Courtney slept well from about 10:30 til 2:30, then she woke-up with some pain in her right shoulder. Once Jennifer got her to go back to sleep, she slept okay until 4 or so when they came in to do vitals and then again to draw blood. I sat up with her for awhile before I had to take a shower, but she was still sleeping well when I left around 7:30.
This morning for breakfast, she ate some yogurt, pudding, and drank some apple juice. They are going to give her some oral pain medicine to see if she can handle it now with food on her stomach. Thus far, she has thrown up everytime they have given it to her with no food on her stomach. If she tolerates it well, they will begin weaning her from the small amount of IV pain medicine that she is getting continuously but will still be able to push the button for the pain med and receive other IV and oral pain meds on request. They may also take the catheter out later today. She should try to get up at 10:00, 2:00 and 6:00 today and then maybe again in the evening.
11:30 AM - I just spoke with Jennifer and she said that Courtney is having stronger back pain today and not wanting to sit up at all. Also her right side is really bothering her. The nurse requested the doctor to come look at a knot in her side. Before the doctor arrived, the suppository kicked in enough that Courtney willingly agreed to get up to go to the bathroom. She passed gas!! (another hurdle successfully passed). Then she sat in the chair for about twenty minutes. Even with the oral and extra pain meds given [with her continuous meds] she never seemed to get any relief from her back pain and continuously requested to get back in bed. She was up a total of 30 minutes before getting back into bed. Once the pain was under control, she was exhausted and just wanted to rest.
4:00 PM - After dozing most of the afternoon, Courtney once again agreed to get up only to go to the bathroom. Success! A HUGE hurdle passed [her bowels have previously been slow to wake up after surgery and caused many problems in the past]. She walked to the chair and sat for 15 more minutes, but once again couldn't get past the 30 minute total mark before she couldn't tolerate the pain and had to retreat to the bed. She had other food to eat, but ate a little pudding and sprite and laid down to rest.
Although today has been harder for her to tolerate the pain, every time up is good for her overall progress.... she is such a tough cookie.
6:00 PM - They stopped her continuous run of pain meds. She can push the button or get oral and/or IV pain meds every 4 hours. They also removed her folie [catheter] so now she must get up [with help] even to go pee.
9:00 PM - She really perked up this evening when Jennifer's uncle paid a visit followed by a surprise visit from her grandparents - better than any medicine pumped in her. We ate supper with Jennifer's dad and uncle, while her Mom stayed with Courtney. She got up one more time and walked to the bathroom (this was the first time that I got to help her get up and back in to bed). She was able to pee a little, but did not feel like sitting in the chair, so we let her get into bed. She had been asking to talk to Kelsey, so we called and she talked to her and told her good night. She had some Carnation to drink and then she was given her oral pain medicine and some medicine to help with nausea. She wanted to listen to a movie while she laid down, so I put in "Cars", one of our all time favorite Disney movies.
10:30 PM - She is sleeping good and hopefully will have her best night yet. :-) She is wanting to walk in the hall tomorrow and looking forward to a visit from Jennifer's aunt. Good night.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Courtney Update - Thursday, April 29th
Morning report - 9:30 AM
Well, we have had an interesting morning. Courtney slept well until about 3:30 this morning, when she told Jennifer that her bed was wet. They discovered that the foli from the catheter had disconnected somehow, so they had to change her bed linens, with her still on the bed unfortunately. She was in quite a bit of pain during that process. Once they finished with that and she settled down, they had someone come in from the IV team to draw some blood. She was very good and finished quickly, but Courtney was not happy considering the timing of it and the circumstances she was dealing with.
She was able to get back to sleep and slept well until 6:30, when the ortho doctors came in and wanted to look at her incision and remove the chest tube. That was about the same time I was going to take a shower. Jenn and I assisted, while they removed the chest tube and changed the bandage on her incision. Her back looked really good and the incision was clean and no problems from what they could see. They are very pleased with her progress and will continue the plan of applying pressure today (not sure if that is by standing for periods of time or what).
I got into work later than anticipated, but glad I was there when they completed this next step.
Mid-day report - 12:30 PM
Jenn called to say that Courtney sat in a chair for 50 minutes this morning. She was less dizzy than before and did not get nausous and throw up this time. She still complained about the pain, but did not need an extra dose of pain medicine like she has in the past.
Courtney actually called me at work after this round to ask me when I would be there.
Night-time report - 10:30 PM
Courtney got up 2 more times today and sat up for at least 45 minutes both times. The first time she got up was because she needed to use the bathroom, even though the catheter was still in. She walked all the way to the bathroom and then they discovered that the catheter had a kink in it and was obstructing her. Once they fixed that, she overflowed the bag due to all that she had builtup. Once she sat in the chair, a lady came around with a guitar and sang to her (music therapy) for about 25 minutes and she didn't need any pain medicine during that time. She took a nap after that because she was tired.
Jennifer said she drank about 4 or 5 little cans of Sprite today, as well as some apple juice, part of a Smoothie, and actually ate some yogurt and pudding.
After her last time sitting up, she watched home videos on the camcorder. She has not closed her eyes for about 5 hours, which is the longest amount of time she has not slept since the surgery. She is complaining about her right shoulder hurting her and she wants us to rub it frequently. I am sure she is using muscles in ways that she never has due to the changes they made in her back.
She did not throw up today and was only a little dizzy the last time she satup (that may have been due to putting her glasses on for the first time all week). She has used less pain medicine today than she has over the last few days.
Tonight she surprised Mamaw by calling her and talking to her on the phone. Kelsey called from her trip and talked to Courtney for a few minutes and that made Courtney's day. She says she is going to walk tomorrow and plans on walking downstairs to the 2nd floor on Saturday (she is such a little trooper - we will see if she is able to do that) :-)
She is sleeping now while listening to a movie. Hopefully we will have a good night and get some sleep. We both need it, especially Jennifer. Good night.
Well, we have had an interesting morning. Courtney slept well until about 3:30 this morning, when she told Jennifer that her bed was wet. They discovered that the foli from the catheter had disconnected somehow, so they had to change her bed linens, with her still on the bed unfortunately. She was in quite a bit of pain during that process. Once they finished with that and she settled down, they had someone come in from the IV team to draw some blood. She was very good and finished quickly, but Courtney was not happy considering the timing of it and the circumstances she was dealing with.
She was able to get back to sleep and slept well until 6:30, when the ortho doctors came in and wanted to look at her incision and remove the chest tube. That was about the same time I was going to take a shower. Jenn and I assisted, while they removed the chest tube and changed the bandage on her incision. Her back looked really good and the incision was clean and no problems from what they could see. They are very pleased with her progress and will continue the plan of applying pressure today (not sure if that is by standing for periods of time or what).
I got into work later than anticipated, but glad I was there when they completed this next step.
Mid-day report - 12:30 PM
Jenn called to say that Courtney sat in a chair for 50 minutes this morning. She was less dizzy than before and did not get nausous and throw up this time. She still complained about the pain, but did not need an extra dose of pain medicine like she has in the past.
Courtney actually called me at work after this round to ask me when I would be there.
Night-time report - 10:30 PM
Courtney got up 2 more times today and sat up for at least 45 minutes both times. The first time she got up was because she needed to use the bathroom, even though the catheter was still in. She walked all the way to the bathroom and then they discovered that the catheter had a kink in it and was obstructing her. Once they fixed that, she overflowed the bag due to all that she had builtup. Once she sat in the chair, a lady came around with a guitar and sang to her (music therapy) for about 25 minutes and she didn't need any pain medicine during that time. She took a nap after that because she was tired.
Jennifer said she drank about 4 or 5 little cans of Sprite today, as well as some apple juice, part of a Smoothie, and actually ate some yogurt and pudding.
After her last time sitting up, she watched home videos on the camcorder. She has not closed her eyes for about 5 hours, which is the longest amount of time she has not slept since the surgery. She is complaining about her right shoulder hurting her and she wants us to rub it frequently. I am sure she is using muscles in ways that she never has due to the changes they made in her back.
She did not throw up today and was only a little dizzy the last time she satup (that may have been due to putting her glasses on for the first time all week). She has used less pain medicine today than she has over the last few days.
Tonight she surprised Mamaw by calling her and talking to her on the phone. Kelsey called from her trip and talked to Courtney for a few minutes and that made Courtney's day. She says she is going to walk tomorrow and plans on walking downstairs to the 2nd floor on Saturday (she is such a little trooper - we will see if she is able to do that) :-)
She is sleeping now while listening to a movie. Hopefully we will have a good night and get some sleep. We both need it, especially Jennifer. Good night.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Courtney Update - Wednesday, April 28th
9:00 AM - I am back in the office at work today (that is at least a good sign that Courtney is doing well) :-) I would much rather be at the hospital with her and Jenn (regardless of how tiring that is) :-)
She had a better night sleeping, not as much restlessness. She at least is wanting to listen to movies. Earlier in the day she didn't want anything on, whether it was the TV or music (not like Courtney if you know her very well). :-) Yesterday afternoon, she wanted to listen to movies and we went through several during the afternoon and last night. This morning when I left she was asking about her iPOD so she could listen to her music. :-)
She also mentioned that she wanted to situp (much better than I would be - I would be lazy I am sure - not wanting to move) :-) She may get an opportunity earlier today because they need to change out her bed sheets.
Jenn allowed me to get a little more sleep since I am working today, but Courtney at least let her lie down last night instead of insisting on her sitting in a chair beside the bed. Kelsey spent the night with a friend again and is back in school today.
11:15 - Just got a call from Jenn to tell me that Courtney sat up for about 45 minutes. She sat up in the bed for a few minutes, then they helped her out of the bed and walked a few baby steps to the chair and then sat in the chair and walked back to the bed. Jennifer said she cried and wanted back in the bed, but did very well. She was also having issues with her catheter at the time, so Jenn said she was crying more about that than she was her back. They did some re-adjustment on that and got her feeling better, but she still wasn't happy.
She was too worn out to talk to me on the phone, but Jenn said that everyone was impressed by her progress and thought she did really well. :-)
6:30 PM - Courtney has now been up out of bed 3 times. She has done better each time, but she is having some pain in her back or shoulder area, probably due to muscles being stretched and used in different ways now. She took a good nap after her previous time getting up. I got to see her standing for the first time and she looks so good. We haven't measured yet, but she appears to be taller. She is definitely sitting and standing straighter. Kelsey even got a picture of her smiling while she was sitting up.
10:30 PM - Kelsey & Austin came to visit Courtney this evening. We went to eat supper in the cafeteria and came back and watched American Idol and hung out with Courtney. Kelsey left to spend the night at home with Grandmomma. She leaves tomorrow for a competition in Gatlinburg. Please remember her in your prayers for a safe trip there and back on Saturday night and also for comfort while she misses Courtney while she is gone. Courtney is sleeping well and Jenn is too right now. I hope that both of them get some much needed rest tonight.
Thank you to those of you who have left comments. We really appreciate you taking the time to check in on us and leave messages. We are reading them and telling Courtney about them also.
She had a better night sleeping, not as much restlessness. She at least is wanting to listen to movies. Earlier in the day she didn't want anything on, whether it was the TV or music (not like Courtney if you know her very well). :-) Yesterday afternoon, she wanted to listen to movies and we went through several during the afternoon and last night. This morning when I left she was asking about her iPOD so she could listen to her music. :-)
She also mentioned that she wanted to situp (much better than I would be - I would be lazy I am sure - not wanting to move) :-) She may get an opportunity earlier today because they need to change out her bed sheets.
Jenn allowed me to get a little more sleep since I am working today, but Courtney at least let her lie down last night instead of insisting on her sitting in a chair beside the bed. Kelsey spent the night with a friend again and is back in school today.
11:15 - Just got a call from Jenn to tell me that Courtney sat up for about 45 minutes. She sat up in the bed for a few minutes, then they helped her out of the bed and walked a few baby steps to the chair and then sat in the chair and walked back to the bed. Jennifer said she cried and wanted back in the bed, but did very well. She was also having issues with her catheter at the time, so Jenn said she was crying more about that than she was her back. They did some re-adjustment on that and got her feeling better, but she still wasn't happy.
She was too worn out to talk to me on the phone, but Jenn said that everyone was impressed by her progress and thought she did really well. :-)
6:30 PM - Courtney has now been up out of bed 3 times. She has done better each time, but she is having some pain in her back or shoulder area, probably due to muscles being stretched and used in different ways now. She took a good nap after her previous time getting up. I got to see her standing for the first time and she looks so good. We haven't measured yet, but she appears to be taller. She is definitely sitting and standing straighter. Kelsey even got a picture of her smiling while she was sitting up.
10:30 PM - Kelsey & Austin came to visit Courtney this evening. We went to eat supper in the cafeteria and came back and watched American Idol and hung out with Courtney. Kelsey left to spend the night at home with Grandmomma. She leaves tomorrow for a competition in Gatlinburg. Please remember her in your prayers for a safe trip there and back on Saturday night and also for comfort while she misses Courtney while she is gone. Courtney is sleeping well and Jenn is too right now. I hope that both of them get some much needed rest tonight.
Thank you to those of you who have left comments. We really appreciate you taking the time to check in on us and leave messages. We are reading them and telling Courtney about them also.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Courtney's Update - Tuesday, April 27th
12:30 AM - Jenn and I swapped out so I can try to get some rest. Courtney still restless, sleeping in little spurts, but not soundly.
4:30 AM - Jenn and I swapped again, but they came in to draw blood and got her agitated and hurting again. She settled down and finally slept good from 5:30 - 6:30.
7:00 AM - They had to get a chest x-ray and that was very painful for her since we had to lift her up as they placed the x-ray pad underneath her. She got some extra pain medicine and she settled down. The resident for the surgeon came in and checked her responses in her toes and legs.
8:00 AM - The surgeon came in and checked on her and discussed possible pain medication changes. I went down to get some breakfast.
9:00 AM - Kelsey came back to the hospital (YEAH!!!! Courtney had been asking for her several hours this morning. Jennifer went down to get some breakfast and Courtney is sleeping a little while Kelsey is fixing a picture for her to place on her door.
1:00 PM - We had another problem with throwing up this morning after she got her oral pain medicine. They changed her sheets, blankets, and gown while they were cleaning up and rolled her on to her back. We were able to get a good look at her back while they were turning her and it looks like the hump is no longer there, but we will get a better look later today when they sit her up to dangle her legs over the edge of the bed. She also had some problems with her leg hurting and her catheter, but the nurses were able to get that resolved and she is now taking a nap (after turning her again onto her right side). Kelsey and I have eaten lunch and Jenn will go soon. We have had some visitors today and everyone is pleased with how she looks.
6:30 PM - Typical Courtney had to add some new wrinkles to the situation. Her blood pressure dropped this afternoon, which led to some consultation with the Ortho Resident. They have given her some extra fluids and gave us the okay to move forward with today's plan of having her sit up and dangle her feet over the edge of the bed. With much assistance, they were able to sit her up and she dangled her feet for about 3 minutes. They took her blood pressure again and it had come back to a more normal level for her. We got our first really good look at her back, and other than the bandage over the scar and the chest tube coming out, her back looked really good (no more hump)!!!!!!!! They gave her some more pain medicine to help since she was moved around so much. Everyone thought she did great and the surgeon and his team came by and checked on her and told her the 1st time is the hardest and it should get easier to sit up from now on. She is now resting well and awaiting Kelsey's return. I will update again tomorrow morning on how the night goes from here.
4:30 AM - Jenn and I swapped again, but they came in to draw blood and got her agitated and hurting again. She settled down and finally slept good from 5:30 - 6:30.
7:00 AM - They had to get a chest x-ray and that was very painful for her since we had to lift her up as they placed the x-ray pad underneath her. She got some extra pain medicine and she settled down. The resident for the surgeon came in and checked her responses in her toes and legs.
8:00 AM - The surgeon came in and checked on her and discussed possible pain medication changes. I went down to get some breakfast.
9:00 AM - Kelsey came back to the hospital (YEAH!!!! Courtney had been asking for her several hours this morning. Jennifer went down to get some breakfast and Courtney is sleeping a little while Kelsey is fixing a picture for her to place on her door.
1:00 PM - We had another problem with throwing up this morning after she got her oral pain medicine. They changed her sheets, blankets, and gown while they were cleaning up and rolled her on to her back. We were able to get a good look at her back while they were turning her and it looks like the hump is no longer there, but we will get a better look later today when they sit her up to dangle her legs over the edge of the bed. She also had some problems with her leg hurting and her catheter, but the nurses were able to get that resolved and she is now taking a nap (after turning her again onto her right side). Kelsey and I have eaten lunch and Jenn will go soon. We have had some visitors today and everyone is pleased with how she looks.
6:30 PM - Typical Courtney had to add some new wrinkles to the situation. Her blood pressure dropped this afternoon, which led to some consultation with the Ortho Resident. They have given her some extra fluids and gave us the okay to move forward with today's plan of having her sit up and dangle her feet over the edge of the bed. With much assistance, they were able to sit her up and she dangled her feet for about 3 minutes. They took her blood pressure again and it had come back to a more normal level for her. We got our first really good look at her back, and other than the bandage over the scar and the chest tube coming out, her back looked really good (no more hump)!!!!!!!! They gave her some more pain medicine to help since she was moved around so much. Everyone thought she did great and the surgeon and his team came by and checked on her and told her the 1st time is the hardest and it should get easier to sit up from now on. She is now resting well and awaiting Kelsey's return. I will update again tomorrow morning on how the night goes from here.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Courtney's Surgery Updates
Sunday, April 25th
Kelsey gave Courtney her surgery hair-do (corn-rows & braids) to keep it out of the way for the surgeons. They watched Mighty Joe Young with my Mom & Dad while she was fixing her hair. Then they went to bed in our room while we finished packing. Jenn and I didn't get in bed till about 1:00 AM.
Monday, April 26th
Early start to the day - We were up at 4:00 AM to start showers. Courtney got up at 5:00 and told Mamaw & Papaw goodbye. We left the house about 5:25 and were checked in by 6:00. We were called back to the holding room about 6:20. We had a parade of doctors, nurses, anethesiologists, come through for the next hour and spoke with the surgeon. They took her about 7:20 to prepare her for surgery. She didn't even need any medicine to help relax her before going. She seems to be handling this a lot easier than we are. :-) They told us it would take about an hour to prepare everything for the surgery and then it would take about 5 hours for the surgery itself. We should get updates every hour and a half. Please keep us in your prayers throughout the morning.
9:25 - Just got the call a few minutes ago that they have made the first incision and they told us that she is doing well.
11:07 - Just got the next call. Everything is going well. They just got the first screw in, limited blood loss, and they are moving along smoothly. We should get another call around 12:30.
12:37 - Just received our next update. Everything still going well. They are putting in some implants and hardware, they gave her a unit of blood (typical for this stage of the surgery), her vital signs are still very good, and they will give us another update between 1:30 & 2:00. Thank you for your continued prayers. I went down and ate lunch and Jennifer is eating now.
2:45 - We got called into a consult room about 30 minutes ago and met with the surgeon. They have finished the surgery and everything went well. We are waiting for them to test the movement of her toes and responses to make sure she is responding properly and then they will move her into Recovery.
3:30 - Courtney is in Recovery and we got to go back and see her. She is sore and her face is swollen, but they are controlling the pain now and she is resting okay. If she does well and can maintain her SATs off of oxygen, we will move to a room on the floor tonight. Keep the prayers coming!!!! :-)
5:30 - We are in a room!!!!!!! Courtney is sleeping and resting well right now. Her pain is under control right now and she seems to be doing very well. They will have to turn her every 2 hours, but she actually tried helping earlier when they turned her and they said that was a good sign. She drank some apple juice (she can have clear liquids the rest of tonight) and was wanting some more. :-)
9:00 - Kelsey left to spend the night with a friend. I am listening to the Predators game on the computer since Vanderbilt's TVs didn't pick up Fox Sports Tennessee. Courtney doesn't want us very far away from her, but doesn't seem to be in much pain while she is lying still. Jenn tried to lay down and get some rest and I stayed beside Courtney and tried to get her to sleep.
11:00 - They started giving Courtney an oral pain medicine and she threw it up a couple of times, so they started giving her something to settle her stomach and for the nausea.
Kelsey gave Courtney her surgery hair-do (corn-rows & braids) to keep it out of the way for the surgeons. They watched Mighty Joe Young with my Mom & Dad while she was fixing her hair. Then they went to bed in our room while we finished packing. Jenn and I didn't get in bed till about 1:00 AM.
Monday, April 26th
Early start to the day - We were up at 4:00 AM to start showers. Courtney got up at 5:00 and told Mamaw & Papaw goodbye. We left the house about 5:25 and were checked in by 6:00. We were called back to the holding room about 6:20. We had a parade of doctors, nurses, anethesiologists, come through for the next hour and spoke with the surgeon. They took her about 7:20 to prepare her for surgery. She didn't even need any medicine to help relax her before going. She seems to be handling this a lot easier than we are. :-) They told us it would take about an hour to prepare everything for the surgery and then it would take about 5 hours for the surgery itself. We should get updates every hour and a half. Please keep us in your prayers throughout the morning.
9:25 - Just got the call a few minutes ago that they have made the first incision and they told us that she is doing well.
11:07 - Just got the next call. Everything is going well. They just got the first screw in, limited blood loss, and they are moving along smoothly. We should get another call around 12:30.
12:37 - Just received our next update. Everything still going well. They are putting in some implants and hardware, they gave her a unit of blood (typical for this stage of the surgery), her vital signs are still very good, and they will give us another update between 1:30 & 2:00. Thank you for your continued prayers. I went down and ate lunch and Jennifer is eating now.
2:45 - We got called into a consult room about 30 minutes ago and met with the surgeon. They have finished the surgery and everything went well. We are waiting for them to test the movement of her toes and responses to make sure she is responding properly and then they will move her into Recovery.
3:30 - Courtney is in Recovery and we got to go back and see her. She is sore and her face is swollen, but they are controlling the pain now and she is resting okay. If she does well and can maintain her SATs off of oxygen, we will move to a room on the floor tonight. Keep the prayers coming!!!! :-)
5:30 - We are in a room!!!!!!! Courtney is sleeping and resting well right now. Her pain is under control right now and she seems to be doing very well. They will have to turn her every 2 hours, but she actually tried helping earlier when they turned her and they said that was a good sign. She drank some apple juice (she can have clear liquids the rest of tonight) and was wanting some more. :-)
9:00 - Kelsey left to spend the night with a friend. I am listening to the Predators game on the computer since Vanderbilt's TVs didn't pick up Fox Sports Tennessee. Courtney doesn't want us very far away from her, but doesn't seem to be in much pain while she is lying still. Jenn tried to lay down and get some rest and I stayed beside Courtney and tried to get her to sleep.
11:00 - They started giving Courtney an oral pain medicine and she threw it up a couple of times, so they started giving her something to settle her stomach and for the nausea.
Easter in McMinnville
As we do each year, we spent Easter weekend in McMinnville. We had our annual Good Friday dinner with the Dodds and the Praters. Then Saturday, we had lunch with the Jacobs side of the family. We had lots of fun with the Easter egg hunts. We are blessed to have lots of children to participate, but we seem to have a problem with hiding the eggs so well that we forgot where we hid them. :-)
Sunday morning, we enjoyed a breakfast and Kelsey sang at the early service at Christ United Methodist. She did a wonderful job and received many compliments.
Sunday morning, we enjoyed a breakfast and Kelsey sang at the early service at Christ United Methodist. She did a wonderful job and received many compliments.
Friday, April 16, 2010
March Update
March was another busy month for the Queen family and here I am updating an entire month's activity at one time. :-)
Kelsey started the month in Lexington, KY with the DCA Drama team competing in the High School Festival at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC). The team finished 2nd in the Tennessee Theatre Conference and were one of 20 schools competing at the SETC. Kelsey did not have an acting part in the play due to conflicts with soccer last fall when they first performed "Flowers for Algernon". She was responsible for selecting the costumes for the play and handling the costume changes during the play. However, she did get an opportunity to audition for judges and representatives from the drama departments from several colleges across the country. She performed a monologue and sang a song and got 32 callbacks from the schools. She received several scholarship opportunity offers and really enjoyed meeting representatives from many of the schools. She was excited and really surprised at the interest in her acting. She has always felt that her singing was her strongest asset.
I took a couple of days off from work during Courtney's Spring Break. One day we went to Montgomery Bell State Park and spent time with Phillip, Tanner, Trace, Jim & Phyllis. The kids rode bikes, played on the playground, fished, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The other day we were invited by Dr. Churchwell at Vanderbilt to participate in a "Day on the Hill". Vanderbilt setup booths in the Legislative Building, provided breakfast, and asked us to be available to speak with Representatives about how the hospital had made a difference in our life. We met several people and had a good time there. We agreed to help them again in the future if they needed us again. Later in the day, Phillip and the boys came here and met Courtney and I and we all went bowling.
I went to my first Predators game of the year with some colleagues from work who were visiting from Chicago. We saw them win a great game in a 5 - 0 shutout. Kelsey went to a lockin with her church Youth group.
During Kelsey's Winterim break at school, she got to do some job shadowing at Vanderbilt. Since she is taking Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classes, she didn't get out of her classes like other students and thus only got to shadow 2 days instead of 4. She did 1 day with Speech Therapy and 1 day in the PCCU. She really enjoyed it and learned quite a bit from the people she worked with.
Courtney's school got free ticket vouchers from the Predators, so we were able to get 2 tickets to 2 different games down the playoff stretch. Courtney had trouble for the first bit of both games with the noise, but after she adjusted, she really had a good time and took lots of pictures. The Predators won the first game in a shootout, but lost the second game.
Courtney and I went to Sweetwater and spent a weekend with my family. She had a great time playing with Madison. We went to the Duck Pond one day and they ate lunch there, fed the ducks, and then took a walk around the path and the track at the community park. We went to church on Sunday, went out to eat for lunch, and then they played some more before we headed back home. Jennifer stayed home because she had been invited to participate in a parent panel discussing the special challenges of raising a special needs child. She also went to TPAC and saw "The Color Purple".
Kelsey drove herself to Jackson during her Spring Break to spend a few days with Christy & Phillip and the kids. While she was there, she did some aerobic training with Christy, played paintball with Phillip and some youth from his church, and also took a campus tour at Union University, since that is one of her college choices. She had a great time and got back home safely.
Throughout the month, Courtney has continued to bowl on Saturday mornings and Kelsey is very busy getting ready for the Spring Musical in April.
I can't believe it is already April. I don't guess I have to tell you that it will be busy also. :-) Thank you for your concern and interest in keeping up with our family.
Kelsey started the month in Lexington, KY with the DCA Drama team competing in the High School Festival at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC). The team finished 2nd in the Tennessee Theatre Conference and were one of 20 schools competing at the SETC. Kelsey did not have an acting part in the play due to conflicts with soccer last fall when they first performed "Flowers for Algernon". She was responsible for selecting the costumes for the play and handling the costume changes during the play. However, she did get an opportunity to audition for judges and representatives from the drama departments from several colleges across the country. She performed a monologue and sang a song and got 32 callbacks from the schools. She received several scholarship opportunity offers and really enjoyed meeting representatives from many of the schools. She was excited and really surprised at the interest in her acting. She has always felt that her singing was her strongest asset.
I took a couple of days off from work during Courtney's Spring Break. One day we went to Montgomery Bell State Park and spent time with Phillip, Tanner, Trace, Jim & Phyllis. The kids rode bikes, played on the playground, fished, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The other day we were invited by Dr. Churchwell at Vanderbilt to participate in a "Day on the Hill". Vanderbilt setup booths in the Legislative Building, provided breakfast, and asked us to be available to speak with Representatives about how the hospital had made a difference in our life. We met several people and had a good time there. We agreed to help them again in the future if they needed us again. Later in the day, Phillip and the boys came here and met Courtney and I and we all went bowling.
I went to my first Predators game of the year with some colleagues from work who were visiting from Chicago. We saw them win a great game in a 5 - 0 shutout. Kelsey went to a lockin with her church Youth group.
During Kelsey's Winterim break at school, she got to do some job shadowing at Vanderbilt. Since she is taking Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classes, she didn't get out of her classes like other students and thus only got to shadow 2 days instead of 4. She did 1 day with Speech Therapy and 1 day in the PCCU. She really enjoyed it and learned quite a bit from the people she worked with.
Courtney's school got free ticket vouchers from the Predators, so we were able to get 2 tickets to 2 different games down the playoff stretch. Courtney had trouble for the first bit of both games with the noise, but after she adjusted, she really had a good time and took lots of pictures. The Predators won the first game in a shootout, but lost the second game.
Courtney and I went to Sweetwater and spent a weekend with my family. She had a great time playing with Madison. We went to the Duck Pond one day and they ate lunch there, fed the ducks, and then took a walk around the path and the track at the community park. We went to church on Sunday, went out to eat for lunch, and then they played some more before we headed back home. Jennifer stayed home because she had been invited to participate in a parent panel discussing the special challenges of raising a special needs child. She also went to TPAC and saw "The Color Purple".
Kelsey drove herself to Jackson during her Spring Break to spend a few days with Christy & Phillip and the kids. While she was there, she did some aerobic training with Christy, played paintball with Phillip and some youth from his church, and also took a campus tour at Union University, since that is one of her college choices. She had a great time and got back home safely.
Throughout the month, Courtney has continued to bowl on Saturday mornings and Kelsey is very busy getting ready for the Spring Musical in April.
I can't believe it is already April. I don't guess I have to tell you that it will be busy also. :-) Thank you for your concern and interest in keeping up with our family.
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