Timothy's update

Doctors wait for the bypass machine to start.

A sample of the Gortex conduit now connecting Tim's inferior vena cava to his pulmonary artery.

Kathy, Mikelle, and Grandma Shields just after Tim's surgery.

You can see Tim's head in the lower middle. This is in the middle of the surgery.

Jeff and Tim before the surgery.

We are pleased to announce that Timothy’s surgery was successful. Dr. Hawkins met with us and told us that everything went well. He had hoped to get a 20 millimeter Gortex conduit in, but Timothy’s inferior vena cava was a little small, so he put in an 18 millimeter (see new pictures). He was happy with that, but if Timothy becomes a big man, perhaps at some future time he may need a bigger conduit.

We were able to see Timothy for a few minutes in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), but then we had to leave between 7-8:00 because of shift changes. He looks good but they are giving him a lot of drugs. His first word was a groggy and painful “Mommy,” followed soon by “Daddy.” Kathy had his favorite bib and he seemed to like that.
He is on a lot of oxygen and his levels are in the low 90s, which we haven’t seen since he was born. Hopefully his saturations after his surgery will be between 85 and the low 90s.
We are very grateful to the Lord for how well he is doing. Thank you for all your love and support.

Timothy is in surgery

Our last glance of Timothy as he went back into surgery.

Kathy's last kiss before handing Timothy off for surgery.

Primary Children's knows how to distract kids as they are transported to their surgery.

Timothy wasn't sure he wanted to be with Dr. Hawkins, his surgeon for all three of his surgeries.

Aunt Lisa Remund, James Remund, Timothy, Mikelle, and Kathy in the waiting room before surgery.

Dear friends,
We just turned Timothy over to the anaesthesiologists who took him to the operating room to begin his surgery (see new photos). We arrived at Primary Children's at 11:30 am today, checked in, and met with Dr. Hawkins (Timothy's surgeon for all three surgeries) and other doctors. Because younger babies get put first, Timothy is in the second surgery slot of the day for Dr. Hawkins. He was first in his previous surgeries. We enjoyed not having to wake up at 5:30 am to bring him down. Timothy ate his last bit of food (a banana) at 11:30 pm last night, and drank some Gatorade this morning at 10:00 am, which was the last thing he could drink. He did not ask for anything to eat or drink after that, which was nice. Timothy was mostly cheerful, with a few unsure moments. He assured Lisa that he already had his heart fixed.

There are risks with this surgery. Whenever anyone has open heart surgery, any number of things can happen, but compared to the other two, this one is the least dangerous. Dr. Hawkins has had only 2 babies die on him in 18 years of doing this surgery. 10-15% of children who undergo this procedure need pacemakers. Pleural effusions (liquid building up around the lungs) is always a threat as well.

We will keep you updated throughout the day. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Timothy's Heart Cath Lab

Timothy's next surgery this week.

We just wanted to let you all know that Timothy's next surgery is scheduled for this week--Thursday Dec 4, 2008 (see new pictures). On November 19th, he had a heart cath lab where the doctors inserted a camera into his heart to see how things looked so they could make their plan for the surgery. Spencer was a great help on the day of Tim's cath lab on November 19th, 2008. Jeff was in Argentina for a month doing research, but he got home just before Thanksgiving. Spencer drove Kathy and Timothy to the hospital and was a great comfort to Tim and Kathy. One doctor even thought he was the dad. (SCARY!)
This surgery is called the "Fontan," named after the French doctor who came up with the innovation. Based on our understanding, in this surgery the doctors will attach a gortex conduit to the inferior vena cava (the huge vein that brings back used blood from the lower half of the body to the heart) and sew it into the pulmonary artery. This is essentially what they did with the upper vein--superior vena cava--when Timothy was four months old. So after this surgery, all of Timothy's blood will return from the body and go straight to the lungs to get oxygen (thus bypassing the heart). This will allow his only ventricle, the right, to pump oxygenated blood to the body.
Timothy does have a bit of a cough, so there is a chance that the surgery will be postponed because they are wary of operating on sick children. We are planning on posting updates on the day of the surgery and afterwards. They have told us to plan on 10-14 days in the hospital and then 6-8 weeks for recovery at home. We hope to all be home for Christmas. Recovery time varies widely depending on the case. We know one child who came home after five days days after the Fontan. Others, however, have been in much longer.
We ask again for your prayers on Timothy's behalf. We are grateful for all the faith and prayers that have strengthened Timothy and us these past two years.

State Champs Three-peat: Spencer's Happenings

Spencer was on the front page of the sports section today and was pretty excited about the team victory. He's #81 below from the scanned newspaper.

The whole team.

Spencer and Eli holding the trophy. This is A LOT better day than last November 21 when Spencer had his "freak gasoline fight accident"! These pictures below are in remembrance of the pain he suffered and to remind us all how flammable the substance is. Go remind your kids not to play with gasoline!!

The painful part was the daily debridement and here you see the problem.




Here's a variety smorgasbord to show a slice of Spencer's personality.

Powder-puff football cheerleaders.

COUSIN FUN

Spain Slideshow

Jeff and Rex Shields in Argentina

I (Jeff) am in Argentina doing some research for my next book project. Rex Shields, our nephew, is on his mission in Buenos Aires and today I took him and his companion out to lunch (with permission from the mission president). Here are some pics and hopefully a video:

October 2008

October 2008

This is one of Rickey's receptions. He LOVES football and it was difficult for him to sit out for part of the season with upper back pain. He moved straight on to basketball and made the Freshman team this year and is loving that, but not quite as much as football. (But that's only a mother observation, so ask him for yourself if you want the sure truth.)