Caden’s Page

It has been an exciting couple of weeks around here. First of all, Caden is doing great. I will get right to the good stuff. Caden busted out into a full blown crawl late last week. Sherry saw him take off across the living room for the first time on Friday. Her mom and dad were in town on Saturday morning and got to see him do it a few more times. I was finally able to catch it on video after church on Sunday. This is an adorable video and really shows Caden’s mobility and how much his personality is just blossoming. Watch closely for a few big smiles as he crawls across the room. Sherry says that Caden is now racing through toddler phase and he is loving it.

Click HERE to see the video that lasts 1 minute and 8 seconds. It is 24 MB and will take a pretty fast connection to view it.

Sherry is getting a daily workout trying to keep up with this little guy. She is well prepared for the task now that she has lost well over 25 pounds in the past several motnhs. The big secret is a combination of working out at Curves a few times per week as well as maintaining a very healthy diet that she loves.

There have been a couple of big appointments for Caden since my last post. For one Caden has started back with feeding therapy. Caden is loving the idea of eating. He chews on his cheese puffs and loves his chocolate pudding. He will sit in his highchair and mimic us by making chewing motions while watching the rest of our family have dinner. Caden’s desire to eat will not be the factor in hanging up the feeding tube when the time comes.

Caden also had a cardiology appointment last week. Everything went fine for the most part. The puzzling thing is that the cardiologist sent Caden home on a 24 hour heart monitor. We were told by the cardiologist that Caden experienced more heart blocks during the time when he wore the heart monitor at home after the PCICU visit at the end of March. They did say that the episodes detected at home were first-degree heart blocks which are much less serious than the higher level heart blocks that Caden experienced after the heart catheter. Caden has been hospitalized once since he was last on a home heart monitor. During that hospitalization, Caden was in the emergency room and cardiology was notified that he had been admitted. They did not take the opportunity to inform us about the results from the last heart monitor or to put Caden on telemetry during that visit. That really tells us that the heart blocks were not that big of a deal after all.

Another big change for Caden is the fact that his car seat has been turned around facing foward. He loves it. He has been over 20 lbs for several months and the physical therapist have no problems with his head control. He is as strong as an ox.

The thing around the house in recent weeks had to do with our air conditioning system. It had been broken since the middle of March. We went through five technicians and over ten separate visits by those men to finally get it repaired. It took three visits by one technician alone on Saturday to finally nail down the problem which was a strainer in a three inch piece of copper tubing in the attic. Thank God for A/C. While I spent many summers in South Carolina as a child without A/C, I am now fully spoiled. Plus, back then I lived in the upstate where it was a little cooler. Well, maybe not. I remember one period of about two weeks in the mid 1980’s when it did not get below 95 degrees all night long.

Anyway, I want to thank you all for checking in on Caden and the rest of our family. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. God has been so good to our family. I pray that you can experience God’s blessings in your family as well.

Local News: There are ongoing Biblical based parenting classes offered in the local Charleston, SC area. Check out the GFI Charleston web site for more information. New classes were added to the schedule today!

Caden is officially 18 months old tomorrow. Caden has really been on the move lately. This week he has busted out into a full crawl. His is also pulling himself into a standing position more regularly. He is signing at least a dozen different words now and does a pretty good job of communicating even when using his own custom expressions.

As our friend Al says, “I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next with this little boy.”

Check out the pictures page for the latest photos I posted this weekend.

Caden was cleared early last week of the RSV that landed him in the hospital two weeks ago. Check out last week’s post for the latest.

Caden was cleared to hang up the oxygen hose by his pediatrician on Monday. Caden is in much better shape than he was early last week. The secretions have greatly decreased and his breathing has been back to normal for several days now. The pediatrician said that there are no longer concerns of Caden being contagious. Caden can resume normal activities including being able to stay in the church nursery and interact with other children.

Caden’s physical development continues to progress at an impressive rate. This weekend Caden pulled himself into a standing position several times. He is getting much more comfortable in the standing position. I look forward to telling you about his first steps in the very near future.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Caden and our family.

Caden was discharged from the hospital this evening. The bonus package is an oxygen system. The oxygen was the only thing that Caden was getting from the hospital for the past twenty-four hours that he did not already have at home. We got outfitted with a portable system as well as a machine for the house.

There is no cure for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) itself. The things that can spin off like an infection in the lungs is normally treated with antibiotics. Caden is already on an fairly strong antibiotic due to a suspected ear infection in his right ear. He lost the ear tube from that ear a few weeks ago. The left ear was literally running on Sunday.

Caden was absolutely thrilled to be home. He started doing a little dancing jig when Sherry put him into his own bed. He was so excited to be in his own bed.

Caden will have a follow up with his pediatrician tomorrow. I expect him to be off the oxygen no later than the end of the week.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

It was an exciting Easter weekend to say the least. It all started Saturday. Caden’s secretions started flowing like a faucet. The suction machine had barely been used in the past few weeks until Saturday. We initial thought that the secretions were due to teething, but Saturday night brought a little more concern when Caden got a fever. Sherry and I sat in the floor in Caden’s room at about 3AM Sunday morning discussing how we would handle our Easter Sunday. I had not been to bed yet and fortunately Sherry had gone to bed early Saturday night. She moved to the guest room to be able to monitor Caden while I went for some sound sleep for myself. Sunday morning Riley and I went to church while Sherry stayed home to keep a close eye on Caden. By the time Riley and I got home from church Caden’s condition moved out of our comfort zone.

By late Sunday morning Caden was showing signs of labored breathing with a continued fever. We knew from previous experience that after reducing the fever and giving him a breathing treatment that the labored breathing would normally go away. The problem was that we did not have a current prescription for the breathing treatments and we just felt like this labored breathing was a little more than what we had seen come with a fever in the past. We spent our Easter Sunday afternoon at the MUSC Children’s Emergency Room. A breathing treatment and a clear chest x-ray gave the doctors and us enough comfort to take Caden home.

Monday morning Sherry took Caden to his pediatrician for a follow up visit after the ER trip over the weekend. This is were things got really exciting. Caden’s oxygen saturation levels would not come up out of the low 90’s without giving him blow by oxygen. He started showing signs of labored breathing again and his temperature started rising. The pediatrician did not feel comfortable with these symptoms and neither did we. Sherry had called me at work to alert me of these developments. I went over to the doctor’s office and arrived not long before the pediatrician called for an ambulance to transport Caden to MUSC. Yes, Caden and I took another ambulance ride today. We contacted and asked our friend Kim to take Riley while we went through the ER process. God put Kim in the right place at the right time for us today. She was only a few blocks away when we finally contacted her through her husband.

The result of the day has Caden in a private room at the MUSC Children’s Hospital. Sherry is bunking with Caden tonight at the hospital. Riley and I are home for a night of sound sleep. While Caden was initially admitted with a diagnosis of respiratory distress, Sherry just called to tell me that blood tests came back positive for RSV. This is the same diagnosis that Caden had back in January.

Please keep Caden and our family in your prayers. I took a trip to the doctor early Monday morning as well to get a little help holding down some symptoms that popped up on me Sunday night. It was like I all of a sudden started having an allergic reaction the way I used to when mowing the grass. It led to a nasty headache and lack of sleep Sunday night. The headache is gone and I am praying for clear sinuses and some quality sleep.

Please pray that Caden and Sherry will rest good and that Caden will be discharged from the hospital in record time.

A little Easter fun was found on Saturday at the church Easter Egg hunt.

How humbling it is that God gave me the responsibility of being the Daddy to these boys.

Caden was discharged from the hospital this evening with no restrictions on his activity. He was so excited to be out of the hospital.

God’s grace has showered down on our family in a big way this past week and it has been amazing to have a front row seat.

Thank you all for your prayer and support.

I am posting a short note to get the word out about our current situation. Caden did not get to go home as expected on Saturday. He actually got transferred to the PCICU where we have been since Saturday afternoon and are being told we will be until at least Monday night. Caden experienced a few more episodes of heart block yesterday and today very similar to what happened during the catheterization on Friday.

A heart block is basically when his heart slowed way down and the lower half of the heart just skipped a few beats due to an electrical disonnect between the top and bottom chambers of the heart. This was not quite as big of a deal yesterday and today as it was on Friday because these last few times did not require chest compressions or medication to recover. While Caden has recovered each time this weekend without intervention (chest compressions or medication) the cardiologists wanted him monitored much more closely. The staff to patient ratios are much better in the PCICU and the medication and doctors are much more accessible in the ICU. Other than being stuck in an ICU with all the things that come with that, Caden has resumed normal play and eating routines.

The last episode of heart block happened earlier this evening. We will be cleared by the cardiologists to check out after 24 hours from that last episode of heart block.

Please keep Caden and the rest of our family in your prayers. Pray for Caden to continue to have normal heart functions. Please remember to give thanks for the already answered prayers.

A few days ago I wrote the following in response to the heart surgeon’s call for a heart catheterization:

We believe that this is just one more chance for God to show his miraculous healing power. We are believing for a miracle cure for Caden. We stand on Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (NIV)

I can not tell you how much joy it gives me to write this message. God has shown us how powerful he is and has answered our prayers in an awesome way today. The results of today’s visit to the hospital for the catheterization are that Caden does NOT need open-heart surgery!!! Yes, you did read correctly. The doctors’ diagnosis of “Supra Valvar Aortic Stenosis” was withdrawn. There is still a diagnosis of a bicuspid aortic valve showing a pressure gradient across the valve, but it is considered by the cardiologist to be mild. The bottom line is that there is no longer a recommendation of open-heart surgery for Caden.

The day did not come without a little excitement. It was reported to us by the cardiologist who performed the heart cath that Caden’s heart rate slowed down and his atriums actually stopped beating for a short period of time. There were two cardiologists in the room performing the cath procedure and they administered medication to bring Caden’s heart rate back up. They did have to give him chest compressions for about a half a minute until the medication took affect. This episode was triggered by the fact that they had a catheter in Caden’s heart through his aortic valve. The cardiologist who came to brief us said that he has done between 900 and 1000 heart catheterizations and this was only the third time he has experienced a cardiac arrest during a heart catheterization. As a result of this excitement, Caden will remain in the MUSC Children’s Hospital over night. Caden and I will bunk in 7c for the evening so they can observe him with the telemetry.

I came home for a little while to play with Riley and gather some clothes. Caden was wide awake when I left the hospital and about to have his second regular feeding via g-tube since the procedure this morning. He is alert, playing, and being his normal self this evening. Praise God and to Him be the glory for this awesome miracle.

I do not want the excitement to minimize the overall blessings that God has made visible to us today. Caden’s heart is healed of this “Supra Valvar Aortic Stenosis” and there is more yet to be seen. As the cardiologist explained his findings today, Sherry and I just grinned from ear to ear as we looked at each other. The doctor must have thought we were crazy. Sherry told the cardiologist that this was an answer to prayer. Sherry and I explained that this news was not that surprising to us.

We asked in prayer, believed, and then we received. Praise God!!!

If you are interested in what I am reading to grow my understanding of God’s power in areas of finance and healing, then you need to read God’s Creative Power Gift Collection by Charles Capps.

We just got a call. We will be in the Cath Lab at MUSC with Caden on Friday morning at 6:30AM. Please see previous post for details. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.