 6 pm
Evan's bladder test today showed absolutely NO! reflux. Thank the Lord! We haven't talked to the urologist yet about it, but we know he'll have a good report.

Normally, x-ray techs do this test, but the actual radiologist did it for Evan today. He's the one who said Evan's bladder was not refluxing!

more later, sherry

June 4, 2003 8:00am

Evan finally went to sleep at 12:45 last night. He wouldn't sleep in the crib though so I let him lay next to me on the foldout bed. There is a new picture of him that I just took this morning. He is already tired of the nurses taking his vitals every couple of hours :(

School's out!!!! I haven't changed the journal entry since April 21st! The last month of school is always so busy.

Next week is a big week for our family. Evan returns to Riley's for the following:
1. 6/3 heart catheterization 7 am
2. 6/4 renal studies to check that the bladder reflux has resolved itself
3. 6/5 open-heart repair (based on 6/3s findings) 7 am

I know you will all be keeping Evan in your prayers. Please say a couple extras for Trevor and Trent. They have both had a rollercoaster of a year dealing with our situation.

I'll be updating you all throughout the next couple of weeks regarding Evan's health.

Much love to you all,
Dirk & Sherry

June 3, 2003 5:45 pm
Evan had the heart cath early this morning to see if the left pulmonary artery was narrowed closer to the lungs or to the heart. Fortunately, it was not narrowed closer to the lungs which would have meant another surgery.

As it stands, he will be having renal studies done tomorrow and the open-heart repair on Thursday. He slept extremely well today and he even ate really well. Thanks again for all your prayers.
Dirk & Sherry

Monday, April 21, 2003 4:27 AM CDT

Hi Everyone,
Here are the new pictures I promised last week. I've included some from Easter as well. The sweet little girl is my neice, Janis. She is 19 months old. Evan wasn't too thrilled with the bunny ears, but he loved his chocolate!

He passed the 16 lb mark this week. He seemed to stall out in the 15 pound range for nearly two months, but has now crossed that hurdle. Praise the Lord!

Trevor's Easter wasn't as good as it should have been. He has battled with strep throat. You'd think his worst problem would be a soar throat, but it wasn't. He had a very uncomfortable rash, stomache ache & vomitting??? The doctor said strep reacts this way sometimes. He was feeling better by Sunday afternoon.

Trent spent time with Grandma & Grandpa planting flowers this weekend. He liked that!

We hope you all had a very Happy Easter. Thanks to the Lord that we all may live a resurrected life through him :)

Dirk & Sherry

Monday, April 14, 2003 2:31 PM CDT

Hi Everyone,
Evan's diagnostic heart catheterization has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 3rd. They are getting better pictures of the left pulmonary artery so the heart surgeons will have a better idea of how to proceed with a repair. He is tentatively scheduled for an open heart repair on June the 5th. So....I guess I'll have to finish the school year :)

I have some new pictures of Evan. I'll be posting them some time this week so please check back. He has really begun to pull up to things and walk along them. I am sure he'll be walking on his own within the next month. Trevor and Trent are starting baseball so they are excited about that. Trevor has moved up to the little league where there is a pitching machine. He was apprehensive at first, but he is getting used to it now. Trent is happy that Bryce and "baby" Jestin will be on his team. Trent is only 1 1/2 years older than Jestin, but since my mom called him Baby Jestin.....the name has stuck :)

Take Care,
Dirk & Sherry

Thursday, April 10, 2003 12:25 AM CDT

Hi everyone,
What a morning I have had! During first period the cardiologist called. He had just returned from vacation yesterday, and the heart surgeons told him Evan would need more diagnostic testing done on his left pulmonary artery before they would/could proceed with the open-heart repair. So....we are playing the waiting game again. They won't be able to get Evan into the heart catheter lab to do this testing until May. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. God has a timing for everything so we'll just be patient and wait:) We'll keep you all updated.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVAN! 1 YEAR OLD TODAY!

Saturday, April 5, 2003 3:01 PM CST

Hello Everyone,
Today we are celebrating Evan's first birthday even though his real birthday isn't until the 10th. The evening of the tenth we will be on our way to Indianapolis because Evan will be having his pre-op testing done on Friday. Thanks so much for your encouraging words on the guestbook page:0)

Over spring break, Evan's liver doctor visit was okay. Most of his liver enzyme numbers were down from January. He hasn't been gaining weight very well though, so they sent us home with some nutritional supplements to try. The bad part is that they can cause loose stools sometimes. Sure enough...we had to pull back on the supplements because this happened to Evan.

I am posting new photos today. Evan has been hamming it up for the camera. Also, I made a photo collage of his first year of life.
love you all,
Dirk & Sherry

Friday, March 21, 2003 9:33 PM CST

Evan's still awake right now. He's playing on the floor in the living room with Daddy right now. I found this wonderful website (caringbridge)that's going to let all of you keep up with God's wonderful plan for Evan. At Christmas time, many of you recieved a newsletter about him. Unfortunately, I had several problems with the photos. So, hopefully Evan's own personal web page will work better:)

We go to Cincinnati on Tuesday to see the liver doctor. Then on April 11 we take him to Riley's for a pre-operative workup for an open heart repair. Keep him in your prayers. They have Evan scheduled for surgery on April 14. We are believing his pre-op tests will be a great big mystery to the heart docs and they will send us home with a diagnosis of MIRACLE!

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