IF LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS...

Jonah reminded me of an important life lesson during our night at the hospital last night.

As mentioned in a previous post, Jonah had his thyroid removed on Tuesday.  Prior to his surgery date, Jonah was very excited about his hospital visit.  Oddly enough, Jonah has always loved interacting with doctors and nurses.  He is very familiar and comfortable with Children's Hospital because he's always treated so nicely.  So Jonah had really built up his upcoming visit to the hospital.  

While the surgery was very successful, recovery these past 2 days has been hard. Jonah was very uncomfortable after surgery and very groggy and sleepy for a long time after coming out of recovery. He needed oxygen because he wasn't taking good breaths because of being so groggy.

Then Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, his O2 levels dropped to low 80s.  He was put on up to 3-4 liters of oxygen.  Then he started throwing up and running a 101.9 fever.  Then wheezing, very bad cough, and very labored breathing.  Suddenly our hospital room was filling up with on call surgeons, respitory therapy consults, and a portable chest X-ray.  Our little guy didn't look good.  

Discharge on Wednesday was off the table.  We would be staying a 2nd night for sure.

Not the hospital experience any of us were planning on, especially our little eternal optimist.

The doctors feel Jonah didn't clear his lungs good enough post surgery because of being so groggy that junk just sort of settled in the lungs making it hard for him to breath.  A fever can be quite common after surgery so at this point, they are not thinking Jonah has pneumonia or some other type of respitory infection. 

They felt with better breathing, getting up and walking, and regular albuterol puffs, he would get better!

And better he did!  Yesterday Jonah's fever was 99 and then down to normal.  They took him off oxygen at 10 am to see what he would do, and he was in the high 90s all day!  We took many walks and played in the playroom.  He was mostly himself besides tiring kind of easy and rather unsteady walking/moving.

From this Tuesday night

To this Wednesday!

Then during the night Wednesday, Jonah's oxygen levels while sleeping dropped to 86-89.  It was decided to put him back on oxygen at 1 liter.  Jonah fought this and kept grabbing the O2 out of his nose.  Nurses decided to tape it on his face.  Jonah got very angry and upset over this.  I think it was a combination of not liking the feeling of the O2 line in his nose, the tape on his face, and just overall frustration that nothing about this hospital visit was meeting his expectations. 

I watched him laying in his hospital bed, very upset and agitated.  Slowly he calmed down on his own. Then he just layed there, and I was thinking he was going to go back to sleep.  It was 1am after all 😊  Instead all of a sudden, in his sweet Jonah voice (although a bit hoarse right now), Jonah started "telling"/signing the nurse and I about Two Face from Batman.  In Jonah's mind, he felt the tape on his face made him look like Two Face.  From being really angry, Jonah now had imagined he could be Two Face and suddenly life was fun and exciting again!

I was so impressed by this little fellow's resiliency!  He just doesn't let life get him down.  When oxygen was the last thing we wanted him to need, he made it into a game of his favorite super hero.  

So yes, when life gives you lemons, make and ENJOY the lemonade!

I love this sweet boy with all my heart!

Just a note to end this post:  We got to come home on Thursday!  Bye Children's Hospital!

HAPPY SWEET 16 LYDIA!

Not the best timing because of Jonah having surgery today, but today is our Lydia's 16th birthday!

Lydia is a beautiful, sweet, smart and talented young lady.  We are so blessed to have her as our daughter!

We had Lydia's birthday meal on Sunday because we knew we would not all be home today.

Her sweet aunties threw her a surprise party tonight for supper!

This morning at 6am

SURGERY SIGH OF RELIEF

Jonah's surgery to have his thyroid removed is done!  Surgery took less time than expected- less than 3 hours.  Calcium levels are in normal range post-surgery which is great news.  Our only issue is dropping oxygen levels so Jonah is getting some O2 support since waking up.  He is very sleepy and a bit uncomfortable, but we are hoping he perks up soon.

Thank you for all the prayers covering sweet Jonah today!

Ready to leave this morning

Pre-op prep

 

Chilling after getting "happy juice"

Jonah packed a tool box of toys for his hospital stay

Cuddling with dad after surgery

J

Up in his regular room, needing oxygen

Waking up after sleeping since recovery room

WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN- TAKE TWO

Well, we should have known...

Jonah's mid-April labs came back showing he still is hyPERthyroid.  

This means his May 7th surgery is still on.  

Nervous...

WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN

In a previous post, we talked about scheduling Jonah for surgery on May 7 to have his thyroid removed.

This is because his Grave's disease or hyPERthyroidism can no longer be controlled by medication.  

And Jonah's body had not started to self-correct which is sometimes what happens after being on the medication.  Jonah has been off the medication since January so his endocrinologist thought self-correcting would have happened by now.  

However, we should have known that Jonah never does anything the way the experts expect things to happen.  

As part of the surgical consult appointment in March, the surgeon had thyroid labs ran just to verify what Jonah's levels are before surgery.  While Jonah's TSH is still low which is expected with hyPERthyroidism, his free T3 and T4 are in the normal range.  Usually with hyPERthyroidism, the free T3 and T4 are high.  

This means there is a very good chance that Jonah is moving into the sub-clinical category of hyPERthyroidism and possibly on his way to being in remission.  Which would mean no surgery!

So in mid-April, we will rerun labs.  If levels continue to be in the sub-clinical range to possibly even normal range, surgery can be cancelled!  Yeah Jonah for possibly fixing this on his own- with a little help from the Lord, of course :)

This would be great news!  Sometimes quirkiness is exactly what works best!

If Jonah's Grave's is in remission, there will still need to be monitoring done to make sure it stays that way.  Also, there will be the question of Jonah's difficulty with focusing and staying on task:  will this get better because the thyroid is functioning normally now?  Of course, we are praying we see an improvement for Jonah in this area.  

And now some photos of the boys playing in the park on one of our beautiful spring days.  I really notice an improvement in what they can do as far on the play equipment since the fall.  They can now slide down the "Batman" pole and swing on the "George of the Jungle" zip line swing.  These are things they were too scared of and not strong enough for last fall.  So much fun for them-even though Ben doesn't look very happy in this 1st photo:

WHAT EASTER MEANS TO ME

 

Please READ to find out 

WHY EASTER MATTERS by Focus on the Family.

Please WATCH the following video to see 

WHAT THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST MEANS:

Please READ the following to find out

WHAT EASTER MEANS TO ME:

I became a Christian when I was a sophomore in high school.  

I grew up going to church and having the Bible read to me by my parents almost every day at the supper table.  I always knew my parents had a personal relationship with the Lord because I would observe them praying and reading their Bibles during their quiet times.  I also grew up watching my parents make their decisions based on their faith and what the Bible said.  They treated others with love and respect and were always willing to serve and help others whenever help was needed.  They always were grateful for the blessings from the Lord and willing to share and give of those blessing to others.    

What prompted me to accept Jesus as my Savior as a sophomore in high school was the question being posed to me, "If you would die tonight, where would you go: heaven or hell?"  

Not only did I realize that I was sinner, but I also realized that living a life captive to my sinful desires would not bring me an everlasting joy and peace.  The things of this world are temporary and fleeting.  

Only God's love and grace could make me whole and complete. 

And there was nothing I could do on my own to make 

myself right with the Lord.   

Further, because of my sin, I would face eternity out of the 

Lord's presence if I would die.  

This was not something I wanted.  

So I guess you could say that initially I became a Christian mostly for the reason of wanting the assurance of eternal life in heaven.  

Over the years, however, the Lord has helped my faith become so much more than just an insurance policy for my death.  My faith is now the guiding force in my life, it directs how I treat others, how I spend my time and money, and it guides and directs me in making decisions.  My faith is a source of strength and comfort during difficult times, and helps me to always give thanks to the Lord for His blessings in my life, in good and bad times.   My faith is what helps me have a second chance when I goof up and not make good choices (using the language we use with our boys).  I can ask for forgiveness from my Lord Jesus, and He forgives me and helps me get back on my feet to try again.  I try to study God's word every day and spend time in prayer.  I try to use what I read in God's word and apply it to my life:  how can I better serve the Lord using what I learned today from the Bible? 

In other words, my belief in the Jesus as my Lord and Savior gives my life structure and purpose.  I try to live each and every day for Him, to bring Him glory and honor.  

Do I fail often?  Yes.  

Am I forgiven always?  Yes.  

Am I loved by Jesus no matter what?  Yes.  

Would I live my life any other way?  No.

So Easter is the time of year where I really try to focus on what Jesus did for me by dying on the cross for my sins.  How much love He showed me by taking the blame for my sins.  And then to celebrate that my Lord is more powerful than death because He rose again and conquered the grave!  

Easter is truly a beautiful time of year!

Please LISTEN to the following song 

which explains what Christ means to me:

    

RISKY BUSINESS...recreated

I am probably dating myself, but there is a well-known scene from the 1983 movie 

Risky Business with Tom Cruise.  

It is the scene where Cruise's character sings and air guitars the song "Old Time Rock and Roll".  

This morning Jonah recreated that scene without even knowing it.  

Enjoy the similarities!

P.S. Jonah's "real" guitar is a doggy guitar from Goodwill 

that I found Sat for $4!

2019 JONAH VERSION

1983 ORIGINAL TOM CRUISE VERSION: