In Recovery

Pictures after the post. Olivia has been in recovery for about seven hours now. Amy and I saw her right after the surgery, and we had to admit that she looked better than immediately after the last surgery she had. Less swelling, less tubes and attachments, less medicines, and yet she seemed better than last time. A few things:

7:00pm: Took out the ventilation tube. When we asked her the first few times if she wanted it out, she said no. Obviously not with it. As soon as it was out, she asked for juice. Poor girl . . . that won't happen for another five hours. In the meantime I am wetting her lips with a washcloth and trying to rinse out her mouth when she will let me.

8:45pm: First dose of pain meds (morphine) since the operation. She had enough sedation during the procedure to last for quite a few hours after, so this is normal.

9:00pm: Dang, that morphine works quickly! Asleep.

She's got her puppy next to her head; she has two vacuum drains coming out of either side of her belly; the other two thin, brown lines are just-in-case direct lines to shock her heart in the case of emergency; she has multiple IVs in each hand and a direct line in the left side of her neck (a PICC line); she has a urinary catheter in; she has no staples, but some dissolvable sutures in her chest which are covered by a large bandage; she has peeling pink nail polish on her nails. And she's asleep. Click the pictures for mural-sized versions.

Olivia's Surgery Complete

Noon: Olivia's surgery is complete. They are stitching her up. She will not have staples in her chest like last time; only dissolving stitches and a bandage covering.

No complications during surgery! Over the next two hours the hospital staff will wean Olivia off her anesthetic, take out her air tube, maintain pain meds as necessary, give her a sponge bath, and keep her as comfortable as possible. We'll meet with the surgeon soon and be able to see her within that two hours.

I'll see her first just to get a feel for whether Amy will be able to handle it right away. Last time Amy almost passed out because she is quite a sight: tubes, IVs, beeping machines, a ventilator, swollen appearance, and the like. She should be awake for a bit today. though.

On Bypass

10:30am: Olivia is on full bypass, all the old scar tissue has been cut away, and the surgeon is about to start sewing in the Dacron tube into the inferior vena cava.

Cutting Through

9:42am: Just notified that they are only now cutting through the layer of her chest to begin the repair. Not on bypass yet, but she will be soon.

Olivia is in Surgery Right Now

5:30am: Woke up, showered, put Olivia in our bed to start waking up.

6:00am: Drove to hospital for early check-in.

8:30am: Gave Olivia Valium at 8:10. Loopy within ten minutes. Just dropped her off in the long hallway to her operating room. Anesthesiologists were very nice and reassuring.

They'll give us updates every 45 minutes.

Note to all parents: if a hospital ever tries to place an IV before your child has been put under, go somewhere else. There's no need for that. Children's Mercy does it correctly. They're great.

Good morning to ya!

I haven't posted here in over six months, mostly due to schooling and staying busy with the family. But today, Wednesday the 8th, we took Olivia (3 years old) in for her pre-op processing. She'll be having another heart surgery on Thursday, July 9th, which should be when you are reading this post.

Pray for her during this time. It'll be quite a big deal. More details on that later.

Here's a few pictures for before the surgery. I'll be posting throughout and some after shots as well. Click them for the mural-sized view.




On this one above, notice the blue webbing pattern that sits just below the skin. This is quite pronounced in person, but still noticeable here. I wonder how much this will go away once she has completely recovered. She also has a dusky gray/blue color on her skin called cyanosis.





Stay tuned for more updates throughout the surgery and the subsequent month of recovery. And thanks for praying for her.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

You could call it a goal, a desire, or a calling. I would like to retain my sanity as much as possible under impossible circumstances—four kids under 4 years old, all vying for the same loud toys the others have in a 960 square-foot house. This means minimizing the toy cacophony. How do you make toys quieter without raising the children's suspicions?

Enter: clear tape. I know clear tape’s cousin, duct tape, receives most of the accolades when it comes to fixing things, but let’s show a little love and give a little credit where it’s due. You see, kids can see duct tape pretty easily. Not so with clear tape. The clear stuff is incognito . . . covert silencing ops, if you know what I’m saying. You know it’s quieter, but the kids have no clue. That’s my kind of win–win situation. Merry Christmas and a quiet New Year.

The Day After

It’s amazing how much the day after Christmas in a house full of kids is like being in Vegas: out of nowhere, there are blinking, glowing, noisy things demanding attention, but there’s no real interest in any of it, and you can’t stop thinking, “Oh no! What have I done?”

New Type for IHOP–KC

My primary project here at the house of prayer for the past few months has been researching new typography. We’re picking new fonts to represent who we are. It has to feel as historic as prayer, but as accessible as God.

From working with bad fonts, I have also figured out that it needs to have all the right characters and options within the font library. Or else you get this:




Then it takes a talented designer to use the fantastic fonts. Or you get this:

This Is Why I Edit

No, this is not an ad for IHOP–KC, but we have seen some bad stuff go out in email blasts as well. Alas, we are still human.

Words from the Wife

My amazing wife has a brand new blog. I have agreed not to edit as I read, which is just fine because I do too much of that as it is. She has something to offer young mothers; she has experienced hurt, she has been broken inside, she has overcome, and she is wise. I can’t tell you how many times a day she takes calls from those with twenty questions at a time. She takes it all in stride and speaks from a position of having read from the breadth of book knowledge available, and from having lived through so much already. Her gracious tone and willingness to help brings people back time and again to draw from the well of her experience.

The questions often return to the theme of raising children who are in love with God amidst the busyness of life. Too many Christians withdraw into the safety of the religious bubble: four safe walls, too little interaction with the outside world, a lack of true life-long relationships—meaning having Christian and non-Christian influences in your life and not having any fear about that, but rising to the intellectual and spiritual challenge—that encourage and challenge each thought you entertain, studying themes that have extrapolation but not interaction with anyone but other Christians, and finally justifying this lack in spiritual terms. Sorry, but you won’t be coddled by Amy (or myself) if this is your stance. We must be able to live life with all its joy and pain, its suffering and exhilaration, and still be in love with God or the Gospel is of no use. The Gospel is for all people in all cultures at all times, in history and in the future, and in every situation of life. If this is not the outcome of what you believe, what you study or how you act, then it is not the Gospel.

No amount of egocentric excuses can justify a hands-off approach to the world or to refusing to interact with those who disagree with you. This bubble is antithetical to Christianity itself. And thank God that Jesus did not take an egocentric, hands-off approach to us.

Thank God.

Patting Myself on the Back

I have mowed the front lawn, but not the back. Instead, I pulled up the three- and four-foot trees by the roots that had planted themselves there. It took two days to rip them all out, but it needed to be done.

I scraped paint off some kitchen windows. Difficult to do with a dull blade.

The laundry is done, as usual.

I have held the hair of my puking daughter, and cleaned up the couch after we figured out she wasn't feeling so well. Three words: pro jec tile.

I have put together an oak table and chairs. This is the first time in almost seven years of marriage and family that we have all been able to sit down together for a meal.

I have taped off Samuel and Olivia’s room so I can paint it.

I have gotten shots and shot records for school, faxed several copies of things to the Nursing Division, completed a background check (not on any federal psycho lists. Yay!), and switched my classes around a few times.

I have been to visit the financial aid offices at school several times already. We need all the help we can get. We’re behind, I believe, by about a few hundred dollars per month, even with all the help from my military benefits. That’s why Amy and I are both working part-time. But even with that, we’re still not breaking even.

I have completed several exciting projects for the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and am now assisting the Creative Director in revamping our choices of typography for the IHOP–KC brand. Right now, our main fonts are Perpetua, Gill Sans and Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold. We’re looking at getting two serif and two sans fonts (a loose and tightly kerned of each, giving us 4 total) that all work well together, and can translate easily to any media (Web, TV, print, postcards, etc.). It is a tough goal to hit, but I think we can do it.

Life is crazy right now. And my semester hasn’t even begun. This is gonna be nuts.

Lists

I’m supposed to be making lists of all the chores to get done over my two-week break from school.

Just wanted to give my summer school grades: C in Algebra and B in US History.

And Sam just had his first birthday. Here’s a before and after.

AfterEden Movie Trailer

Professional snowboarders discuss the pursuit of their significance, purpose and identity.

Check out the trailer.

http://www.afteredenthemovie.com/

Like Flynn

I received a call telling me I made it into the Nursing Program, so I am officially in. But I’ve been given a list of impossible missions to complete before then: lots of vaccines, CPR certification, background check, summer school . . .

They said they would meet me halfway on the slaying of the dragon though. I’m allowed to bring in a store-bought gecko.

Definition

Split-second: n

The time it takes Olivia to eat two hot dogs = the time it takes me to put a single piece of bread in the toaster. 

What Good Is The Internet If You’re Dead?

I feel sorry for all those third-world kids with the laptops who can now see the bazillion or so blogs of “What I Ate Today”.

Bazillion is so a real number. Google doesn’t lie.

. . . In A Handbasket

Breakfast: leftover chocolate chip pancakes.

Lunch: handful of marshmallows.

Dinner: unknown, but probably the leftover Orange Chicken concoction (which I love).

Yes, my amazing wife is out of town.

Yes, it is Finals week.

Yes, I have all four children.

Sure, we’re doing great. Pay no attention to that fire.

Why?

Why is it that as soon as we put the kids to sleep—and they actually are sleeping—the ice cream truck comes by with its annoying ringing bell, the mailman dumps junkmail in our box with a loud thud, the street sweeper truck takes his sweet time on our part of the street (not that I mind a clean street), and the neighbors have a friend who shows up and blares their horn?

Public notice to Kansas City: you are not an island; you do not live by yourself; you do have neighbors. I’m one of them, and my kids need their nap.

Thanks for listening.

Hard Hitting

Our four-year-old daughter, Kayla, fell out of her bunk-bed a few nights ago. I was concerned that she might have hurt herself pretty bad, so I asked her, “What did you hit?” Through her tears, she answered, “The floor.”