HoMe

Papa Paul is home!!!! Mom is so very happy that he is close by now. She is finally starting to relax a bit, not much though wouldn't want to send her body into shock. Grammy is doing better but she is still in the hospital and will remain there for a another couple of days. Daddy is happy to have papa home too, cause he knows now mommy will start to resemble the women he married. I love my mom but wow was she becoming a basket case with all the stress, but at least she was aware of her ATTITUDE, she tried to keep it together and only lost it a few times. When mom lost it, she lost it big time!!!! So anyways where was I.....oh yeah...papa is doing well and he is going to call mom if he wakes in the middle of the night, you know he called mommy every night in the hospital just to talk, mom loved these conversations.

ugh, updates

So Papa is still in hospital and now so is Grammy. Papa was supposed to come home but his liver enzymes were elevated so they decided to keep him another day and see how things are, no big deal right? Ask the nurse who caught his wrath today he was not happy, but he calmed down and apologized to her. Actually it was a blessing Papa didn't come home today, had he come home Grammy never would have gone to the emergency room complaining about the pain in her leg. It is a good thing because they found a blood clot and told her she could have died from it, so phew we are glad they kept papa another day.

So mommy says she is going hospital hopping tomorrow so she can visit both of dem, oh she gonna make a game out of it, like a scavenger hunt..try and find things unique to their respected hospitals. Yup, I do believe mom has LOST IT...not that she really had it to begin with,but we let her think so anyway. Dad is being a good sport about all this seeing as it is all unfolding on his vacation and we were supposed to be In Texas, good thing we cancelled that vacation. Mom and daddy are now planning on going out to Chicago in November for the Notre Dame vs. Navy college football game...can they please have a few days away, mommy really needs it....seriously she can be a raving lunatic with all the stress she is under, But we love her anyways....

love you mommy.

Updates

Papa is doing really well but still in the hospital. They are watching his heart rate which happens to be in the 50's...which is basically normal for a 19 yr old, which by the way his heart is. He, however is not so they are watching things just to be sure he is stable on that low a heart rate. His surgeon has no worries nor do his nurses but there is always one in the bunch who wants to be extra cautious...so here we are 19 days after surgery still in the hospital. Papa however is not complaining, he is rather comfortable and can visit all his former nurses anytime he wants so he is happy as a clam right now. As or Mom ...she would love to see him come home soon, very soon. The drive is 115 miles round trip, gas, and parking fees all add up. She is going broke and the stress alone is taking its toll, besides she is sleep deprived and do you know what happens to a sleep deprived mommy...she gets CRANKY and pups, she ain't fun to be around. She is off the wall crabby, look out here comes GRUMPY MOMMY....dad high tails it out of dodge when he knows she is crabby. Poor daddy received her wrath last week...he just wanted to go to out to dinner with his family so he asked mommy if she wanted to go...big mistake, you see mommy worked all night then went into Boston to see Papa, and was getting ready to head home from Boston at 2pm and daddy called to asked her if she wanted to go out to dinner with his parents @ 5:30, well that did it, it sent mommy over the edge. She was done and so done at that...she started yelling at daddy asking him if he sleeps at night and if he was going to sleep that particular night, mind you mommy had to work again...he was AFRAID to answer the question. Mom pointed out rather loudly, I know because I could hear her yelling on the phone and she was not using puppy approved words either...anyway dad politely told her to come home and go to bed, she was over tired, ya think? Mom did not like his tone, how dare he tell her she was over tired she already knew this. Her point in all this was.... He,daddy got to sleep 8 hours the night before, mommy worked, then He,daddy was going to go back to sleep for 8 more hours that night, mommy just wanted to know WHEN SHE GOT TO SLEEP? You see driving home from Boston takes and hour so she would arrive home around 3pm, then dinner was at 5:30, lasting approx 2 hours...that would make it 7:30 and mom has to be up for work at 9pm so her very polite question to daddy was WHEN WILL SHE SLEEP? Daddy told her to just come home and he would stay home and she could sleep from 3 -9pm. Mom cried all the way home, she was burnt out and over tired, but when she got home daddy surprised her with beautiful purple flowers and told her to just climb in bed he would handle the rest of the day....I climbed up and napped with mommy for 5 hours, when she woke up she was in a much better mood.

OMD

Oh My Dogginess...

I have yet again neglected my blog...I iz so sorry...let me see what has been going on in the world of Riley lately? I hadz my 10th birthday and oh my oh my, mommy took me for 2 rides in the car. I went to get my nails clipped, which I love...hey don't judge me dude, I haz to look good and nails are part of da package. We also went to get breakfast one morning, dat was my surprise,

mommy took me to get an egg sandwich all for me me me.

I love da egg sandwiches...yummm-o!

I got a birthday surprise in da mail from da cookie fairy, Lainey....

I got cookies, pizza, brownie and chews!!!!

I fout dey were mine all mine but mommy said I HAD to share wif Titan and Annabelle.

*sigh* I did, they loved them and wanted more more more. *sigh*

Thank you Lainey, my favorite cookie fairy.

Running mate

As you have noticed mom is training to run her first ever marathon in my papas name...so she needed a running mate...guess who she picked? No way dude, I'm 10!!!! She is going to be running her short runs w/ Titan. Mom says she wants a running mate and he would be fun to run with, but I know the real truth...mom wants Titan to run with her so when she gets home and it is time for her to sleep, Titan will actually sleep. Mom is no fool you know, it is a win win situation.

Mom has also enlisted the help of her HERO to help in her training...why is he her hero...(PAPA is her #1 hero, he is #2...they know about each other) oh anyways I was going to tell you Henry's story on why mom thinks he is a hero....so you see mom used to manage a gym for a couple of years and one day she met this really nice man who came in looking for a membership. He said he had just gotten out of the hospital and was on his way home and needed a membership so he could start walking immediately. Mom signed him up and they got to talking. Mom found out he was just discharged from the hospital after having gastric bypass surgery and he was going to make some serious life changes starting with his weight...he came in weighing 437lbs. He and mom quickly became friends as he came to the gym everyday at 5am...and I mean everyday he never missed a day. He walked and walked and did some minor weights. Over the next few months he literally transformed into new person. He began running short distances and added more weight to his strength training routine. Mom couldn't believe the dedication he showed, he was a force to be reckoned with, he was amazing. Two years after his surgery he hit his goal weight 200lbs, mom was so proud of him, but that was nothing. He came in on day and said " So I'm going to train to run The Boston Marathon" Mom knew he was not kidding. He trained and trained and he did it. Henry has now run 5 marathons one every year since his first, and every year he says never again. Mom knew he was not going to run next year but asked for his help and expertise in training so he called her last week and said " OK sweets we are training starting Monday, my way no excuses and we will cross the finish line together, got it?" Mom knew he meant it and is over the moon he would do this for her.

Hyannis Marathon 2/28/2010

Here is the link to moms first marathon, she is ubber excited!!!

http://www.hyannismarathon.com/marathon.php

Happy Birthday Riley...10 yrs old, woohoo

I went for a ride for my birthday...I got my nails clipped, and daddy bought me chicken nuggets and ice cream...mom says we are going for another ride this weekend when we have more time, and I going to get my presents then, hmmm I wonder what I am getting???

I hope not a new brudder, please one is enough!!

Titan and I got mail

Here is a picture mom took of us gettng mail from the UK...we love the prizes...Mom is going to make a donation to our local shelter in Bad Kat Andy Cat and Puz's name...Sterling Animal Shelter to say thank you. Sterling is where we got Annabelle.

Dad and pinkie

Here is a picture of my daddy goofing off on moms new PINK netbook, dad says he will never use it, bit mom caught him using it when he received the twitter about the Patriots making trade...he had to know the full story pink or no pink, hehehehehehe.

update 9/8/09

Dad is doing great, he is up walking everyday. The nurses in the ICU love him because they get to go off the floor, normally ICU patients are to sick to even get in a chair, so they welcome the change of pace..literally. He was given a new drug today to try and stimulate the internal pacemaker which is holding steady at 62%, they want it to 80% before he can go home. They are hoping the new drug will accomplish this and he can go home Monday or Tuesday.

Frogs in my formula

OMD OMD OMD ....mom received this comment on my blog just a few minutes ago!!!!

Frogs in my formula said...

Congrats! You won the tungsten ring. Can you send me your email?

Good luck with your mom's marathon and your dad's recovery!

My daddy has one of these rings, because mommy didn't want to buy him a platinum ring and have it get all scratched up at da prison..this is a beautiful ring, you can not tell it isn't platinum.

Boston 2010

Mom has decided to train for the Boston marathon 2010, She has given this a lot of thought and came to the conclusion that she can do this. If papa can get through 5 months of HELL, being in the hospital on a balloon pump not being able to move his legs, having to lay completely still, She can run a simple 26.2 miles, right? She will train for 6months (average is 4) she will need all 6 months to get there, but she will get there! She will be utilizing a 16 week schedule for training she will tweak it to accommodate 6 months as opposed to 4..so here goes nothing...side note...

Training begins on 9/13/09...

(allows time for papa to get home, as she will not be able to

devote the time needed till he is out of the hospital)

Pictures

Here are a couple pictures I took of dad this morning. He was busy waiting for PT to come in and take him for his walk. He is going to visit his nurses on Ellison 8 &9 tomorrow, he can not wait to see "his girls" He had so many visitors today, I don't think he had 5 minutes all day when he didn't have someone there to see him. He loves having a new heart and the comfort that comes with it. He can breathe easier,says just being is easier...The surgeon was in today and told him not to get too comfortable, he would be home by next weekend, How nice is that?

update 9/3/09

Quick update on dad ....all chest tubes are out and most of his meds have been discontinued. He was up walking today and loved every minute of it. Staff can not believe how well he is doing and surgeon says he should be home by 9/14/09, that is a mere 2 weeks after surgery, heart transplant surgery, wow incredible.

Thanks Lainey....

I recieved this award from Lainey and her mom at http://judieann.blogspot.com.

I now have to pass it on to 5 doggie bloggers I adore...

Alice and her humans @ http://23houralicepeople.blogspot.com/

Rocky & his mom http://rockumsockumdude.blogspot.com/...Rocky is our Titan's doggie daddy

Bruschi @ http://bruschithepuggle.blogspot.com/

Tweedles @ http://tweedles-georgie.blogspot.com/

Dixie @ http://aprincessspeakshermind.blogspot.com/

Dad is doing great, he was extubated at 5:30pm and is now breathing on his own. His blood pressure was a little low so he is on medication for that, but they say that is to be expected. The bleeding has slowed down so they do not think he will need to go back to the OR, which is great news.

He is resting comfortably and talking to the nurses.

He is very thankful for his "Gift of Life"

realization

Ok peep, I know I have been living with this scenario for months now, but HOLY COW...

DAD JUST HAD A HEART TRANSPLANT!

Modern medicine is fascinating, I can't believe he has just received someone elses heart. The truly amazing thing is that it was harvested out of a very giving young person and placed into dads chest cavity and just began pumping as if this is where it was meant to be...

pumping on its own no stimulation, just ok here we go again...beat beat beat.

Nap

Dad looks great, gonna catch a quick nap while I wait for him to wake. Recovery RN says breathing tube will be out around 1pm, he will be up around 3pm, They are not messing around this time, get up and get things done!!!!

update...5am

Dad is out of surgery and surgeon says it went great. New heart is beating on its own. Still not out of the woods but we are over the tough part, just getting the heart. Dad will be in recovery for a week then he will move to the transplant step down unit where he will be closly monitored for organ rejection symptoms. Dad received a young healthy heart so everyone is optimistic....will write more....

Just saw dad he is resting comfortably....looks good!!!!

update

Sorry if this is redundant but I have nothing else to do so I will give you a run down of the whole day so far....9am Paul calls to find out what we have planned for the day and to ask about Brian s grandmothers...he calls everyday to get their updates and to check in on everyone. I tell him B will be heading over after he gym to check on Grammy, he says great just let me know how things go, we hang up. I continue to watch the greatest movie ever made...The Santa Claus with Tim Allen...i get almost to the end and the phone rings, it =s dad I can tell by the caller ID...I answer and dad says so nicely that he is headed to the hospital..i ask what is wrong, he says nothing that the hospital called and they have a heart for him, and for him to get there as soon as possible. Now at this point in the conversation I begin to freak out, ahh so quick so soon, I mean we were listed 1A only 4 days ago. So I run around like a chicken w/ my head cut off and secure a place for Titan to spend the night, and I know that Riley and Annaboo will be fine staying home, b/c Auntie Erin will be by to walk them as she always is, we are blessed to have her in our lives. So we finally get to the hospital and we are all in the room, we are having a blast, everyone is in a great mood, nothing heavy hanging over our heads, but we all kn ow where we are there. Dad is cracking jokes and causing trouble right up until the minute he is wheeled away, thanks dad..I will get you back for all the trouble you have caused before running off to the sanctity of the operating room, damn you...you will have to answer for your actions, hehehehe. Dad was wheeled off to the operating room at 5pm, we received word that the first incision was made at 9:20 pm, meaning everything is a go and the heart is young and viable. His heart failure MD says this is the perfect heart, if she could pick a heart any heart, she says this is the ONE she would choose, so we feel very confident in her words. The cardiac surgeon also d=said he was more than pleased with the donor heart, all good news. As i write this dad has been in surgery now for almost 5 hours and the waiting is the hardest part. They tell you waiting for the heart is the hardest part, that would be true if we actually waited for this one, this perfect heart literally fell into our laps 4 days after being listed for transplant, this time around. We did wait and have our trials and tribulations earlier this year, but as they say everything happens for a reason, well our reason is...we were waiting for the right one to become available. I will continue to update as i have more info available.

Please remember the donor family in your thoughts and prayers as without them,

this NEVER would have been possible.

We love an appreciate their selfless sacrifice, we are forever in thier debt, we owe them everything, they are truly now our angels as they have to be looking over dads shoulder remembering their loved one everyday.

update