- June 9, 2007, 10:20 AM PDT, (Saturday)
- Saturday morning: After a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast "a la Brendan", the King-Groh family was re-united in their cubicle. Strawberries and Legos is the theme.
- Yea! Connor! You did it! 25 yard Free Style..... 36.15 seconds; Back Stroke.... 1.0 flat!
- Hi, My son, Tim, had open heart surgery to repair five defects
in 1968 by Dr. Albert Starr at OHSU. He went from being a blue baby
to a healthy baby and is now a 39 years old father and very active.
I remember how scary it was. Healing thoughts, Dorothy - Aunt "Fotchie" aka Aunt Gretchen or her preferred nickname, Aunt Foxy, is looking forward to teaching Noah and Nickolaus how to cowboy up. In fact, she was sorely tempted to purchase a bumper sticker for the Grohs "Mommas, don't let your cowboys grow up to be babies" at the horse expo in Sacramento yesterday, but thought she would pass in favor of of one that could be modified having to do with horseapples and cowboy boots. All my love and see you manana in the Bay Area Groh family!
- I went to your web page and read what you have written. My very
best wishes go to you, to Kevin, to
Mary (whom I've never met), to Molly, and everyone else. This has to be a rough time but it IS good that a cause for Molly's problem has been discovered and that she has such a supporting family with her.
Again, very best wishes, and good warm hopes all around -
Jim - Best regards, and looking forward to reading additional news.
Bart King
For the more technical of our readers, Molly is off of all sedatives and antibiotics. She is still being given prostaglandin. This is to keep the good hole in her heart open. This is the little stint that is open while we are in utero to bypass the lungs. In other words, it allows us to be a fish while we are developing. After birth, the stint closes in one to four days. Actually, this normal process is what caused the symptoms to show up in the first place. As long as the stint was open she was getting enough blood movement through the lower part of her body. As it closed, the bad hole did not allow her to aerate her blood effeciently. Nasty (my term) gases were building up in her body making her sick and listless. In fact, Mary and I smelled ammonia on Saturday. Who knew? The prostaglandin keeps the stint open so she gets enough blood moving through her body. Once the bad hole is closed with a patch, the good hole will be allowed to close naturally.
The kink in her aorta will be snipped out. The surgeon will give the aorta a tug upward and re-attache it with a wide, study opening. With a patch and a snip, she will be good as new.
She is also still on a dextrose solution and high flow oxygen, 1 liter at 35%. (Mary assures me that some of you know what this means.) All other in-flows and out-flows have been removed! (I am sure you will all know what that means.)
Molly is nursing and, according to doctor's orders, alternately taking a couple of ounces of pedialite. And, Mary says she had a "great poop". We are seriously celebrating these kinds of milestones.
One of the things I would like to add is my appreciation for the staff at Sutter Memorial Hospital here in Sacramento. My experience in hospitals is pretty sketchy. But, the doctors (bless them for figuring this out and fixing it), nurses (always available, attentive, patience, friendly, supportive, and competent), social workers (for getting us into the Ronald McDonald house), child life contacts (for "I'm a Big Brother T-shirts, map to all the local parks, directions to Trader Joe's, the bubble toy for background noise), insurance staff (for helping get Molly officially covered), and housekeeping staff (for cleaning up after us, their smiles, and caring about Molly along with the rest of us) are the best I have seen. I am sure that is not a complete list of all we are grateful for, but the list would be endless if I continued. Life in a 12' x 12' glass room is not the best accommodations. But, Sutter Memorial has figured out how to make it personal without compromising Molly's care. Bless them!
After a day corralling "big brothers" in that small glass room and then playing in McKinley park to give Mary some quiet time, we are settling into Brendan and Cristy's home. They are close to the hospital which will be nice when the order comes to move the troops. They are courageous to take on two additional kids and an unknown gramma. We are looking forward to a swim at Boom's tomorrow. Noah and Nicholaus are missing their cousins and it is going to be a hot one!
Still no news as to when Molly is to be transported. Suspicians are focusing on Sunday. Until then, Mary and Kevin are giving her 24 hour attention. She is going to have a pretty skewed view of what life is like when this is over. Fifteen hovering attendants sounds pretty good and will be missed when it becomes normal family life again.
Molly is nearly unwired. Seems like she is just on monitors and oxygen. Mary was standing and doing the "mama beat" to calm her and Kevin was sacked out on the bench after pulling night duty. The cardiologist was just leaving when the kids and I arrived. He said she is not going to be doing much improving until after the surgery. The holding pattern will give her time to regain some strength and heal from the multitude of pokes. She has good color and a hearty cry, both signs that the docs have done their job.
My apologies to all the followers of Molly's progress. Minute by minute updates would be wonderful, I know. I wish I could accommodate. Unfortunately, Sutter Memorial does not have wireless and I have not been able to join the wireless networks where I have been staying. My only access is the Tupelo Coffee Shop on 56th and H. It works wonderfully, but occupying a table for hours on end is not possible. The nurse I talked to said Stanford is wired (she thinks). If that is the case, we will be closer to real time news.
Mike and Janet are heading down I-5 as we speak. They found beds in Grants Pass, Oregon, and will probably get to Sacramento later today. I think Mama Janet just couldn't stand not meeting her namesake face to face. Connor, Brendan and Christy's oldest, is competing in a swim meet this morning. We can all cheer him on. Proud Daddy said he has a history of beating his personal best when he comptetes. Here! Here! Connor.
More news on Molly. She is off the dopamine as of this morning. She is holding her own, just like she was before the crisis. She is still on the prostaglandin to keep the "good" hole open. That is a short term fix which is why the surgery needs to be performed soon. Once the surgery over, the prostaglandin can be stopped and the hole will close naturally.
I will let you all know as soon as transport is arranged. Have a great weekend!