Monday, November 11, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
It just gets better! Link to full gallery of proofs...
http://kerrianngarfieldphotographer.zenfolio.com/f325442395
Password: FamilyOwen
FYI - These images were purposefully taken on Keane's one year open heart anniversary. How far we've come.
Enjoy!
Password: FamilyOwen
FYI - These images were purposefully taken on Keane's one year open heart anniversary. How far we've come.
Enjoy!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
2013 O'Hara Jog-a-thon fundraiser - Solicitation warning!
Hi all,
Have some great pics and videos to post, which I hope to do this evening. I owe you!
Last year, Avery reached her fundraising goal of $120.00 before school started, which entered her for a drawing for fabulous prizes. Unfortunately, she didn't win any prizes last year, but we'd like to try again this year!
In 2012, on her little legs, Avery ran over two miles to raise money for her school! She is strapping on her running shoes again this year and hopes to set a new personal best - after all, she is at least one in taller! Please consider a Jog-a-thon pledge to support Avery's fundraising mission:
Please state you are supporting Avery Owen - grade K. This year's JAT run is on Thursday, October 10th (looks like the website needs to be updated with new date). Please shoot me an email if you decide to support this year's effort so I can track toward our $120 commitment!
Many thanks for your consideration.
Best wishes,
The Owen Fam
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
That's our girl. Famous.
Who knew? A few months ago we went to our favorite burger joint, Dickie Jo's to celebrate the opening of their new Party Jo's location (the owner is an O'Hara school parent). We signed a release for photos and video. Who knew when we consumed some Fro Yo next door, Avery's would end up the size of a car on one of Eugene's main streets?
Ha! She's famous! As you can see, we were a little surprised to see the billboard today -- no one told us! Thanks to Nanny Allie and BFF Nicole for telling us Avery was on a billboard.
Avery goes big girl style...!
What a milestone. Avery is tall enough for some adult rides. She loved the Scrambler.
The upside-down Ferris Wheel did not receive rave reviews. A few tears in the end. We won't be doing that one again. Sorry for the dizzy filming and obnoxious audio, I was not quite ready for this big kid ride.
She insisted!
Keane's first fair ride
We went to the fair on Saturday night. We left the house about 15 minutes before the kids bedtime. They both loved the lights and rallied until 930p! We all had a fantastic time. Keane used his good looks to get on three rides for free. This was a major accomplishment since he technically wasn't even tall enough to go on any rides, much less for free! The slide was his first. A little hard to see, but I like the flying arms. Avery Grace is rocketing by his side.
My new big boy chair
At one of Keane's recent home therapy visits, his therapist requested we invest in a chair his size. Of course!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Keane getting in some water time
Keane and Daddy('s foot) playing in Grammo's pool.
Summer is just around the corner!
Friday, May 31, 2013
Normal, happy and perky self!
Mr. K has returned to his normal, happy and perky self. No fever. Little residual cough.
Happy man!
Happy man!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Out.... but are we out of the woods?
Hello again. Happy Memorial Day!
First, a big happy birthday to our one and only (but not for long) niece, Keira. Naturally, Keira's first birthday party was yesterday, so Avery Grace went to Portland to celebrate and represent the Owen clan. Super disappointing to miss the big "1."
I am happy to report we are home this evening. Keane's saturation levels were not perfect, but had shown improvement. Decline - stay in the hospital. Improvement - go home and follow-up in a couple days with Dr. Bob. It was a crazy long night. I didn't sleep for even 10 minutes. Keane is such a rambunctious sleeper, I had to keep blow-by oxygen on him all night, one stream coming from each side of the crib. His saturation level dropped to crazy alarm mode every 10 to 15 minutes in their longest stretch. By 400a, I had to call for reinforcements and Ben came back to the hospital. Keane steadily improved all morning with no fever since Sunday afternoon. Soooo... we're home!
Keane may have overdone a little in his enthusiasm for being home. He may have a low grade fever tonight. It's a little hard to tell; the thermometer jumps around from 98.4 to 99.2. I guess we will monitor overnight and see in the morning!
First, a big happy birthday to our one and only (but not for long) niece, Keira. Naturally, Keira's first birthday party was yesterday, so Avery Grace went to Portland to celebrate and represent the Owen clan. Super disappointing to miss the big "1."
I am happy to report we are home this evening. Keane's saturation levels were not perfect, but had shown improvement. Decline - stay in the hospital. Improvement - go home and follow-up in a couple days with Dr. Bob. It was a crazy long night. I didn't sleep for even 10 minutes. Keane is such a rambunctious sleeper, I had to keep blow-by oxygen on him all night, one stream coming from each side of the crib. His saturation level dropped to crazy alarm mode every 10 to 15 minutes in their longest stretch. By 400a, I had to call for reinforcements and Ben came back to the hospital. Keane steadily improved all morning with no fever since Sunday afternoon. Soooo... we're home!
Keane may have overdone a little in his enthusiasm for being home. He may have a low grade fever tonight. It's a little hard to tell; the thermometer jumps around from 98.4 to 99.2. I guess we will monitor overnight and see in the morning!
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Warning: There may be some ranting mixed with self-pity! Top ten reasons why I dislike hospitals.
http://youtu.be/WumZPJf-E3g
Top ten reasons why I dislike hospitals:
10) Poor quality mattresses
9) Fluorescent lighting - who doesn't look pale?
8) Walking around on tile floors that someone undoubtedly detonated with some type of bodily fluid only hours before you arrived.
7) Shift changes; I don't care who you are, why did you wake me up to introduce yourself?
6) It's never night. The lights blaze through the skimpy bedroom blinds as if someone is using one of those car dealership spotlights and advertising the fact that someone will be waking you up for no apparent reason any moment.
5) There's no need to set an alarm; the monitors alarm every five minutes, but no one bothers to change the settings. What's the point in having an alarm if no one ever comes when it goes off?
4) The food is shipped in fresh from Monsanto, assuring that as our kids are "healing" we are filling their fragile little person bodies with genetically modified, pesticide laced, pre-packaged and processed foods (yes, I am rethinking whether this should move up the list).
3) Room claustrophobia and stir crazy kiddos; Today we got a fire truck for Keane from the nursing staff. The entertainment lasted approximately 10 minutes. We read all the books we brought and did all the puzzles in the first hour and a half. Toddlers and hospital rooms don't mesh!
2) Basic rules of parenting - violated! Don't wake a sleeping baby. Thou shall not inflict harm upon one's child, well except when you have to restrain said child for blood draws, x-rays, blood pressures, medication, etc. Of course, all for the right reasons. I am sure Keane sees it that way too -- not!
1) No matter how nice everyone is, how helpful, or accommodating, I am convinced it is the most stressful, least comfortable, noisiest, loneliest and depressing place for a parent of a hospitalized child.
The short story - Keane had a fever for nine days. He was seen at Dr. Bob's on Wednesday and got a chest x-ray on Thursday when his fever persisted. The diagnosis at the time was bronchiolitis. He seemed a little better on Friday, then had a fever again on Saturday. Dr. Bob said if he still had a fever on Sunday morning, we would make arrangements to meet at RiverBend hospital. This morning he was strangely lethargic, had a fever and overall did not pass the Mom (or Dad) gut check.
Alas, we came to RiverBend and went directly to the Peds floor, bypassing the ED or any interim checkpoint. We hooked him up to an O2 saturation monitor (Pulse Ox) and the Mom PTSD sets in - mid 80s to high 80s. What the *$%$ #$%$* *#$%^? We've already paid our dues with poor oxygen saturation. After we paid our dues, we were fined and taxed and paid again.
Respiratory virus screens for the main offenders all negative; blood work normal; X-ray shows no pneumonia. We're here for the luck of the draw, mystery respiratory virus. Sweet.
The good news - there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his heart. Plus, newsflash - Keane took his last dose of Viagra on Friday night. Had it not been for all the Advil and Tylenol, I could report Keane is completely medicine free. Once the fever subsides, which it has for the last few hours, and he no longer needs a fever reducer, I will be able to report that the little bug is medicine free for the first time in almost one year. It was Father's day (6/17/08) through Avery's four year old birthday (6/18/08) that we were admitted to the hospital for the first time and our journey as parents of a cardiac kid with Down Syndrome began with an unforgettable bang!
It's a little strange, to be back again having come so far and experienced so much. I am happy to share that I am a better hospital Mom now; a fierce advocate and master of our world inside this 200 square foot room. Today I made the phlebotomist start over again after he violated my two-time repositioning grace and started digging around for a vein. Then tonight, the nurse came in to take Keane's blood pressure and temperature (under his arm) about an hour after I put him to bed. I used my temporal thermometer reading and my hand, felt pretty confident that he didn't have a fever, then refused her request. He's not likely to sleep through the night here. When he wake up, we can take his blood pressure. Until then, we can see on the monitor that the air goes in and out and the blood goes around and around.
He's sleeping now, saturating at a dismal 90% on average. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring better news. We've been told to be prepared for a couple days here. I am not entirely sure I can make it a couple days, especially since I know I won't be sleeping tonight (refer to numbers 2, 5, 6, and 7 above).
I hope this Memorial Day weekend is more enjoyable for all of you who have been so supportive on this ever exciting journey.... I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Warm wishes,
EO
Top ten reasons why I dislike hospitals:
10) Poor quality mattresses
9) Fluorescent lighting - who doesn't look pale?
8) Walking around on tile floors that someone undoubtedly detonated with some type of bodily fluid only hours before you arrived.
7) Shift changes; I don't care who you are, why did you wake me up to introduce yourself?
6) It's never night. The lights blaze through the skimpy bedroom blinds as if someone is using one of those car dealership spotlights and advertising the fact that someone will be waking you up for no apparent reason any moment.
5) There's no need to set an alarm; the monitors alarm every five minutes, but no one bothers to change the settings. What's the point in having an alarm if no one ever comes when it goes off?
4) The food is shipped in fresh from Monsanto, assuring that as our kids are "healing" we are filling their fragile little person bodies with genetically modified, pesticide laced, pre-packaged and processed foods (yes, I am rethinking whether this should move up the list).
3) Room claustrophobia and stir crazy kiddos; Today we got a fire truck for Keane from the nursing staff. The entertainment lasted approximately 10 minutes. We read all the books we brought and did all the puzzles in the first hour and a half. Toddlers and hospital rooms don't mesh!
2) Basic rules of parenting - violated! Don't wake a sleeping baby. Thou shall not inflict harm upon one's child, well except when you have to restrain said child for blood draws, x-rays, blood pressures, medication, etc. Of course, all for the right reasons. I am sure Keane sees it that way too -- not!
1) No matter how nice everyone is, how helpful, or accommodating, I am convinced it is the most stressful, least comfortable, noisiest, loneliest and depressing place for a parent of a hospitalized child.
The short story - Keane had a fever for nine days. He was seen at Dr. Bob's on Wednesday and got a chest x-ray on Thursday when his fever persisted. The diagnosis at the time was bronchiolitis. He seemed a little better on Friday, then had a fever again on Saturday. Dr. Bob said if he still had a fever on Sunday morning, we would make arrangements to meet at RiverBend hospital. This morning he was strangely lethargic, had a fever and overall did not pass the Mom (or Dad) gut check.
Alas, we came to RiverBend and went directly to the Peds floor, bypassing the ED or any interim checkpoint. We hooked him up to an O2 saturation monitor (Pulse Ox) and the Mom PTSD sets in - mid 80s to high 80s. What the *$%$ #$%$* *#$%^? We've already paid our dues with poor oxygen saturation. After we paid our dues, we were fined and taxed and paid again.
Respiratory virus screens for the main offenders all negative; blood work normal; X-ray shows no pneumonia. We're here for the luck of the draw, mystery respiratory virus. Sweet.
The good news - there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his heart. Plus, newsflash - Keane took his last dose of Viagra on Friday night. Had it not been for all the Advil and Tylenol, I could report Keane is completely medicine free. Once the fever subsides, which it has for the last few hours, and he no longer needs a fever reducer, I will be able to report that the little bug is medicine free for the first time in almost one year. It was Father's day (6/17/08) through Avery's four year old birthday (6/18/08) that we were admitted to the hospital for the first time and our journey as parents of a cardiac kid with Down Syndrome began with an unforgettable bang!
It's a little strange, to be back again having come so far and experienced so much. I am happy to share that I am a better hospital Mom now; a fierce advocate and master of our world inside this 200 square foot room. Today I made the phlebotomist start over again after he violated my two-time repositioning grace and started digging around for a vein. Then tonight, the nurse came in to take Keane's blood pressure and temperature (under his arm) about an hour after I put him to bed. I used my temporal thermometer reading and my hand, felt pretty confident that he didn't have a fever, then refused her request. He's not likely to sleep through the night here. When he wake up, we can take his blood pressure. Until then, we can see on the monitor that the air goes in and out and the blood goes around and around.
He's sleeping now, saturating at a dismal 90% on average. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring better news. We've been told to be prepared for a couple days here. I am not entirely sure I can make it a couple days, especially since I know I won't be sleeping tonight (refer to numbers 2, 5, 6, and 7 above).
I hope this Memorial Day weekend is more enjoyable for all of you who have been so supportive on this ever exciting journey.... I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
Warm wishes,
EO
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
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Saturday, May 18, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
Both kids working on balance
I know we probably shouldn't be laughing.... bet you watch it at least twice.
http://youtu.be/J8cwpPG1xms
http://youtu.be/J8cwpPG1xms
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Mom's Day Lunch at School
For some reason, the video manager is not working. Here are the links to a couple videos you don't want to miss!
Today was the Pre-K Annual Mother's Day Lunch. I was served lunch by Avery, entertained with song, dance and ... well, you'll see...
http://youtu.be/f2IsR0ZyIFI
http://youtu.be/z-ijzhQRgHM
Today was the Pre-K Annual Mother's Day Lunch. I was served lunch by Avery, entertained with song, dance and ... well, you'll see...
http://youtu.be/f2IsR0ZyIFI
http://youtu.be/z-ijzhQRgHM
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Quick update about Friday's OHSU appointment
Greetings and sorry for the delay...!
Keane is really status quo. Still no signs of pulmonary hypertension, which means that he can wean off of his Viagra over the next three weeks (whoo hoo!). However, there is between a 5% and 95% chance that he will need a mitral valve replacement in the future, at some point. He has moderate mitral valve stenosis. It will be nice to medicine-free, none-the-less!
Thanks for all your warm thoughts and wishes!
Monday, April 29, 2013
After dinner bike ride... Spring has arrived!
Yes, yes. It's been WAY too long since we've posted anything. We are in full "survive Mom's last term of her PhD program coursework" mode. There's so much to share, yet we are not sure where to start!
Both kids are great. Avery started T-ball, which is hilarious and very entertaining. She recently started at a new gymnastics center, which she seems to be enjoying quite a bit. She is still loving school is becoming an independent and thoughtful little bug. Check her out on her bike - that's only a couple weeks of pedaling solo! In addition, Aves is anxiously awaiting musical theater and horse camps this summer. I am also hoping to enroll her in a survival swim class, but I am not sure where it might fit into our summer schedule. If not survival swim, then just another round of swim lessons!
Keane is progressing well. He has really great cognitive skills that are on par with his peers, with his receptive language abilities improving daily. Although he can understand our communication to him, identify animals, objects and people correctly, he can't say much! He has a few words - "dog," "ball," "Dad (not Mom)," "yah" for yes, and the ever popular "all done." Ben insists he says "elbow," but I haven't heard it. Strange compilation of words, indeed. He's cruising now, army crawling everywhere. He can also pull himself to standing, but doesn't seem to have the confidence yet to transfer between locations.
Keane has potentially his last follow-up sedated cardiac echo on Friday (5/3). There is a chance that he will be cleared to wean off of his three times a day Viagra. It would take a few weeks to reduce the dose until we could finally be done with heart care. Wouldn't it be nice if we could close that chapter before our one year anniversary of what will forever be one of the most challenging days of our lives - June 14. Well, we will have to wait and see what happens on Friday.
Erin has five more weeks of coursework. Five weeks to finish what seems impossible at this point in terms of workload. Ben's been pulling weekend duty and covering for T-ball practice and other after school logistics while Mom sits in Tuesday and Thursday night classes - anyone available to help with econometrics? He really only has time to brew a few beers with his Dad and Eric on a somewhat regular basis. We are looking forward to starting our new life schedule at the end of June, with Erin starting a new 30 hour per week job at a local foundation and no longer having to commute full time to Corvallis. There's still some research to finish and publish before the letters are final... but, Wow! It's been a crazy couple of years juggling school, kids and sanity. Oh wait, something had to give... obviously that was our sanity.
Looking forward to summer that includes more fun, friends and family.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
It's official, she's a "big kid."
Progression over about five minutes of solo biking...!
Write when you get a job, honey!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
First friend date!
Avery went on her first friend date this month with her friend, Olivia. They went to the local "big" auditorium to see the Shanghai Circus! They had a blast on Super Bowl Sunday.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Jackpot!
Avery and Keane just hit the jackpot at a local family fun center (today). Out with Nanny Allie and her Mom, Avery hit 1000 tickets on her first game!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
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