sigh...

a little bit about asher first, then moving on to bigger, more important things...

asher's amazing paeds dr b talked to dr caldarone the other day. she asked him whether or not asher's chest pains could, in fact, be growing pains. dr b figures, he put all that stuff in there, so he should know, right?

he said, "have they looked into the possibility of ischemia (lack of blood/oxygen to the heart muscle)?"

"they checked his CAs in an echo, but that only shows the beginning of the vessels, so it's not conclusive. and since these pains only happen when he's active, it's got me wondering... but doc said they can't do a stess test on a 4-year old..."

"but they can do a stress echo. that's easy to do." (a stress echo is where they give the patient a dose of dobutamine to increase the heart rate, replicating the cardiac effects of exercise, and they do the echo/US to see how the heart functions under stress.)

so dr b is going to be speaking with london and yes, dropping names (she asked dr c, "can i tell them i talked to you?" and he was cool with that) and asking about a stress echo. from what i have seen of london, i don't think they like to do DSEs (dobutamine stress echo), but i could be wrong, but we may be facing a trip to toronto's clinic.

dr caldarone pointed about that it is not uncommon for fontans to develop ischemia, which is why it came to his mind right away and he is concerned. ischemia can be asymptomatic (no symptoms), or it can lead to things like chest pains and heart attacks and all kinds of things.

one more quick thing about asher: i will be taking him in for another session of play therapy this week. since he was taken to emerg from school the other week, he has regressed in a few ways and has decided that he just wants to be a little boy forever because he's scared of growing up. just a month ago he was all about being a big boy, but now... not so much. i'm just waiting for an appointment time.

but in happy asher news, he is now working on potty training. he's actually out of diapers now. (ok, it all started because i ran out of diapers and only noticed right at bedtime one night, and since i refuse to take the kids to the store at 8:30 at night, we had to make do.) but he's been in underwear for a little over a week now, and he's doing great!!! he's dry overnight, and he's usually dry all day, with only a few accidents all week. he's actually becoming quite proud of himself!!!

so now that you're caught up on asher, we're switching gears a bit to something far more urgent and important.

Asher's favourite "best," his friend B, is back in hospital. asher and i met B and her mom in hospital last spring, and we have become very close. B is not a heart kid, but is extremely complex and fragile. and this admission... yeah. it's bad. terrifying. i cry whenever i think about what's going on, actually. here is the latest, from her mom's FB status:

It has been a long night - B has not turned the corner yet. I have not seen her blood results yet today, but through the night the bleeding started. I will spare you the gory details, but this is "the" next step in the DIC - the only way to treat it is to eliminate the cause, and that is taking its time. Please continue to pray, cross your crossables, whatever you can do...

if you're interested in reading more, to better understand what is going on, please check out her blog. this is a terrifying admission. right now, Brigid needs all the prayers she can get, as do Allison and the rest of the family, not to mention the docs who are trying to figure out what's going on so they can treat her, and the nurses who are caring for her. please please please pray, send vibes, cross crossables... whatever it is you do, please do it. and please spread the word. this is a wonderful family, a dear friend of mine, a beautiful little girl who is asher's "best," and this is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying. please pray, spread the word, add them to your prayer lists, your church's prayer chain. thank-you.

i'll try to keep you posted on B. suffice it to say, this illness is not getting better yet. she needs a miracle. thank-you.

in case you were wondering...

recently, a friend of mine asked a question on her facebook: what are the "extra" expenses that you incur when caring for a medically fragile child, especially the expenses that you never expected or never thought about until you had this child?

great question, and WOW! did she get a lot of responses.

i know that i, for one, always believed that our health care system in ontario was fabulous... at least in that it covers so much. then asher was diagnosed. sure, i have never had to pay a dime for his care in the hospital, which is good (for example, the prostaglandins that kept him alive before and in the initial period post-hybrid, yeah. that one med costs $1500 per dose. at two doses per day. for 11 days. not to mention, the cost of the bed in CCCU - just the bed space, not the meds, surgery, nurse, therapists, docs, equipment, but just the bed space - is $2500 per day. and just in that first admission, asher spent 18 days in CCCU. and there were a lot of other meds, several doctors, heart surgery, tests, an MRI, oxygen, bloodwork, etc etc etc etc etc... yeah, thank the good Lord for Tommy Douglas, because there is no way we could have afforded to keep asher alive for just one day in there). most of asher's meds were covered, either partially (80%) or entirely, that sort of thing. i've never had to pay a doctor or a surgeon (thank God!). i didn't need to pay for his first feeding pump, although i would have had to pay for the replacement pump were it not for a generous gift from some charity (i still don't know which one).

but it's those other expenses... the ones you never think about... those are the ones that destroy you financially. things like transportation, parking and gas for appointments. food for the parent who stays with the child during admissions. food for the rest of the family when i'm away or just plain exhausted at the end of a looooooooong day (because that has usually ended up being "convenience" foods or take-out). it's things like special tape and tubes and syringes and formula. its the "special diet" asher required to gain weight, things like ice cream and whipped cream and tons of cheese and butter and mcdonalds. the "stuff" you buy for your other children in an attempt to compensate for your absence or consuming focus on the other child. it's the phone bills, as you try to contact (and/or co-ordinate) doctors and therapists, the cell phone that you must have at all times in case of emergency, and long distance calls when you're in the hospital or clinic far away from home. it's the internet access, so you can educate yourself on your child's condition, and so you can stay in contact with family and friends while in the hospital (and that's expensive). it's utility bills incurred because of your child's condition: asher needs the house warm in the winter (21-23C is ideal for him), and very cool in the summer (our a/c is set at 18-20C in the summer); when asher was refluxing all the time, it added up to a lot of laundry; hydro to run the feeding pump 20 hours a day, etc.

and with the boys' birthdays coming up, i just don't have the money for the party they really want (at a bowling alley), so we're going to do something fun here. and it's gonna be uber cheap. and i want to give asher something awesome because, well, he has survived four years! but um, yeah. not gonna happen. and i want to give bram something awesome because, well, he's awesome for putting up with this life. but um, yeah. not gonna happen. i'll figure out something good, i'm sure, i always do, but in the meantime, there's the guilt and panic. which leads us to...

the non-financial issues: the stresses on relationships and friendships. the guilt of "ditching" the other kids when asher gets sick. the stress of money-less-ness. the chaos and unpredictability. the feelings of freaxia and of being overwhelmed... i could go on,

getting the idea?

and asher is one of the cheapest and least complicated medically-fragile children i know of.

seriously.

i want you to check out my friend's post. she wrote about this subject the other day (and did it better than i just did, i might add).

it will give you a clear picture of why SN/MF families struggle.

and so, since it's thanksgiving today in the states (asher has a lot of followers south of the border), and with the holiday season fast approaching, i'm asking you, gentle readers, to do something.

i know that a lot of people look for registered charities to give to at this time of year. if that's the case, i would ask that you donate to cardiovascular research at SickKids. if you decide to go that route, that is.

but i want to suggest something a little different, too. something you may not have considered. and of course, since i'm writing, it will involve a little story.

christmas for the kids and i is taken care of this year. i mean, i don't have to worry about anything. someone (whom i will not name, but rest assured this person is amazing) emailed me the other week to say that their family (including their parents) are giving us christmas this year. i don't have to buy a single gift for the kids. we will also be given groceries and gift cards, because they know that i'm low on funds (shocking, i know), so i won't need to worry about anything like that. honestly, just the thought of this gift is enough to make me cry. i'm tearing up right now, actually. this is such a wonderful gift for the kids and me, and even i cannot express how grateful i am for their generosity.

so here's where you come in:

we all know families with chronically ill and/or medically fragile and/or technology-dependent children. why not help out one of those families? you don't need to play Santa like my friend is doing. but you might think about buying a gift for each of their children (please remember the siblings). and/or something for the parents. or you might want to give something simple like grocery store gift cards. or get the oil changed in their vehicle. or rake their leaves/shovel the snow. offer to watch their other children while they go to an appointment. take a couple meals to the parent in the hospital with their child. whatever. just please, do something. you can't imagine how stressful this time of year can be for families in this situation (well, maybe you can after reading these posts... at least, i hope you can). please help someone this holiday season. even something small can make a huge difference in their lives.

Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.     ~ Jesus

please pray

hey folks! just a quick post tonight... and it's not about asher, because he's fine. he's got a cold, but he'll get over it. no worries. anyway....

i need to ask you, once again, to pray for asher's little friend brigid. she's not doing well. she's back in hospital with sepsis again, but a different bug than last time. this one is also from her gut that has been picked up by her blood. they've got a plan in place, but...

allison has had some pretty heartbreaking conversations with the docs, and things don't look good for brigid in the big picture. she's got some pretty heav-duty, complex issues going on, and well...

just pray. or whatever you do, please do it, and do it lots. this is a wonderful family, and brigid is such a sweetheart, and allison is a lovely woman and a great mom and honestly, one of the strongest, smartest people i know. i don't even know what to ask that you pray for... maybe give this a whirl... prayer when you don't have words. whatever you do, please do it now and over the next while. this is a very serious condition Brigid has, Allison is losing hope, even though she's doing amazingly well, but still... it's not looking good for her little girl right now, so please please pray. thanks. <3

How have i not posted about all this yet?!

It would seem i've been somewhat remiss the last couple weeks, not posting the latest news in Asherland. So, my apologies. And now i'll attempt to make up for it.

As you may or may not recall, Asher was admitted the other week to SickKids for the weekend for some good old-fashioned observation. They saw him desatting to the 50s and 60s, high blood pressures (and by high, I mean, higher than mine!), and his heart rate jumping up at the slightest activity. and just so we're clear about this "jumping up" comment, let me give you a couple examples:

• He sat up in his crib, and his HR jumped to 140. When he sat up. Yeah.
  
• He walked around his room for 5 minutes. 150. And short of breath.
  
• He walked around the ward for 10 minutes. 170. And desat to 59%.
  
• He took 10 steps across the play room. 155. Sats in the mid-60s all afternoon.
  

Ok, i realize that those numbers don't mean much to most of my readers, but that's ok. You heart moms and docs all know what i'm talking about (oh, please, Pepy, don't read this post. LOL). For those of you unschooled in the basics of Paediatric Cardiology, i'll say this: those numbers? Yeah. Not good. Asher simply should not be doing this at this stage. Or ever, in my opinion, but what do i know? Well, other than knowing that oxygen is good, and heart attacks are bad. (ok, fine, Wendy, i know a lot. Sheesh! i can hear you protesting from here! LOL)

When we were discharged from SickKids on the Monday, we were sent home with a Holter. Gosh, i love those. <rolls eyes> i understand that they're necessary and help detect rhythm issues and that sort of thing, but let me tell, it was not invented by a heart parent. Ah, well, i guess if it helps them to figure out what's going on in Asher's heart, it's a good thing. I guess. LOL

The other thing is the cath. Asher is scheduled for a cath on Wednesday morning. Don't know what they'll do for this? Well, let me tell you: they're going to be checking pressures and that sort of thing inside asher's heart and vessels in the area around his heart and lungs. How do they do that? Well, for starters, they will be inserting a long tube through a vein in his groin/hip area (the femoral vein) and traveling up that vein and into his heart, where they will be injecting dye into his heart and using that to look around. Inside his heart. Blech. They will also at this point check his pulmonary veins, those vessels that bring red (oxygenated) blood from the lungs to the atrium (left atrium in us, common atrium in Glenn kids). Once they've checked that stuff, they will remove the tube from his groin, and put another one into a major vein (the jugular, i believe, but don't quote me) in his neck. They will then travel down that vein and into his pulmonary artery branches (the vessels that take blood from his head, neck and upper body into the lungs. Blood from his lower body doesn't go the lungs yet). They will be looking around and checking the pressures in the PAs tomorrow, as well, knowing that the pressures were high in May after his surgery, and that Asher is very fond of scar tissue, and he has some lovely patches in there thanks to Dr Caldarone.

Needless to say, Wednesday is going to be a rather freaxious day. I'm not really looking forward to hearing what they find. You all know i have my theories. But to be honest, i don't know what i'm hoping for. I think i'm hoping that they'll find something wrong, because then they can fix it and Asher will improve. And if they don't find anything, then what is causing all these symptoms?!

So that's heart stuff. I will post results of the cath as soon as i can.

In other Asher stuff... we have nephro (kidneys) clinic this morning. Ultrasound, bloodwork and doc. And how much do i love our nephrologist?! Lovely, lovely man. Very nice. I don't think we'll be getting any real news today. The HCTZ has been helping to lower asher's blood pressure and reduce the calcium build-up in the kidneys, so i don't think that will be too much of a concern today. Calcium in the kidneys is not a good thing. And asher had quite a bit of it at one point, but in a delightful, non-Asher-esque development, it has been getting better over the last year or so, and i can't imagine that anything there has changed.

Let me see... anything else to report?... ah, yes. Got a call from genetics in Toronto the other day, and we have an appointment scheduled for April. I don't know too much what to expect, although i know i will be receiving a form in the mail in the next little while which will ask all about Asher's family history. That should be interesting. I'm (almost-ish) looking forward to this appointment, i think. I would like one of two things: either we will get some answers, or they will see that HLHS and his other issues have just "happened" and then they'll leave us be. (and yes, i know... the odds of a hospital leaving us alone would be a miracle, but a mom can dream, no?)

So, there you have it. The low-down on Asher's medical stuff right now. I'll post again when i have some more info for you. Meantime, please pray for my boy, and for us all. Thanks so much. Talk to you later! J

something normal... and it was wonderful!

i took the kids to Springwater for a nature walk yesterday. it was wonderful. the weather was perfect for a hike: cool, with no rain in the woods, not too bright, not too dark, absolutely perfect!

i wore asher in the sling yesterday, too. i haven't been able to do that with him. i think he only ever went in the sling once, and he threw up all over me (obviously before we had his reflux under control!). so this whole time, he's been in the stroller. but let me tell you, it's not easy taking a stroller for a hike. so, i decided to wear him, and then he could walk for a bit, too.

it was nice to wear him. i wore the other kids so much, and i've been feeling a bit like i've been missing out a bit. i just haven't had nearly as much "cuddle time" with asher as i'd have liked. but you know what? he loved the sling!!! he spent the whole time chatting with me, pointing out things he saw ("tee," "chi-uk" [chipmunk, for those unversed in toddler-with-throat-issues-speak], "eef," "bam bife" [bram and blithe, according to asher], and of course, "mummum" which is what he calls me... awww!), giving me hugs and winks and loving every bit of "mummum" time. and i wasn't complaining, either! :) it all felt so normal, so simple, so perfect.

a couple times he wanted down from the sling, so i obliged. you can see for yourself how much he enjoyed that. [dr bertoldi, stop reading for a minute... just skip ahead a couple sentences... you don't need to read this next bit. i'll tell you when to start reading again.] but he was so short of breath, he'd be huffing and puffing pretty fiercely within a minute or so of walking, which isn't so normal for him lately, but i'm going to tell myself that hiking is more strenuous than running around the house. yeah, that works. [ok, dr b, you can start reading again.] he loved chasing after blithe and bram, and the older two loved being able to sit on the ground with him and look for acorn caps. [yikes! paeds should probably ignore that sentence, too. kids with no t-cells shouldn't really play in the dirt. so, dr b, just ignore this whole paragraph. thanks. lol]

it was, at least by my standards, a perfect morning. and i hope we have many, many more of these. so let's all touch some wood and say a little prayer and light a candle and do whatever it is we do to beg and plead to the cosmos for some stability, health and happy/normal days for asher and the rest of us. fall is upon us, my friends, which means that, for my immunodeficient boy, there will likely be many trips to paeds, who will call cardio, who will say "to emerg with him!" who will now have to actually look for something wrong because it's not hot out anymore. and let me tell you, that's not nearly as fun as it sounds. i'm hoping that none of the new cardios will know how i take my coffee (black, hint hint) for a very long time.

and while i've got your attention, an update on yale: he's being admitted in toronto tomorrow for a sedate echo, CT scan, and who knows from there. likely a cath and a barrage of other tests. please, God, let him just need a med change. anything else is just too much. please keep yale and tanna in your prayers. i'll post when i have details. or you can check for yourself; the link is on the sidebar. thanks. :)

a quick little note

i just thought i'd post a little reminder that we're heading to toronto tomorrow for a full, sedate echo (full echos can take over an hour at the best of times) and to see the cardiologist.

i'm not anticipating much in the way of good news from dr russell tomorrow. well, no, she'll say that clearly he doesn't have CHF now. but that much i know already. she will say, however, that given his size and the scare he gave us all recently, that it's time to go ahead with the Fontan and arch reconstruction. (this means two separate surgeries, a week apart. one where they cool him so that his blood doesn't circulate at all while they work, and the other is open heart, which will include time on bypass.) the good news we could get is that they will forego the cath, since he just had one in april. that would be lovely.

please pray for us as we travel, for the other kids as they spend the day with my parents, and for ed and i as we spend a stressful day in toronto. i'll post when we get home and let you know how it went. thanks so much.

please pray...

we have a busy couple of days ahead of us this week. and that, of course, also means a stressful couple of days ahead of us.

today (monday) is cardiology in london. echo and liz. hopefully that will be it. i don't want to see any cardiologists, though i'm sure we will. asher's not doing so well, what with congestive heart failure (CHF) and all. i think some of the extra fluid is starting to come off, although when i went to bed last night, his head was very puffy and he vomitted after his meds. not good signs, my friends. he has about an extra kg (2.5 lbs) of fluid on board, which is not a good sign.

and just so you know the specifics of what we're facing: i took asher in to see dr b last thursday, but i already wrote some of that visit. you can check out that post later, i think the title has something to do with being desperate to understand medical terminology you have no need to understand (i can't imagine anyone being like that, can you? *wink*). well, she didn't like how he looked. bad colour, vomitting/refluxing, puffy (she made reference to his new "elephant ankles"), shortness of breath. i mentioned that his liver is enlarged and down, and she confirmed it. (FYI: the liver swells and drops because in CHF, the heart swells. this pushes the liver down out of its comfy little nook above the stomach. i'd like to know the long-term effects on the liver of repeated CHF, so if there's any hepatologists or ambitious cardiologists reading this who have the answer, please let me know. post a comment or email/facebook me. i'm serious. you may think i'm joking, but seriously, i need to know.) the liver thing, yeah, kind of a biggie symptom of CHF. ok, what else? oh, yeah. on friday, i took asher back in to see dr b, because now he's irritable. and yes, that's yet another symptom. (are you seeing any trends here?) she looked at him, and his eyes were puffy (or, puffier) and he was really working to breathe. sats are down, though not much (he had been mid- to high-80s for a while, now he's low 80s), and his breathing was wet. none of that is good, folks.

well, she called cardio and talked to liz, who talked to dr hamilton, who talked to dr russell (our toronto cardio). liz called dr b back, and said that we didn't need to come in that day (which was good, since we're going in today), but that "asher should be doing better than this." isn't that a delightful little comment? thanks, liz. ugh. but oh, wait, it gets better. dr b said to me, "has anyone talked to you about transplant yet?" well, to be honest, yes. but it was only when i asked specifically, and it was toronto cardio dr russell, and she said, "likely when he's a teenager." but that was when asher was only a couple months old, and we didn't know about his other issues, and he hadn't yet had all those infections that take a lot out of an already severely wonky heart.

so, yeah. liz isn't happy, the "T" word was spoken (albeit by paeds, not cardio, but you can bet i'll be asking about it now!). and that's our cardio prayer request.

my other request is this: after our appointment today, i'll be paging dr a, the top doc i spoke with last week (see the post called, "ok, i realize that in a perfect world...". why are my titles so long sometimes? ah, well, i'm heather, i talk. get used to it. lol). anyway, i'll be talking with dr a this afternoon about solutions to the whole "i never want to see that particular doctor again, thank-you very much. asher's too fragile, doc's too dangerous" situation. so far, i have this:

1. try to come in between 3pm and midnight. usually do-able. CHF is slow, but requires attention, so if asher looks bad in the morning, i can wait a couple hours. sometimes.
2. during the day, i can call ahead to emerg to see who the attending is. if it's this particular doc, i'll call liz and see if we can go straight to clinic instead. that should work, since they're not too keen on that doc dealing with asher, either.
3. overnight: i pray to God we never need this one, but it's the only thing i can do. call an ambulance. that will send asher to st thomas emerg. they will give him oxygen if he needs it, maybe an IV if needed. then they call london, tell them what's going on, and rush us there (again by ambulance, with full lights and sirens the whole way. how do i know? been there, done that. surprised? why?). and i just have to trust that, if that doc is the attending overnight, that he will have listened to the st thomas doc and the paramedics, since God forbid he listen to me, because what do i know? obviously, nothing.

so, there you have it. the solution i've come up with. i'm going to mention the idea about a big meeting with everyone involved in asher's care, including the suggestion of a few other emerg docs. this is actually good, because some of them aren't aware that asher has "unusual vasculature" (wonky blood vessels) in his lungs. some of them misread that as being hazy or wet, but it's not. it's just that asher's weird. or, "unusual" as liz puts it. i love the idea of this meeting. totally not do-able, but i love it. and a mom can dream, right? hey!!! unless we come up with some sort of sheet to put in asher's chart that outlines all of his conditions and quirks and how they interact (ie, heart trouble and reflux, reflux and throat, infections and t-cell deficiency, t-cell deficiency and transfusions, oh, the list goes on and on). ooh, i like this idea, and it just came to me now! delightful! i have to write this down so i don't forget later! delightful! :)

anyway, so that's my stressful day today. add to that, i have quite a few other things i need to take care of, all requiring rather urgent attention, and none of which is pleasant (like, how can i keep my house? i don't know, but i don't think it's possible for much longer.). anyhoo, that's not asher-related, so i won't burden you with the details here. maybe i'll write about it on My Simple Life later. maybe not. dunno. wait and see. anyway, please pray today, since we're in for a bumpy ride today. thanks so much! :)

an answer to prayer - thank-you so much, keri! :)

ok, so, i thought i would share something positive with you today after my rather, um, not-so-positive post yesterday. sorry about the angry outburst. :( but you know, this is how life goes sometimes with SN kids. sometimes it's frustrate. ;) so, yeah, enjoy this delightful email, and see how God answers prayers. (and for those who might recognize the name, she used to be the secretary at the london cardiology clinic, so i know some of you will remember her.) anyway, happy reading! :)



Hi Heather,

I just got caught up on the blog.

Can we do a fundraiser and get the money for his pump??

I have done a few for Liam in the last couple of months with great success.

Let me know, when you have a minute...lol...okay when you can squeeze in a minute.

I would LOVE to get you 2000!!! Then you can get the pump and a spa day!!

Think about your family all the time, you are in my prayers!

check out the site...we have a lot of stuff on sale right now too!!

Basically, what ever sells, you will get the comission. We can even auction some of the higher priced items.

Keri-Lynn H
www.keri.stelladot.com
www.luxecanada.citymax.com

Strong Women... May we know them...May we raise them...May we be them.

ps - keri's nephew could use some prayers right now. he has some health issues of his own (not heart, but very serious), and is in hospital right now. it was rather a surprise admission (i know what that's like), and it's a stressful time for the whole family. please pray hard for him and all of them. so many we've seen with asher what prayer can do, so any prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts or whatever else you do, would be greatly appreciated right now. thanks so much.

an easy way to help (ugh, i hate this) and lots of contact details. not a fun or exciting post, but it might answer some questions

good evening. well, the countdown is on, this time on wednesday, we will be sitting in CCCU at SickKids (2nd floor, for those who would like to visit while we're there). but... technically, we leave tomorrow afternoon. we're taking blithe and bram to hamilton to stay with my parents, and then ed, asher and i are on our way to toronto. pre-op starts at 7:30 on tuesday, and it's a marathon day - in june, we didn't get to see the surgeon until about 5:00, and we talked with him for at least half an hour. so it's a long day.

but not as long as wednesday! ugh. i want to vomit now just thinking about it.

anyway... some of you might be wondering (and i'm saying this because someone has already asked), if there is a way of getting money to us for while we're in toronto. now, please don't take this as me asking for money. blech, i wouldn't want to do that. but i am aware that that is the easiest way to help, and a lot of people want to help at a time like this. so....

i'm posting a link on the sidebar to PayPal. you can simply send money that way, to my email address: stampinqueen@rogers.com that will be the easiest way, i think. if you don't have a PayPal account, or can't figure that out, email me "off-blog," and i will send you my account number.

ugh, i hate asking for money. not something i enjoy doing, but i know that some are wondering what they can do, and this is an easy way to help us. thanks so much (and please don't feel pressured). and if you think of other ways to help, please feel free. my mom and the older kids will be at home as of sunday evening, and ed will be home for the weekend, and possibly into the week. meals or breaks for my mom (thank-you for offerning, tiena, the kids are looking forward to it!) will be welcomed, i'm sure.

if you're thinking of visiting, please call (i'll put my cell number on the sidebar, too), and we can arrange to meet somewhere in the hospital (likely the atrium or critical care waiting room - 2nd floor. those would be my usual haunts, although i hear Starbucks makes a mean chai tea latte! lol) i can't have my phone on while i'm in critical care with asher, but if you leave a message, i can call back. otherwise, try calling at mealtimes, mid-afternoon, or later evening (say 8-ish).

alright, i think that about covers it. if i've missed anything, please call or email. keep praying for us. the next week especially is going to be brutal. thanks so much for all your support. h