Where do I begin?

Where do I begin?  The past few years have been a whirlwind.  I have sold my insurance agency and I haven’t had time to write about the family since I’m not my own boss anymore.  I’m not even sure if anybody even looks at this either.  I kind of figure I’ll try and get going at it again since I will have more free time now.  I really like doing it when I can find the time. 

Over the past couple of years we have had some major events.  We took several trips to San Diego and one to Disneyland.  They were so much fun.  I could go on for hours about all the stuff we did.  It would take me forever to find all the cool pictures we took.  I think I will have to gloss over it for the time being.  One amazing story to tell is how Merrick narrowly missed falling into the tiger habitat at the San Diego Safari Park (or whatever they are calling now).

To make a long story short, Merrick fell off of the viewing platform while trying to reach the tigers fencing.  Andrea and I were discussing what we were going to do next as the tiger was not in sight.  Merrick apparently wanted to get a better look so he scaled the railing and reached for the fencing into the habitat.  It was only a few feet away.  He lost his balance and fell off the platform down about 20 feet to the ground.  He fell through some trees and brush and landed relatively softly.  At the time I just saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and then screams as he disappeared over the edge.  Instinct took over and I jumped down there as fast as I could to get him out.  All in all, it probably took 30 seconds to get him out as I had to wade through brush and the hillside to get him back to the park trail.  Turns out he was fine but just scared.  It was an absolute miracle that he wasn’t hurt.  Turns out after all of the commotion the tiger made an appearance, which was a little unsettling.  Nobody from the park ever came to help out.  We had had enough for the day and went back to the hotel.  You can jump over to my facebook page and see some pictures of where he fell if you haven’t seen those already. 

The other major news is that Andrea and I have called it quits.  I still do not understand it, and I may never understand why it happened, but it has.  As they say, ‘these things happen.’  I feel horrible for letting it happen and making my children suffer through it.  I wish that it didn’t have to be this way but in the end it wasn’t up to me. It is simply time to move forward now rejoicing in my children.  They are my life.  They are my greatest challenge but also my greatest reward in life.  I love them more than life itself.  I’m sure there are people that have seen this blog or that may see it and identify with Andrea more than myself, and that’s ok.  You are welcome here regardless.  I still love her and I hold no ill will towards her or anyone else for that matter.  She is the mother of my beautiful children and I will always love her for that.  She sacrificed so very much to bring them into this world and I respect her for that.  She is a great mother to them and for that I am thankful. 

From here on out, this blog will be dedicated to my children and our adventures.  I hope that I will be able to keep up with them.  It was hard enough to keep up with them as a team.  Now as a single dad it has become apparent that I need to get into shape to keep up with these little speed demons and all that they do.  They are getting bigger and faster too.  Merrick and Sophia just had birthdays.  Merrick is now 5 and Soph is now 3.  Gavin will turn 8 in less than month now.  I am excited for him to be turning 8.  What a great milestone.  I love my children with all of my heart and I hope to be a father that they can be proud of.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this nonsense. I hope to make it entertaining someday. 

Difficult Times

It has taken me a while to get to this but it's for good reason.  Merrick has had his second heart surgery inside of a year's time.  The toll that it has taken on him and the rest of us has been great.  He has been very good throughout the whole ordeal.  I'll sum it up as quickly and precisely as I can.

He went in on Sept. 28th very early in the morning to Primary Children's Medical Center.  We met with Doctors and the surgeon and got him ready.  Sadly there isn't much preparation for the parents in this situation, you have to just deal with it.  After meeting with the surgeon Andrea and I felt a little more comfortable with the surgery.

This surgery wasn't the most ideal for Merrick, but time and circumstances dictated our options.  Our options were one, The Ross procedure.  This is where they remove the deformed aortic heart valve and replace it with his own pulmonary heart valve.  Then the pulmonary valve is replaced by an artificial or mechanical valve.  Merrick actually had the option of a pig valve or a human valve.  In the end the surgeon saw fit to use the pig valve to replace the relocated pulmonary valve.

The surgery lasted from about 7:30am until 3 or 4 pm I can't really remember.  We had a nurse that would come out every hour and give us an update.  When she came out and said that they had made the first incision into the chest your heart begins to sink.  It becomes "too real" at that point.  It becomes "real" when you follow him and the anesthesiologist back to the surgery room and then you have to leave him in their hands.  We have done this before but it's never easy and it doesn't get easier.  We have also done it before when the kids got tubes in the ears and when Gavin got his tonsils out.  Those trips are absolutely nothing like this kind of trip, not even comparable.  Sadly we won the prize for longest stay in the O.R. waiting room that day.  It turns out that the only prize for winning is the coinciding bill.

(He had 3 chest tubes and pace maker wires pull just moments earlier.)

The bill of course is a necessary evil.  The wonderful people at PCMC need to get paid and I shouldn't complain too much because they did provide us with tremendous service.  I had to take the week off to take care of Merrick while he was in the hospital.  Surprisingly we brought him home a day earlier than last time.  He came home that Saturday (Oct 2).  He had essentially twice as much work done on his heart but he was released a day earlier this go around.  This was such a blessing.  He has been home now for a week and a half resting.  Really all he does is play video games and watches movies.  There are time we have to grab him and sit him down because he wants to run and jump around like normal.  We have to convince him that he is still sick and needs to take it easy.  Not an easy task, he's a very stubborn 3 year old.  Just when things seemed like they would get back to normal they didn't.

I went back to work on Monday but I didn't feel quite right.  Tuesday was worse and Wednesday was hell.  I couldn't make in on Thursday and Friday I went to the Dr's.  I had come down with pneumonia.  This was not a good time to come down with pneumonia.  I have been dizzy for days now.  I have had two painful shots of antibiotic and I'm on another daily dose also.  I should be getting better but I just don't feel like I am.  Andrea has also been stricken with a severe migraine that just doesn't want to go away. She seems to be recovering from that now but its been a slow recovery for her.  Eventually our luck has got to change.

Thank you to all who sent us well wishes and kept us in your thoughts and prayers.  We really appreicate the extra strength that we get from you.

Merrick getting in some bp

I took this on my phone yesterday as we were playing. I was only going to do a toss or two but he just kept hitting everything I threw.  He is hitting real baseballs using an aluminum bat that's 27 inches.  That's only slightly shorter than he is and it's not as light as you might think.