70 Days...

The countdown is on...

In case you don't know, that means that we are only 70 days from Tucker's 3rd open-heart surgery. 

Back in March 2010, when Tucker had his 2nd surgery, this 3rd procedure seemed so far away. Now we are just over 2 months away. He will have his pre-op heart cath on May 22nd. During the heart cath they will check his heart and the pressures in his blood vessels to make sure that his body is in good shape for surgery. They will also look at the anatomy of his heart to begin to plan for the procedure. The heart cath is a fairly simple experience and he shouldn't have to stay in the hospital overnight afterwards.

On June 17th we will go to the hospital for his pre-op physical exam, bloodwork, and meeting with Dr. Mendeloff, the surgeon. Tucker will also get to spend some time with the child-life specialist where she will explain the surgery to him and let him pretend/play in the mock operating room. Dr. Mendeloff will walk us through the surgery and answer our questions. Pre-op days can be very long, but it is necessary.

The next day, June 18th, we will hand Tucker over to Dr. Mendeloff for the 3rd time in his short life. He will stop Tucker's heart and complete the "repair". The 3rd procedure, the Fontan, involves completing the re-routing of Tucker's heart circulation to eliminate the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. The recovery time can be a week or two or several months, this all depends on Tucker. We are already praying for God's blessing on this surgery and Tucker's healing.

So, 70 days...it will be here in no time at all!

The heavy stuff aside, I wanted to share a few things that have happened for us since my last post (which has been too long).

Finn is now 11 months old and growing and learning quickly. He is now crawling and cruising around the house pretty well. He also got tubes in his ears last month after too many ear infections!

Tucker continues to surprise us daily with something new that he has learned. He is very bright and after being tested by special education diagnosticians, has been deemed ahead in many areas, academically. We had him tested because we had observed some possible speech issues and also to establish a baseline for his cognitive levels in case there were complications with his surgery.

We had a great trip to the wildlife preserve in Glen Rose, Texas for Spring Break and also got to spend time with our family for Easter.

I'm sorry if this seems like scattered/rushed post, but its just what was on my mind tonight. Enjoy some pictures and video of the boys.

Wagon time

Tucker with his friend the zebra

Tucker - 10 months old                     Finn - 9 months old

Brotherly love!

Tuck & Finn - Easter 2013

Maddie, Tucker, Beckett, & Finn - Cousins

Tucker picking up his NASCAR tickets

Tucker's 1st NASCAR race

Ready to roll

Smiley!

Balloon boy

Crusing

Last Lap

Me & Dena at Nationwide race

For those of you who don't know, Dena and I are huge NASCAR fans.  It all started when Dena's dad invited me to spend the weekend with him camping and attending a race.  I was never a really a fan before that, but a weekend at the track had me hooked.  The racing is great, but I enjoy the relaxation and camping just as much.  After my experience, I wanted Dena to go and she liked it too.

Needless to say, we became fast fans and have had season tickets and a camping spot at Texas Motor Speedway for the last four years.  Twice a year we haul our pop-up camper out to the track and spend 3-4 days camping, watching races, and spending time together...it's kind of our getaway time.

This past weekend was the fall Texas race and it just happens to be our last trip to the track for a while.  We have decided to take a few years off because we want to use the money we spend to pay off some bills and because it is hard to leave Tucker for 3-4 days.  We hope to return once we are out of debt and Tucker can come with us and enjoy it.  We will definitely miss our time there, but we know that we will get back there in a year or two.

All that being said, we wanted to make the most of our weekend together at TMS...and it couldn't have been much better.  It was quite cold at night in the camper, but the weather during the day was absolutely perfect!  The racing was great and we were treated to probably the best race TMS has ever had on Sunday.  We got to hang out with some friends, visit, eat good food, and have some quiet time for just me and Dena.

My favorite driver, Kyle Busch

Kenny Wallace, he drove a car with Tucker's name on it!

 

James, me, & Dena at the Sprint Cup race

Dena's favorite driver, Denny Hamlin, won the race!

We can't wait until we get to return!

Trent