Day 2 in ICU

Well last night was not his best night to say the least. It was pretty tough. As he became aware of all the tubes and IV's connected to him the more he became aggitated. But well so would I. They continued to give him pain meds - morphine - which made us need meds for nausea as well. Then at about 3 am he was done - he said he wanted to go home and get all these tubes off him. The chest tubes that continue to drain blood and fluid off the heart are driving him nuts. So they gave him some anxiety meds and he seemed to calm down some - well atleast until 5am. And then in came the X-ray folks - now we all know you cannot rest in a hospital :) So we started our morning with x-rays. Rounds went well. They removed his folly. Two IV lines have been removed. They are cutting back his fluids and we are trying to get him to drink those for himself. As you can imagine the research people just love his case. They come in through out the day and actually add for a nice distraction. Tom and I have been taking shifts to eat and he blogged last night so said tonight was my turn :) Abigail and Caleb have been approved for a short visit tonight - so my parents will be bringing them here. I pray that they will have peace as to their brothers condition and will put a smile on his face.

I echo Tom in saying Thank you for everything. God has truly blessed us and all praise goes to him today for John's life and for all of you who have supported our family through this challenge. OUR GOD is an awesome GOD!

WIth much love,
Angela, Thomas, Abigail, Caleb and JOHN

Teflon John

John was taken to surgery at 8 am this morning. We received updates about every hour on his progress. At about 1:30 John's surgeon came out to tell us that they were finishing up and all went very well! We were able to see john about an hour later in the ICU.
John was still knocked out when we got there. At 3:00pm they pulled out his breathing tube and he was breathing on his own. Little by little he was becoming more alert. Thomas left Vandy at shift change to get home to put Abigail and Caleb down. He is staying at home since only one parent can stay in the ICU.
We want to thank everybody for the thoughts, prayers, gifts, visits, meals, (heck I'll be here till morning typing how much we appreciate every one's help and support)

THANK YOU!!!
Thomas, Angela, Abigail, Caleb and "Teflon" John

Tomorrow is the big day!

We are just hours away and Aunt Bobbie said I need to go to bed :) So I will go! A big thank you goes to everyone for their wonderful support and love. We could not do this without you all. Without asking I already know that your prayers are going before us and with us tomorrow.

With Love~ Angela

Pre-Op

Yesterday's pre-op was long but went really well. We saw the Cardio Surgeon, Cardiologist, Life Care Specialist, a ton of nurses, the Research team, lab techs...too many people to count :)

John did really well. Our Cardiologist gave us great re-assurance yesterday and we feel even better than we did before.

We will give you the quick version : We did Vitals, Weight, Height, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, EKG, temperature - all that. X-rays of the chest (John was quite thrilled that every time they "took a picture" they let him run back and see what his insides looked like) He loved that part. Blood work went well. He just cried at the start but once she got the butterfly in he did great! Never cried again - took four tubes and got a band aid.

We agreed to be a part of 3 research projects so that hopefully some day other kiddos can benefit from John's experience. Those projects in no way alter his care or procedures. Just a couple extra steps that will some day help some one else!

The Cardiologist said there is only a 5% chance of any risk being small to grand. But he expects John to have a full recovery as he has the last 7 times he has been under.

John got to see an ICU unit - he said he already knew everything else - and well we do :) I tease we have our own wing and parking spot - but even the genetic researchers thought we should:)

That's all for now. We have everything ready - I just need to pack and we will go in on Monday.

We truly appreciate all the prayers and thoughts you all send up our way. We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

May God bless each of you as you have blessed our lives.

Love,
Angela and Thomas

Camo Sunday

Camo Sunday was such a hit with John. He just loved it. He thinks we should do that every Sunday. We felt so surround by love and support. We thank everyone who wore Camo on Sunday - even those who were not at FUMC. Below are some pictures I took - not all great but just to show even all the kids wore camo too.

Surgery Rescheduled

I have lots more to update and write but for right now I will just say that we received a phone call this evening and they have rescheduled John's surgery for Monday the 29th. More to follow tomorrow when I have more time.

Love and God's Blessings to all~Angela

Update from Surgeon

We went in Monday to see the surgeon. John had one question - what is the deal with PJ's. He wanted to know if he could where over the head or if he needed the button up kind. She said button up. So John now needs me to go find 2 pair of Camo gunnerman PJ's so that he and Caleb can have them. So I will :) His other was not a question but a comment - those of you who know my Daddy think about him as you read this :

John says " So here is my menu - Cereal - fruitloops for dinner, biscuits and bacon for breakfast and I know the deal with the popcorn (which is low salt) so I will have M&M's for snack." She then ask what about lunch to which he replys - "I will figure that out when I get there."

For those of you who don't my Daddy He even ask the day Tom and I got engaged what we would eating at the reception - that is important to him and John - what exactly is on the menu :) Apples never fall far from the tree.

On the serious side - she went over the risk which I will not type so that I do not go over them in my head again. As Tom says that was 2 minutes of an hour long appointment - we will focus on what was said the other 58. And that was that they expect him to do well. The surgery will last between 6-8 hours. He will be in ICU until Sunday and then in a regular room with going home hopefully Wednsday. We are prepared for longer but pray they are right. He will need blood - we will get that from the American Red Cross General Fund. We thank all of our family and friends for all those trips you have made in the past and those you will make to donate blood so that children like John have the gift of life. Your blood really does save someones life. And we are grateful for it! He not only has a Sinus Venosus ASD but anomalous pulmonary veins. HE has three that will need to be repaired and re-routed. So we pray for their steady hands.

So the schedule for now that we will leave all of you with is:
Sept 25th
8:30-2pm Pre-Op: Which will include all the things I posted last time - blood work, urine sample, chest x-ray, ekg, echo, and meet with the team.
He will come home with us that day.
Sept 26th -
6:30 admittance
8am - Surgery - so they put him under sometime between those times.
We pray surgery is over around 4pm. And then he will be in ICU. We will update more then.

We have many who ask that they have that so they can pray specifically at those times for those needs.

We love you all,
Angela and Thomas

Surgeon's Appointment

Just wanted everyone to know we will be meeting with the surgeon tomorrow at 1pm with John to go over any last minute questions and details we need to know. We will blog tomorrow night with lots of new info including a time line - for those of you who would like to know approx. when we will be doing what.

Anglea

Camo day at FUMC

Just wanted everyone to know that our Sunday School class at Franklin FUMC has made next Sunday, September 21st Wear your Gunnerman Clothes to Church Day. Well that's what John and Caleb call Camo anything - Gunnerman clothes :) So everyone at FUMC and anyone who wants to can wear their camo on Sunday. John is so excited. That is his last Sunday at church until after November 10th. This idea came from Rachel Williamson who by the way sports great Gunnerman pants! We love you Rachel and are so blessed to have you in our lives. We thank you for initiating official wear your Gunnerman pants to church day. Oh and we did tell Pastor Lynn leaving church today that our class was doing that so he does not think that we all went duck hunting before church or that we were on some kind of a war path mission in church :)

In Chist Love,
Angela