Christmas Day Update

I went to McMinnville Saturday morning and spent the day with Kelsey and Jennifer's family. It was their "family day", where each person gets an hour that everyone else has to do whatever they want to do. For one (actually 2) of the timeslots, we went to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks" in the afternoon (it was really cute and funny). We also played Disney Scene It, some home-made games (Jenn's mom), and earlier in the day the kids went to Lowe's and made something during one of their workshops. This year was a little different than in the past, but still good to spend time with family.

We went to the early service Sunday morning at Christ United Methodist and Kelsey & I sang a couple of songs (Mary Did You Know & O Little Town of Bethlehem). We didn't have much time to practice or have any music, so we sang without music. We did better while we were practicing, but it is for God's glory not our own anyway. Kelsey sang beautiful as always. :-) (proud Dad)

I came back home Sunday afternoon with my brother-in-law Phillip and went to the Titans game (YEAH!!!! We won and now control our own destiny to get into the playoffs). Courtney was excited because Kelsey surprised her and came home to play with her during the Titans game. Jenn, Phillip, & Kelsey went back to McMinnville Sunday night.

Courtney and I had a great time together the last 2 days. We played more Go Fish, Bunco, & Disney Scene It than I have in quite some time. We also watched several Christmas movies & read some from here new "High School Musical" book. She also helped me straighten up around the house since we haven't been able to do much of that lately.

Jennifer and Kelsey had a good time in McMinnville and got back tonight about 6:00 PM. Courtney and I opened gifts from Jennifer's extended family tonight. Jennifer's mom is coming up for dinner tomorrow night and Courtney & I will open gifts from Jennifer's parents and her sister's family.

We normally go to Sweetwater to my parents' house the week before Christmas, but Courtney was in the hospital then. So instead of us going there, they may be able to come over this weekend to exchange gifts and visit.

I hope that all of you had a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for your prayers, cards, gifts, and words of encouragement. It is nice to know that so many people care about us and love Courtney.

Randy

Christmas at Home

We all enjoyed a home cooked meal Thursday night (Thank you to the Anderson family) and Courtney slept well again until she woke up early Friday morning when I got up. I had to get the van worked on, get it re-tested, and then renew the tags. The girls got ready while I was out and when I came back, we opened our gifts to one another.

Courtney loved her new kid's camcorder. She took pictures and movies with it all afternoon.

She also liked her High School Musical book, sleeping bag (for our camping trips next spring), and the gifts that we all made for her.

Kelsey loved her Nintendo DS, sleeping bag, and gifts we made for her also. As you can tell from the picture, they love each other very much. :-)


My favorite gifts are always the ones that we make for each other. Jenn made me a plate to include in our hobby room with my other sports plates and the girls wrote me a poem with colored hearts, and a picture of them in a frame. I will find a spot to prominently display that. :-)

In the afternoon, Jenn & Kelsey went to Opry Mills and the ICE exhibit with family members from out of town (including Jenn's cousin Caryn and her kids in from Maine this week). Then everybody came to the house to see Courtney afterwards and exchanged gifts with Caryn's family (since they will be going to Memphis this weekend).

Kelsey went to McMinnville tonight with Jenn's Mom & grandmother. I will be going down tomorrow morning to spend the night, go to church Sunday morning, and then come back for the Titans game . Jenn will stay here with Courtney until Sunday night and then she will go to McMinnville for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with her family.

Friday night we enjoyed chili and salsa & chips for dinner (thanks again to the Anderson family - desserts are good also).

This Christmas will have many mixed emotions (happy that Courtney is doing so well after her surgery, sad that this will be the 1st Christmas that we have been apart in 8 or 9 years). I think Kelsey is really having a hard time with it, so please continue to lift her up.

Well, I am watching Courtney tonight, so that is all for now.

Randy

Updated Pictures

As I promised in an earlier post, here are some pictures from the hospital showing how ready Courtney was to come home.

I CAN"T DOUBLE OVER LIKE THAT WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS, MUCH LESS 7 DAYS AFTER HEART SURGERY!!!!

She had a good afternoon yesterday at home and kept her SATs up during the night while she slept. We have converted the living room downstairs into her bedroom temporarily by moving her trundle bed down from her bedroom. She did finally complain about some pain in her chest and I gave her some Tylenol last night, but that may have been due to the mattress on the bed. I am going to check into that more today.

It was nice to be at home together for the first time in awhile and eat a nice meal (Thanks Teresa). Jennifer washed Courtney's hair yesterday and Kelsey brushed it out for her. Me and the girls watched a movie together while Jenn took a nap. We swapped out about midnight since I had to come in to work today.

We are trying to get settled back in at home and making plans for Christmas.

I hope each of you have a very Merry Christmas and pray for safe travel.

Thank you,

Randy

COURTNEY IS HOME!!!!!

I picked up everyone at the hospital this afternoon and got Courtney settled in a little bit at home and I am back at work. I will update more tonight after I get home, but I just wanted to let everyone know that Courtney is home and we are so happy.

Randy

WE ARE HEADED HOME!!!!!!

Courtney had a good night sleeping last night. Jennifer called and said that Dr. Drinkwater has already been by this morning and thought she looked great. They have started the release process by putting in the orders. I just spoke with Jennifer and they expect us to be able to leave around 11:00. I wll leave work and go pick them up to take them home then.

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to update the blog as she progresses at home.

I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and will be saying a special prayer for travel mercies for everyone during this wonderful time of year.

Randy

Courtney is ready to go - Don't know about the doctors yet. :-)

When I got to the hospital tonight, Courtney was still off the oxygen and was sitting in a chair eating dinner. She ate all of her baked sweet potato, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, & jello and drank all of her Powerade. She has had another bowel movement, walked a rut into the tile on the 6th floor :-), went to the playroom today for playtime, and had people coming in to see if she was laughing or crying earlier today because she was so loud.

The topper for me though was when she was talking on the phone with Kelsey and she was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed (took a picture but it is not uploaded yet) and then she actually bent over double and put her head on the bed (got a picture of that also). We asked her if that hurt and of course she said, "Well No". I am going to ask my Dad if he was able to do that 1 week after his heart surgery. I am sure I know the answer to that one.

We haven't been told anything by the doctors, but we think we will get to go home tomorrow. Courtney even told my Mom on the phone that she is going home tomorrow. Kelsey and I are sleeping at home tonight. I am going in to work in the morning and Robin is picking Kelsey up to take her to the hospital. Hopefully sometime after the morning rounds, I will get a call telling me to come pick them up and take them home. :-)

I left the hospital at 10:30 and Courtney was still off the oxygen and her SATs were around 98. I pray that she will keep them up during the night and get a good night's sleep.

Thank you once again for your support.

Randy

Almost There!!!

Sorry that I did not get to submit a blog last night or this morning. After the ordeal with the bowel movement last night, everybody was kind of worn out. Courtney did eat well though. She had a baked sweet potato, Chef Boyardee ABC & 123's, jello, a drink, and some pudding. After we all ate, Jennifer watched a movie on my laptop and I watched the end of the football game and then we all went to sleep. Courtney was asleep by 9:30 and slept really well through the night. However, that meant she was up and ready to go this morning about 7 am.

They started weaning her off of the oxygen last night and actually took her off of it completely around 2 AM. Her O2 SATs dropped to around 80 for 10 or 15 minutes without coming back up, so they moved the oxygen back up to .25 %. They tried taking her off of the oxygen again this afternoon and she was doing great as long as she was up and active. She laid down to take a nap and Jenn said as soon as her heart rate dropped (when she was in a deep sleep), her SATs dropped down to 91 -92. We usually give her some oxygen assistance if she goes below 93 for a period of time. I haven't talked to her since 2 PM, so I will update once I get to the hospital and get the latest.

Kelsey got to sleep in today and felt much better. The white spots on the bump are gone and she says that her throat isn't sore. She is still bummed that she can't come to the hospital and Courtney keeps asking for her also. I think either Jenn or I will go home and stay with Kelsey tonight.

It appears that we need to be able to avoid using the oxygen for 24 hours or at least during the night while she is sleeping. So that is what we need the prayer support for now. We would like to go home tomorrow, but it could be Thursday now depending on how she does tonight.

I hope this blog has been helpful to each of you who are reading it. I know it makes it easier on us being able to get our message out completely and make sure we are telling everyone the same thing.

Thank you for your prayer support, your kind & encouraging words, and for helping us to realize how many people there are that love us and care about us.

Randy