The boys and I are going to participate in the summer reading program at our local library and while I was checking out the info I saw that they are having a photography contest. I don't really think there is a prize, except you get your work displayed in a gallery for a while. But photography is a passion of mine so I thought I'd enter something. Now I need you to help me choose what to enter! These shots were all taken around the Joplin area. Leave me a comment about which one is your favorite.

The boys and I went over to GG's today and helped her in her garden. It was fun, and the boys where a huge help. Ok, Myles helped a little bit. Damon played in the fountain and gave his shoes a bath. Anyway, we were there most of the day and by the time we got done everyone was filthy and tired. We went in the house to gather up our stuff so we could leave and I found an empty wrapper for Nightime Sleep Aid on the floor in the kitchen. There were two pills in each package and one was broken on the floor and the other was missing. I got down on my knees to look for it under the cabinets and I saw a little dribble of slobber on the floor with a small piece of one of the pills in it. So I assume that Damon somehow got this package open and ate one of these pills. He chewed it up probably, and drooled on the floor while doing it. I also assume that the pill tasted nasty to him, otherwise he would've probably ate the other one and moved onto the other packages. Praise God for nasty tasting medicine. So I called the dr's office (no one there), the Mom's hotline at the hospital (referred me somewhere else), and then finally the Poison Control Center. Sue, the nice lady at the PCC told me that I had nothing to worry about, and it wouldn't affect his heart in any way. She even called back two hours later to check on Damon. So nice!

And yes, Damon did fall asleep shortly after we found the empty pill package. But he really didn't sleep any longer than he would have for his regular nap. So I guess I'm not 100% sure that he actually ate that pill, but I wanted to error on the side of caution. Never a dull moment around here. Talk to you all later.

Sarah

We hope everyone has a safe and fun long weekend! We're so excited for summer to be here so we can be outside and do lots of fun things. We're already planning out first camping trip of the season. One of what I hope will be lots and lots! Damon is feeling much better, although his cough is hanging on every now and then. Thanks for the prayers.Talk to you all later.

Sarah

P.S. Look to your right for a new feature on the website.

Damon has a cold and has had a low fever since Monday night. Overnight it's gotten a little higher and his cough has started to sound worse. He's gagging a lot when he coughs and it sounds like his lungs might be getting congested. I'm taking him to the dr this afternoon so please pray that it's only a cold and that he can get some relief from this cough.

Sarah

Jeremy's surgery went fine yesterday. He is home now and still in some pain but otherwise fine. Thanks for your prayers.

Sarah

This is Lacey posting for the Cochrans:
Jeremy has been having problems with kidney stones and the doctors did a procedure early this week to break them up. The procedure was successful at breaking them up but he has not been able to pass them and there were some complications. He will be having surgery at 12:30 today to remove the stones. Please pray for a complete recovery for Jeremy.

Damon had an appt w/ Dr Tong today and it went well. He told us that everything looks the same on his echo and his EKG. His sats were a tad lower than last time (which is a normal thing to happen and they were only 83% which is still a good number) and the gradient on his aortic arch was a little higher.

Here's an explanation of what that means. Everyone has an aorta, the big vessel that comes out of your heart on the left side that carries your blood out to your body. Damon's was teeny tiny when he was born (part of the HLHS defect) and it had to be rebuilt in his first surgery. There is one spot on his aorta that kept getting narrow so it's been ballooned during a heart cath 5 times to stretch it out. The gradient is a number that tells how fast the blood is flowing through that spot. If the number is low that means that the spot is wide open allowing a lot of blood to flow through at a slow pace. If the number is higher that means it's getting narrower and the blood doesn't have as much room to flow through so it's moving faster. Think of it as a river. When the river is wide, the water is moving slowly. But when the river narrows and the water only has a small area to get through, it moves much faster.

A narrow spot on his aorta is not good, but not to worry. When we first got there they took his blood pressure on his leg. It was normal. After Dr Tong saw the echo he had them retake his blood pressure on his arm. He said if the blood pressure was higher on his arm, then it could mean that his aorta is getting narrow again. But when the blood pressure machine was finished squeezing, his arm blood pressure was lower than in his leg. So all is well. Dr Tong said he would note it in the chart and check it next time we see him in August.

Maybe I should have saved you all that confusion and just said his appt went fine, but at least now you have learned something. Talk to you all later.

Sarah

what does everyone think so far of the changes? I know right now it's pretty bare, but I did add the links back on with little pictures instead of the Names of the organization. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it took a little time to do and involved some computer smarts, so I was proud of myself. Soon I'll add some pictures of Damon and hopefully some other fun stuff so keep checking back.

Damon goes to see Dr Tong tomorrow (Monday) so I'll post here after that with an update. Talk to you all later!

Sarah