Congenital Heart Walk ARIZONA

Parents and Teacher's Conference

Parents and teacher's conference at GJ's school today. I am very happy to know that Gerald has been doing phenomenon at school. According to his teacher, he was totally a different person now, he was able to wait, recognized his own name as well as his friends name. He helped his friends putting away toys and learned t...o be patient. My husband and I are very pleased to hear this good news :0). Thanks a lot to Ms. Jonhson for the help and effort of teaching our kids at school.

These are the projects that Gj's participated in:

 

I love the organization of GJ's projects courtesy by the teacher and staffs! Thanks a lot teacher :)!

ER or Pediatrician Delimma

I called the cardiology clinic early this morning to tell them that my son was vomiting with blood in it. Gerald has been on warfarin (blood thinner) for couple months now and we haven't have the perfect result of this thinner. Anyway, the nurse that took my call told me to take my son to the ER. I was  reluctant to do it, because GJ was looked really well and he was at school at the time. I was strolling back in forth in our living room when I decided to just call several doctors. They all got back to me and told me the same thing to take him to the ER , but also gave me an option if my pediatrician will take him and not sending us to the ER. All of this dilemma is just the cost of going to the ER versus the regular doctors. If Gj was not in good condition, I don't need to call any doctors office and we will just go straight to the ER. Oh, believe me I am a panic person. Anyway, my husband took GJ to the pediatrician and he said he was fine. Thank God! No need to go to the ER since it is not surprising to see some  blood in the sputum if you are on the blood thinner ..I guess as long it is not a lot!

10-10-10 ^_^

10-10-10 pic...my husband's idea to take this picture

My son's 10-10-10 event was vomiting with blood! My poor little guy. I hope nothing so serious about it because he is on the Warfarin tablet ( the blood thinner). I will definitely give the cardiology a call first thing tomorrow morning. Happy 10-10-10 everyone!

GJ's Echo and Wicked Weather in Phoenix

We left around 12nn for an ECHO at St. Joe's Hospital. We parked at the rooftop of the parking lot when we saw a dust storm coming towards us. I supposed to take a photo but my camera was set to video, so that is what I got a video of dust storm. Anyway, we walked fast to the covered area until we forgot what we saw.
IN THE ECHO ROOM

Gerald Jay and Kathlyn were very playful in the pre-op room they run around and rode on the kids car that was available for kids in that area. When the time for the ECho to be done GJ walked with me in the ECHO room and he was so calm and cooperate well to the guy that did the procedure. The guy to was amazed of him being so quite and good boy!

Gerald and Matache

It took about 15 -20 minutes to take the pictures of GJ's heart and blood flow. AT the same time GJ was watching Tom and Jerry :) old cartoon characters.

HAIL IN PHOENIX

After the ECHO, we went straight back home, and we saw that the area was hit buy the storm. Leaves from our tree scattered around the front yard. There were signs of flash flood too. Anyway, later we decided to buy more milk for the kids and we were just about to leave the house. We are all in the car when the hail poured down. It was scary! I am glad that the storm didn't have a signs of damage in our area, but it sure scary the hail was size of a gold ball. Cool but Scary!

This is what it look like of our front yard after the hail storm

Kids and I still in the car while hubby went back to the house to get my camera

Ralph and the hail

almost size of a golf ball... it hit hard on the car just glad it did not create any damage.

Happy 18th Birthday to Ruby Cheung ^_^

Greetings to my little Ruby :). She is not little anymore because you turned 18. Here is a poem that I got for you dear:

"Ruby my dear, you're so special to me
a  smart and wonderful person, who I love to see
you're kind and thoughtful, a great gal
no one could wish for a better pal
today gives me a chance to say
Happy 18th Birthday  my friend, and God Bless!"

  
To everyone who are wondering who is Ruby. Ruby is my former employer's daughter way back in HK. She was about 10 years old when I joined their family and served them. They are one of the great employers that I had in the past and treat me like their own family. I had a fun and great 2 year of serving them. It was too bad that I had to leave them for a new life waiting for me here in the U.S.. Thank you very much for your kindness!

Ruby and Anthea, I missed you guys very much and I love you !

Last day of September ^_^

Where do I start :). Maybe I should start by saying HELLO Bloggers :o). Anyway, just to catch up here my family are doing very well and as well as my little boy. He is now back to school, and he loves going to school everyday! My little daughter is getting bigger and a little talker =). Few months ago, I requested to my husband to build a small, and cheap canopy in our backyard. But before that happened I was gonna buy a swing set and just need a cover so that the kids can play out in our backyard. My husband suggested that he can build the canopy plus the swing. I said, alright if you can do it  go for it!

 He was so happy to be in that particular swing :)

 Cover is on!

So, here we are swinging everyday and kids are enjoying themselves. I'm glad that we have the canopy built because even it was hot as 105 degrees outside , we can still play on the swing under the covered area. Every time I take the kids outside, I am doing some yard work little by little. And today I see some improvement in our backyard , so I am very happy about it! Have a great one!

random photos of my kids

silly boy:)

at the park

Coumadin clinic...wanna go home mom...

checking out Kanga and roo

Trashing his own room with the help of little sissy :)

My first day at school today August 21st , 2010

Mommy put them on time out since they fight over a keyboard.

A visit with the GENETICIST

Few month ago, one of GJ's therapist expressed some concerns about GJ's clubbing of his fingers. She asked me if GJ has a genetics problem, and I said that not that I know of. But already I knew  the reason of the clubbing of GJ's finger is because of the poor O2 circulation in his extremities, and it is very common to patient with heart disease. 

Anyway, since she recommended us to see an geneticist, we just go for it since nothing will hurt if we do. Also we were curious what doctor might say. To cut my story short, we did see the doctor after eight months of waiting and the verdict is in :)...he is normal... he might be a little weird looking is because combination of Asian and Caucasian features as the doctor says. So,  no worries !

The doctor was checking him. GJ is so used to see doctors that it is scary to know that he already know what the doctor's next move after talking to us. He also laid down by himself and patiently waited for the doctor to check him.

leaping for joy!

Thomas Backpack

Thomas and Friends Backpack

I made my preschooler a backpack after meeting with his teacher and told us that she preferred her student to have a bigger bags so that she can put in the take home folder. So, I been thinking of where should I get a backpack that just fit on my small little boy. My husband suggested to buy one, but if I buy a new one still bigger than he is. 

My final decision was to make one, and I used the pattern from the green bag lady website.

He likes it because he can see the train pictures.

another shot of him

... and of course my little daughter want to try it too.

Searching for some ideas on the web

Clip Arts

Yup! I found this clip arts via Google image. My son doesn't really comprehend so much if I tell him that he has a doctors appointment or heart cath or even going to school unless you take him to the place that he use to. So last week, we met his new teacher and he was curious about why we were there, but happy to see the same room that he was in to. I told him many time that he is going back to school soon and that day was just to meet his teacher. Today, I drove to school and took some pictures and the bus so that I can prepare him for next week by showing pictures. And clip arts is one way to use as a visual learning activity. I hope this will work...crossed my fingers.

Toilet Training ...

To some parents training their kids to use the regular toilet is probably easy. In my family, I tried to introduce the toilet to my four year old since he was two years old and screaming is what I always get. As I was taking the psychology class the instructor mentioned about not forcing the kids to toilet training because they will come to that phase that they will just want to use the toilet on their own. Well, I would say that it is true. After two years past my four year old boy just use the toilet freely, no forcing involved and no accident on his pants. If he feels that he needs to use the toilet he normally yells "pooooooopy" or sometimes I saw him sitting on the toilet on his own. He still have some adjustment to work on during the night,bur  he is getting the idea now. I haven't really work with him during the night since he still on lasix, and he pee a lot after giving that meds. Not fully toilet trained yet, but he is getting there :).
Now, since the word poopy gets my attention most of the time, my sixteen month old daughter uses this word to get my attention too. Not only that she will insist to sit on the toilet :) I guess that is a good thing so that I can toilet train her earlier than her brother.

The Update: Had a HEART CATH

It haven't been active here lately and to tell you honestly I lost interest in blogging :(. Anyway, just to update all my readers if any, my son had the heart catheterization three weeks ago. The result was amazing. GJ's saturation increased 10% after the heart cath. His sats is ranging from 91% to 96% ^_^ love it love it! Dr. Graziano close the fenestration in his tubing and that makes a big difference of the blood flow in his heart and lungs. I also witnessed the 100% saturation when he was recovering from the heart cath I took the picture of it, because I know I will not see that mark again. The nurse was actually the who noticed it the first time and I asked her if that number was a real one :) I couldn't believe it. But it was real.

 100 % Saturation :) it was like this number for less than 10 minutes.

So far, I've noticed a big changed in GJ attitude and activities. He is a lot happier now and less grouchiness. There are so much more to update about his health issues, but I just do have time to write. I have to clean the entire house after a long day with two active kids... it was a mess. I will try to update more later once I got my job done:) thanks and have a wonderful one!

School is finally over!!!

whew! Sorry for the long absent here in my blog... I just got something going on at home and with my kids.
GJ is finally on summer vacation. Yesterday was the last day of school and thankfully that he made the preschool. He will be back to school in August. I went to his school and thank the teachers and other providers that help my son at school. When I was in the room, I saw GJ was in front of the number board. I ask the teacher what he was doing, and she told me that GJ love numbers and pretending to be a teacher handing out name tags to his classmates. See, GJ never done that at home. If I seat with him to teacher him some alphabet and numbers...he normally run away from me. I guess at school is more fun to learn than at home.

Day 1 ( Monday):Last week of School

Today, I woke up early to help Ralph preparing Gj for school. Gerald was up a little early too. Normally, Ralph wakes up in the morning and do everything for GJ and send him to school, and I was still in bed sleeping. But anyway, today a little different :-) I took care of GJ from brushing his teeth, dressing up, and etc while Ralph prepared his back pack and food. I also gave GJ a quick shower this morning ( I normal gave him a bath before bed, but last night I was kinda busy and sent him to bed a little early without bathing). Anyway, Gerald is not a morning person because he screams a lot most especially the brushing his teeth part. Every single morning he screams. If we are neighbor you might not be happy with us because he is very noisy!

A call from his Teacher

Around 10:05 am I recieved a call from Gerald's teacher. She said that Gerald was kind warm and looks very tired. He also did not participate in thier circle time. So, I asked dad to picked him up from school. Ralph took his saturation and it was down to 75% but he look perfectly fine to me when he got back home. I think he run around to much and got himself very tired, and the teacher was just making sure he was fine. And he is fine.

Speech Theraphy

Another, in his therapy he had one of the great session that they have ever. No crying and less screaming. Jeremy (speech therapist) tried new stuff for him to do since for the past couple weeks GJ was not progressing well. But today was kinda different. Although GJ was still clingy to me, he did what jeremy told him what to do. So, over all the therapy was a great one!

Park Near by

I didn't know that there was a park close by to our house. As I mentioned to my husband that I want to do some walking everyday as my exercise, he told me that we can go to the park near our house. I was surprised because I didn't know that we have one. Anyway. we used my bicycle trailer to haul my kids and off we went!

Oh... they loved going out!

Kathlyn been walking for almost couple months now, and she want to try everything. She slide by herself and didn't even scared nor cry...good thing ;-)

Here she was down the bottom of the slide...

...then she started running :)

Meanwhile, brother GJ had finally overcome the fear of going down the slide. This is his big thing now..going up and down the slice too.

...and of course in the swing!