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This page is to keep you Kennedy Jean Garcia Born: May 16, 2004 1:28am Weight: 6 lbs, 3 oz Length: 18 inches
Journal Monday, June 30, 2008 11:02 PM CDT May 01, 2008 at 05:05 PM CDT  My sweet baby boy, It's so hard to believe you are already one year old! It seems like just yesterday your daddy and I walked from Kennedy's hospital room over to labor and delivery so we could FINALLY meet you instead of just seeing you on the ultrasound screen. We were so, so excited! Keeghan, you are the perfect grand finale to our family. You have gotten to do things that none of the other kids got to do... you got to have your cord blood stored away with the hopes that should your sister ever need it, it could possibly save her life... and how many babies can say they spent the first 5 months of their life in a hospital room when they weren't even sick?! You were doted on by nurses and doctors, you got to breathe pure, filtered air, and you got a special chance to bond with Kennedy. It's a bond that will last a lifetime, I'm sure. You have also been the child that has put me to the test. I joke that if you were my first, you'd be my only! But even after a long, exhausting day full of your endless energy, I am so overwhelmed with love for you. I love that when I tell you "NO!" you wrinkle up your face and try SO hard to cry and make me feel bad. I love that you are persistent and I can pull you off the stairs 500 times and you just keep going back for more. I love that when I'm trying to get a clean diaper on you, you flip over and crawl away as fast as you can... and then crack up when I catch you. I love that while you are doing something that you know you're not supposed to do, you shake your head no... but do it anyway. I love that I am your most favorite person in the whole, wide world. I love that special smile that you save just for me. I love that when I sit on the floor, you crawl over to me as fast as you can, giggling the whole way, and attack me. I love that when you want to give me a kiss, you grab my hair in both of your fists and plant a slobbery, open-mouthed, kiss right on my lips. I love that you let out a little giggle whenever you see a bottle of milk. I love your laugh. I love your eyes. I love that you're so full of wonder and curiosity. I love every little mischievous bone in your body. Happy Birthday my little, little guy. I can't wait to see what this next year brings. I promise to tell you "NO!" (probably often) and I promise to keep you safe from danger as you explore the world. I promise to pray over you every single day and pray that I make the right decisions for you. I promise you lots of laughs, lots of hugs and kisses, and an infinite amount of love. All my love, Mommy May 05, 2008 at 10:31 AM CDT Happy Cinco de Mayo! haha I guess we should go eat tacos tonight or something! All is going ok here. Keeghan had his 1 year check up this morning and it doing great! He is just over 21 lbs, I forget how long he is... he's in the 10th percentile for height, the 25th for weight and the 45th for head circumference! Guess I can start calling him big head! :o)He wasn't able to get his shots today because he has a double ear infection. UGH. Poor kid, we were really hoping this was behind him! On May 15th Keeghan goes in for an ear recheck and shots. Kennedy is doing ok, she is still having fevers and horrible diarrhea. Her ped sent off some stool samples (since that was too difficult for GI to do) but so far everything they are checking for is negative. They are still waiting on a few more results though. Hopefully we'll get some answers... if not, we have her appointment in Cincinnati on May 20th. Our miracle workers at Vanderbilt pulled some strings and got Kennedy into Pulmonology on May 16th (her birthday) so she can get clearance for her spine surgery. Shriners says it's the LAST thing we need, (I'll believe it when I see it) and they have a tentative surgery date for sometime in July. The wool vest she will have to wear with the halo should be oh so comfortable in July heat! Still, I'm so glad we're seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. Kassidy and Kameron are both doing fine and are looking forward to the end of school. Not much more to say about them, they're so low maintenance! haha Please keep the family of Sierra Kesler in your prayers. Sierra has Down syndrome and ALL and passed away this weekend after a relapse. She was 9 years old. Cancer sucks. Speaking of cancer... how many of you are signed up to be a bone marrow donor? Signing up is painless and you could save a child's life. If you go to marrow.org you can sign up for FREE from today until May 19th. It will take about 30 minutes to fill out the form and then you'll receive a kit in the mail to swab your cheek for a tissue sample. That's it. Painless. Then if you are ever a match for a child waiting for a bone marrow transplant, they will call you. With Kennedy's birthday coming up, this is the perfect time to join. It can be your FREE present to her and a chance to help a child with cancer. Please let us know if you do it! I'm off to fill out my form right now. Until next time, Renee I am thankful for bone marrow donors... SO many of our friends have gotten a second chance at life because of people like you! May 06, 2008 at 09:29 AM CDT First I have to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who has posted and said they signed up for the donor registry! You all ROCK! Seriously! :o) There's still lots of time to sign up for free! Click here to sign up! Today is Nurse Appreciation Day! While Kennedy was in the hospital we had SO many amazing nurses and care partners. They all love Kennedy so much and loved to come in and play with her or watch movies with her... and Kennedy loves them. Every single one of them. She loved to stick her tongue out at them... and she loved to race down the hallway on her car and let them chase her. And of course, nurses are the BEST Groovy Girl players in the world. THANK YOU to all our nurses. Thank you for taking excellent care of Kennedy... and thank you for the support system you were for me. Thank you for laughing with us, for crying with us, for loving us. We love and appreciate you all. Until next time, Renee I am so, so very thankful for the wonderful nurses at Vanderbilt! May 10, 2008 at 11:37 PM CDT Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!! Sorry for the lack of updates, if you follow my blog you probably already know where I've been, but for those of you who don't know yet, I won the Military Motherhood Award! Thank you SO much for voting me into the top 5! I actually found out on April 29th that I won, but I was sworn to secrecy! LOL Kennedy and I went to Washington D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday and had a fabulous time. You can read all about it on my blog. Pictures should be up soon. As for Kennedy, she goes to Vandy on Friday for her pulmonology and cardiology appointments where hopefully they will clear her for surgery and we will get NO MORE road blocks! IF everything goes well there it looks like her surgery will be on July 2nd. Did I just type that? Did you see it?! A surgery date! Crazy. In the meantime, we still have her GI appointment in Cincinnati coming up on the 20th. We are praying hard they will have an answer for her diarrhea. It was SO bad while we were on our trip, I felt so bad for her! She dropped from 24 lbs down to 19 lbs. SO frustrating. Kassidy and Kameron had their last soccer games today and both went well. We are doing their end of season parties soon and that will be it until Fall. I always am so excited for soccer season to start, but by the end, I'm SO glad it's over for awhile! haha Keeghan is doing well... he's still on antibiotics for his ear infection, but hopefully they'll be all clear during his recheck on Thursday. Anyway, I guess that's about it. I really just wanted to let you know about the contest and Kennedy's surgery date!! There's still time to sign up to be a bone marrow donor. Be someone's hero!!! Until next time, Renee I am thankful for my mom and everything she does for our family! I don't know what I would do without her! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you! May 15, 2008 at 05:16 PM CDT Sorry for the delay in updates, I really haven't had much to say... there are lots of new pics and stuff on my blog and more will be coming tomorrow. Kennedy has her appointments at Vandy tomorrow where, if all goes well, she will get her clearances for surgery from pulmonology and cardiology. Then on Monday we were supposed to be leaving for Cincinnati for her GI appointment, but they called today and had to reschedule. *sigh* They felt really bad and it was something out of their control but let me just say "UGH" anyway. SO they rescheduled her for June 10th which also happens to be the day that Kameron has his appointment at the food clinic, so I'll have to reschedule that. Getting this diarrhea thing figured out is more important at this point. As far as I know she is still set for her spine fusion surgery on July 2nd (pending tomorrow's clearances of course), but if that changes I will let you know. Keeghan went to see the ped for an ear recheck today and they were all clear! YAY! So he got his one year shots. He seems to be doing fine with them though, he's happy and laughing right now. Pray he will sleep well tonight! Anyway, that's it for now, you'll be hearing more from me tomorrow! Until next time, Renee I am thankful for Melissa from the Down syndrome clinic, who has helped me jump through SO many hoops in the last few months! Thanks Melissa! May 16, 2008 at 12:05 AM CDT  My beautiful little princess, Today you turn 4 years old. Amazing. In your birthday letter last year, I promised you that this year you would be celebrating your birthday cancer free. By the grace of God, here we are! This past year has been like no other. You have shown me over and over just how strong you are. You inspire me every single day. And I am SO blessed to be your Mommy. Kennedy, I wish you were aware of all of the lives you touch, all the hearts you melt. Just know that there are many, maybe hundreds, of people who love you without even knowing you. And those who DO know you, love you even more. And I'm so proud to be called your Mommy. So now we embark on a new year of your life, and like last year we face medical unknowns. I know that you will take it all in with a smile, with strength that can only come from God, and next year we will celebrate your 5th birthday cancer free... and halo free. And I'll be in awe that I am your Mommy. Happy Birthday Kennedy! I am praying that 4 will be your best year yet! I am excited to see the new things you will do, hear the new words you will say, and rejoice in all your successes with you. I love you SO much. And I thank God every day that I get to be your Mommy. All my love, Mommy May 21, 2008 at 11:24 PM CDT Thank you all for the birthday wishes for Kennedy!! She had a great birthday (even though we DID spend most of it at Vandy! haha). I need to get pictures posted, but I'm a little behind. As usual. I DO have lots of Washington pictures and other stuff on my blog. So today we FINALLY got confirmation that Kennedy's spine fusion surgery will be on July 2nd at Shriner's in Philly. We still have several details to work out of course, but at least we have a date now and we can plan. PLEASE start praying now!! Up next for Kennedy? We go back to the hemonc clinic for her monthly check on June 3rd and then we go to Cincinnati on June 10th for her GI appointment. Her diarrhea is getting worse and worse so please be praying they can find some answer. Oh, she has her "Well child" check with her pediatrician on Friday. Does this seem ironic to anyone but me?! Kassidy and Kameron have their LAST day of school tomorrow! They're excited right now, but I give them 2 weeks before they'll miss it. They both stayed with their teachers for the last 2 nights while Kennedy, Keeghan and I went to Cincinnati with my mom. She had a meeting there so even though Kennedy's appointment was canceled we went along so she wouldn't have to drive it by herself. Kass and Kam had a great time with their teachers and came home with lots of fun stories! Anyway, I guess that's it for now. Be praying for Kennedy's surgery. July 2nd! Until next time, Renee I am thankful for Kassidy and Kameron's teachers, not only are they GREAT teachers, they are also great friends!! May 26, 2008 at 06:33 PM CDT Happy Memorial Day! Please remember to thank a vet today and remember all those who lost their lives for our freedoms. Nothing much to report here. Keeghan has a virus, we think. He started in with a 102 fever yesterday after church so I took him in to the doctor today, sure that it was his ears again, and it's not. His ears look perfect and it's not strep so the doc is chalking it up to a virus. Fortunately, Tylenol and Motrin is keeping his fever down a bit. Kennedy is doing ok, she took a LONG nap this afternoon and has been very whiney, so hopefully she's not catching whatever this bug is. We're waiting once again to hear from Shriner's so we can get this trip planned. We need to know if Kennedy has any pre-op appointments that she needs to be up there early or not. Hopefully we will know by tomorrow. Please keep our Vanderbilt friend, Matthew Litchfield, in your prayers. He has Leukemia and went through transplant over a year ago. Lately some of his numbers have been off and his doctor is concerned. They are scheduling a bone marrow biopsy soon to make sure everything is ok. Please visit and let them know you're praying! If you want to visit my blog you will find Kennedy and Keeghan's birthday portraits about 3 or 4 entries down. They are fabulous! You won't want to miss them!!! Here's a couple just to coax you over there!   Until next time, Renee I am thankful for Jamie, our photographer. She always gets amazing shots of the kids! May 31, 2008 at 11:12 PM CDT Sorry for the delay in updates, once again! I have been busy this week getting things organized for Philadelphia. There is just so much to think about that has to be done in advance. I can't believe it's only 1 month until Kennedy's surgery... June is going to fly by fast for us. Kennedy's GI appointment in Cincinnati got postponed again! I'm not sure what the reason was this time, but we are now going on June 13th. Please pray they can find an answer to her diarrhea before surgery. I have a few other prayer requests tonight. First, I asked you in my last update to pray for our friend, Matthew Litchfield. Unfortunately, they learned on Friday that his Leukemia has returned. We are just so sad for Matthew and his family. They need prayers more than ever. They will go back to Vanderbilt on Tuesday to plan Matthew's next step in treatment. Please pray they can get him back into remission quickly! Second, one of the Soldiers we used to go to church with was injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq today. His name is Gary Linfoot. He broke his back and has several other smaller injuries, but as of right now he has no feeling in his legs at all. He is currently en route to Germany where he will have surgery. Please keep him in your prayers that the feeling comes back to his legs and he can make a full recovery. Please also remember his wife Mari, and his children Allyssa, Kylie and Hayden in your prayers. I know they have to be so scared right now. I'll keep you all posted as I know more. Also, as we enter the month of June, please remember the families of Cody Myers (cp: codymyers1), Charlie Porter (cp: charlieporter) and Rayley Kocurek (cp: rayleyrose) as they cross over the one year mark without their children. It's going to be a long month for all of them. Cancer sucks. Until next time, Renee I am thankful for all Kennedy's prayer warriors out there! June 08, 2008 at 06:47 PM CDT Hey guys, So it's been awhile again! My apologies! There hasn't been a whole lot to say... I did forget to mention in my last update that Kennedy had clinic last Tuesday to get her counts checked. How odd that this has become an "oh, by the way" appointment. Seems surreal. Anyway, her counts were great! We need to go back and get them checked again on the 24th just to be sure they are still good before we leave for Philadelphia. We leave this Thursday for Cincinnati. Kennedy's appointment with GI there is on Friday morning. I'm not sure how much good they can do in one appointment but I'm praying they can give us a suggestion or game plan or SOMETHING! Kameron has his appointment on Tuesday with the food clinic at Vandy... again, I'm not sure how much good one appointment is going to do, but hopefully it will be worth it! If you haven't been keeping up on my blog, there is lots of new stuff on there. Be sure to read this post, especially: Leukemia - The "Good" Cancer. Anyway, I guess that's about it. I'll update before we go to Cincinnati, I'm sure. I've been down with a migraine so I'm off to lay down. Until next time, Renee I am thankful for my mom who took the kids over so I could sleep! June 14, 2008 at 08:07 PM CDT Hi everyone! We are home safely. We had a good time in Cincinnati but I'm glad to be home and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight! Onto Kennedy's appointment: She saw Dr. Yazigi (which I now know how to pronounce! haha) and I LOVE her!!! She explained that after chemo it can take a year or two for an immune system to REALLY be back up to par. She also said that since Kennedy had C-diff at the end of her chemo treatments, this was most likely the culprit. The hemonc clinic and Kennedy's pediatrician have both tested her for C-Diff but it came back negative. Dr. Yazigi said that once you have it, it can still linger and not show up on tests. SO she put her on the anti-biotic, Flagyl, which is what cleared her C-Diff before. She said that it may take several courses of Flagyl to clear this up, but we're praying hard that it works! She also gave me a lot of helpful information for Kennedy's upcoming surgery. Because Kennedy has a history of aspirating thin liquids she said that we should thicken her liquids after surgery for a few weeks, just until we're sure she's eating and drinking ok. She said it would be so horrible for her to get pneumonia while recovering from a surgery like that. I would definitely have to agree! She also mentioned not to be upset if Kennedy required a feeding tube for awhile after surgery because often kids stop eating... but they warned me about that while she was going through chemo too and she always did GREAT, so I'm not too worried about that!! She also wants Kennedy to have an upper GI done at Vandy before surgery. haha I told her good luck! She was going to talk to her GI there and I told her she'd be better off with hemonc, so I think she's going to call her oncologist. The purpose of the Upper GI is to make sure there are no structural abnormalities that would cause any problems during or after surgery. For those of you who have been following Kennedy for a long time, you may remember she has several vascular anomalies that no one can really explain. She also ran blood work and said they would call and let me know the results in about a week. She was specifically checking her immunoglobins and if they are lacking she will recieve an antibody called IVIG which she has had before, and is really no big deal. It will just give her immune system a boost which may not be a bad idea before surgery! Anyway, that's about it! I was SO relieved to FINALLY get some answers and feel like we're getting somewhere. Dr. Yazigi was SO much help and we are going back to see her at the end of August, but in the meantime we'll be in contact over the phone. After her appointment, my mom and I took the kids to the zoo and had a GREAT time! Keeghan really loved looking at all the animals, especially the monkeys. It started pouring before we got all the way through the zoo, but we still had a good time. Today before we left, we met up with our friends Tom and Lisa and their beautiful kids. Tom is a fire fighter so we met him at the station and got a grand tour and even a ride on a fire truck! The kids absolutely loved it! Then we hung out and ate pizza before the long drive home. So much fun! OK that's about it! Pictures coming soon!!! There's also lots of new stuff on my blog which you can now find at myspecialks.com. Until next time, Renee I am thankful for a great appointment and ANSWERS! June 24, 2008 at 07:57 PM CDT Hi everyone!! Well we are getting ready for Philadelphia! Our plane leaves bright and early Friday morning! Crazy!!! Frank should be meeting us there on Friday if everything goes as planned on his end. Kennedy had clinic today and her counts were pretty good, her white count and neutrophils were a little low, but nothing to be worried about... so she's officially cleared for surgery. We will get to Philly at 9:30 Friday morning and then we have a few days to relax and enjoy some family time. Kenn has a pre-op appointment on Monday morning and then will be admitted on Tuesday afternoon. Her surgery will be very early on Wednesday morning. I'm not sure what time yet, but I guess it doesn't really matter since we'll already be there. I am assuming I'll have internet access (but you know what they say about assuming things!) so if I do I will update as we get updates. They say the surgery should be between 8-9 hours. Kennedy will be in the ICU afterwards for 24-48 hours and then she'll move to a regular room for about a week, all depending on how she's doing, of course. After she's released we will hang out in Philly until July 25th. That way we'll be there for her first post-op CT scans and stuff like that. On the 25th we will fly home and Frank will fly back to Afghanistan. Please pray for safe travels for my mom, the kids and me and for Frank. Pray that her pre-op appointment goes off with no surprises, and PLEASE start praying for this surgery! My emotions range from being nervous to being excited about seeing Frank to stressing out about packing... I'm a mess! haha We know the Lord is taking care of our sweet girl, as He always has, and I can't WAIT to be on the other side of this whole ordeal! Please continue to pray for Matthew Litchfield as he is having a hard time right now with mouth sores and pneumonia. Pray that he keeps fighting!! Also keep Katherine Arnold in your prayers, she is inpatient and really not feeling well at all. I know she wants to get out of there and go home already! Keep all our other Vandy friends in your prayers too, especially the families of Charlie Porter and Cody Myers (cp: CharliePorter and CodyMyers1). It's been a hard month for both families. I'll post again from Philly and then you'll be hearing from me lots again!! As always, there are lots of new pictures and stories and stuff on my blog. Until next time, Renee I am thankful to know so many people are praying for Kennedy and our whole family. It means more than anything! June 27, 2008 at 05:40 PM CDT The Garcia Family is together again! :) My mom, the kids and I arrived in Philly around 10:00 this morning. You can read about our oh so wonderful flight on my blog. Frank arrived around 3:30 so I went to pick him up, we got hopelessly lost in New Jersey (Yes, I know, different state... stop laughing!) but thanks to my friend Stephanie, we are back at the hotel safe and sound! The kids were SO excited to see Daddy, of course! Kennedy said, "DADDY????? DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!" It was so cute! Kass and Kam were hanging all over him and Keeghan wasn't too sure what to think at first, but now he is warming up. SO we are going to hang out this weekend. On Monday Kennedy has a pre-op appointment and then on Tuesday Kennedy and I have to check in to the hospital at 2PM. Surgery is Wednesday morning... not sure what time yet. That's the latest, pictures coming soon! Pray pray pray! Until next time, Renee I am thankful my husband is "home" safely! June 30, 2008 at 01:54 PM CDT Kennedy had her pre-op appointment at Shriner's this morning and I think we're all set to go. They're a little concerned about her diarrhea, but since it's been going on for almost 9 months, and the fact that the Flagyl DID stop it when she was taking it, they're going to go ahead with surgery. Thank God! I do need to call her GI in Cincinnati though about getting her more Flagyl. Because of her history of aspiration and slow gastric motility, Kennedy will be taking Reglan for the next 2 days and we will be thickening her liquids for awhile after surgery to ensure she does not aspirate. It wouldn't be good to get pneumonia right now!! They did some blood work today, which she was a champ for, of course! They took an x-ray of her neck and tomorrow sometime they are going to do a CT of her head. They've done a few CTs of her neck but he wants to do one of her head to ensure that there are no blockages where they want to put the pins for the Halo. I'm still not sure what time her surgery will be on Wednesday, but I'll let you know as I know! I have gotten several emails from people asking for an address to send things to Kennedy. Here is the address for the hotel, then Frank or my mom can get the stuff to the hospital to her. Renee Garcia C/O Holiday Inn Historic District 400 Arch Street Room 736 Philadelphia, PA 19106 OK we are off to take the kids to see Wall-E. Pictures coming soon, I promise! Until next time, Renee I am thankful this is almost over! Read Journal History Hospital Information:
Links: http://www.cafepress.com/t21club Down syndrome and Autism Awareness Products and Cancer Sucks stuff |
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E-mail Author: CAmommy2KJ@aol.com |
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 Your gift will help millions of people stay connected with friends and loved ones during challenging times. This page has been viewed 81967 times. Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent. This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility. |
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