Happy Heart Day!

My boys and I went to the movies today.  We took Jonathon to see Alvin and the Chipmunks...Shipwrecked this morning.

Waiting for movie to start

Brotherly Love

After the movies we stopped off and picked up a cake and balloons for Jonathon.

Loves to get balloons

When we got home we made soup and sandwiches for lunch.  Then we turned on the radio and listened to music while we all hung out together and played with Jonathon.  We had dinosaurs, and army guys, and imaginext castles.  It was a very nice lazy afternoon.

Later on in the afternoon we decided to watch Gnomeo and Juliet with Jonathon.  While the boys watched the movie I made an easy dinner....eggs, sausage, toast and pancakes..

After Gnomeo and Juliet finished, we hurried and fed the animals and then got out the cake to celebrate some more!

me and Jonathon

Kenny, Jonathon and Daddy

Kenny, Jonathon, Andrew and Daddy

Happy Heart Day my son....I am so grateful that 4 years ago we were able to have your asd/vsd corrected.  I am so thankful each and everyday that you are healthy and that your heart is doing great.

Atrial septal defect (ASD) repair......The atrial septum is the wall between the left and right atria of the heart.  There is a natural opening before birth and this usually closes on its own when a baby is born, but when it doesn't the baby/child has an ASD.

So you had open heart surgery...OHS to correct this.  The dr. used stitches to close the hole.

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) repair......The ventricular septum is the wall between the left and right ventricles of the heart.  A hole in the ventricular septum is called a VSD.

Sometimes these holes close on their own after time, but yours did not.  You had open heart surgery to have this corrected.  Dr. put a gortex patch on you. (the material that is used to make wet suits for scuba divers)

Happy Heart Day Celebration

We mailed out invites for Happy Heart Day this year. We decided to take Jonathon bowling to celebrate and wanted to include the whole family and close friends.

Today was the day.  We had a great turn out for it.  Over 25 people showed up for the event.  We ate pizza, drank pop, bowled for about 2 hours and then ended the day with some yummy cupcakes.

I am still trying to figure out my new camera so I am very disappointed that I didn't get any good pictures.  I kept playing with the settings as I was taking pictures.  Some are very blurry, some are dark and some just don't look good.  I am hoping over the next couple of days I can figure it out or I guess I will take it back and look for something more user friendly.  Once I see my sister I will get pictures from her.

All in all we had a great day and Jonathon received some wonderful presents too.
He got a pillow pet from Rylee and some donuts from Tim Hortons and chocolate hostess cupcakes.  Thank you Nik, Martin, Logan and Rylee.
He got a balloon and M & M's from Auntie Carol-Ann and Uncle Dave.  A new story book, some hot wheels and Valentines from Chris, Nate and Mr. Miller - Thank you
Balloons from Barb and Candi.

We didn't expect presents, but they were appreciated very much.  Thank you to all our family and friends for coming out and spending the day with Jonathon!

Here is a couple of pictures.....

HAPPY HEART DAY!!

Today is Happy Heart Day.  Today is Jonathon's 3 year anniversary.  Today is a day to celebrate.  Today is a day to be thankful.  Today is a day for pure happiness.

On Feb 5, 2008 Jonathon was 5 months old and went to Children s Hospital of Michigan and had OHS to repair ASD/VSD. 

His BAV is still being monitored.

And I am very happy to say Jonathon is a healthy 3 year old.

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) - a hole in the septum between the upper left and upper right heart chambers. This causes mixing of the red and blue blood, thus overworking the right side of the heart. The three types of ASD's are Sinus Venosus, Ostium Primum and Ostium Secundum. Sometimes the ASD can be closed during a cardiac catheterization or surgery may be required. 

Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) - a hole in the septum of the lower left and lower right heart chambers. This allows blue blood to mix with red blood, causing the heart to be overworked and possibly enlarged. A small hole may not need to be closed, a medium-sized hole may be closed during a cardiac catheterization and a larger hole may require surgery.

Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) - a defect of the aortic valve that results in the formation of two leaflets or cusps instead of the normal three. Normally only the mitral valve (bicuspid valve) has two cusps (instead of three). The aortic valve is situated between the left atrium and left ventricle. About 1-2% of the population have bicuspid aortic valves, although the condition is nearly twice as common in males. It is more common than any other congenital cardiac anomaly. In many cases, the condition will cause no problems. However, especially later in life, a bicuspid aortic valve may become calcified, which may lead to varying degrees of severity of aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation, which will manifest as murmurs. If these become severe enough, they may require heart surgery. 

 

Please click on the links to learn more about CHD.

http://chdbabies.blogspot.com/2009/08/chds.html

http://tchin.org/index.htm

Now about our day....Happy Heart Day #3 was a success...Jonathon and I woke up at 6:30a.m. this morning...we decided to have juice and pancakes for breakfast...mom had coffee too!  We were just finishing up our breakfast when Andrew came up stairs...

Daddy had to work today ~ Kenny stayed over night at a friends house ~ Andrew needed a ride to work at 9a.m.  So Jonathon and I got dressed and took Andrew to his job and then we went to Walmart to get a new movie and pick up a few items.

When we returned home ~ daddy was just pulling in the driveway from work ~ so the three of us had lunch together ~ Lunchables all around ~ well kinda ~ Jonathon had a lunchable and we had summer sausage, cheese and crackers.  We were just finishing up lunch when Kenny got home so we decided to watch Jonathon's new movie with him.

 Jonathon loved this movie!  He got crazy with it!  He was so funny.  He would lay on the couch and then he would jump down and run up to the t.v. when the rabbit was hopping around about being late and then he would just stand right in front of the t.v. and eventually sit back down in his chair and then he would do it all over again.  I haven't seen this movie since his big brothers were little.  I enjoyed it too and am glad that Jonathon likes it.  I have been getting tired of Toy Story and Cars and Over the Hedge.

I had to make cupcakes for tomorrow ~ for our big HAPPY HEART DAY celebration and I had 2 boys cleaning out the bowl!

After we finished watching the movie it was time to get ready for dinner.  While I made dinner, daddy went outside to work in the garage and Kenny played with Jonathon or at least tried too.  Jonathon missed his nap today so he was in rare form.  He decided it would be great to beat up Kenny. (poor Kenny)  I finally had to intercept and yell at Jonathon ~ then Jonathon got his feelings hurt and started bawling ~ then we all hugged and said "sorry".  And I decided we better hurry with dinner and get through cake because Jonathon needed to go to bed early.

Andrew never made it home in time so we did cake without him.

Cake was delicious!  Jonathon liked it.  And then it was time to pick up toys and get ready for bed.....

night night little boy....Happy Heart Day!!

I love you Jonathon and I  thank god everyday for trusting me and giving me the opportunity  to be your mom.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C E L E B R A T E ! ! C O M E O N ! !

It is officially HAPPY HEART DAY # 2 !!!

Some pictures are graphic ~ please be aware ~

Jonathon's Hospital

Getting my last hug before surgery

Right after surgery

Waiting to take some stitches out and then homebound!

One year later - Our First Happy Heart Day Celebration!

Getting ready for his party!

2 years later - Our Second Happy Heart Day Celebration!

Checking out his Happy Heart Day Balloon

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) - a hole in the septum between the upper left and upper right heart chambers. This causes mixing of the red and blue blood, thus overworking the right side of the heart. The three types of ASD's are Sinus Venosus, Ostium Primum and Ostium Secundum. Sometimes the ASD can be closed during a cardiac catheterization or surgery may be required. 

Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) - a hole in the septum of the lower left and lower right heart chambers. This allows blue blood to mix with red blood, causing the heart to be overworked and possibly enlarged. A small hole may not need to be closed, a medium-sized hole may be closed during a cardiac catheterization and a larger hole may require surgery.

Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) - a defect of the aortic valve that results in the formation of two leaflets or cusps instead of the normal three. Normally only the mitral valve (bicuspid valve) has two cusps (instead of three). The aortic valve is situated between the left atrium and left ventricle. About 1-2% of the population have bicuspid aortic valves, although the condition is nearly twice as common in males. It is more common than any other congenital cardiac anomaly. In many cases, the condition will cause no problems. However, especially later in life, a bicuspid aortic valve may become calcified, which may lead to varying degrees of severity of aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation, which will manifest as murmurs. If these become severe enough, they may require heart surgery. 

http://chdbabies.blogspot.com/2009/08/chds.html

 Jonathon had surgery February 5, 2008 for ASD/VSD repair.   He sees his Cardiologist once a year in August.  If everything looks good this year we may be moved up to seeing his Cardiologist once every 2 years!

His BAV is being monitored and always will.  We have no worries or concerns at this time.

To celebrate Jonathon's 2nd anniversary of HAPPY HEART DAY we are having a small party once again!  Tonight Grandpa and Grandma Panczyk, Mr. Randy, and big brothers and mommy and daddy are having a lasagna, garlic bread and salad dinner with special homemade punch to drink.  Afterwards we will celebrate with a Happy Heart Cake and Neapolitan Icecream(Jonathon's favorite) and lots of balloons!!

I am thoroughly amazed how far technology has come in life and I am very happy with the team of doctors and nurses that we have for Jonathon.  Thank you for choosing the medical field as your career and for saving so many lives. 


I love you Jonathon!  I am so proud of you!  Enjoy your special day!


Please check out the website listed below and help spread awareness ~ Thank you

http://tchin.org/aware

It is Happy Heart Day!

It is finally here, Happy Heart Day! This is Jonathon's very first anniversary from OHS. Last year at this time, I was pacing the floors and praying that our baby would make it through open heart surgery. We were very fortunate and had my sister and her husband with us for support. I don't know what we would have done without them by our sides.(Thank you again sis-love you!) I sit here and think about all that we have went through up to Feb 5, 2008 and what differences have occurred since Feb 5, 2008. A world of difference. Before surgery Jonathon was very cold all the time, got tired quickly, and I literally bottle fed him every 3 hours to keep the weight on him and to get him heavy enough for surgery. I never slept, but I did what I had to do to protect my son and to help him. I am so glad that I chose that route. Now he is a good color, hot ALL the time, never never tired, is crawling all over the place, walking with help and around the furniture, signing words to me, talking a little, is able to drink from a reg. sippy cup and straw sippy cup, feeds himself with help from me, finger food feeding is coming along much better, even tries to drink from a regular cup! He loves to play, is able to stack blocks, put balls in holes and pound them in, just got a wooden work bench that you have to pound shapes through(he can do it), pushes his trucks, cars all over my house, including 2 at a time, loves to read his story books to himself and loves to hear us read to him, loves music. He is sooooo happy and content and I am very proud of him! I am so so happy and relieved that surgery was a SUCCESS for us! We only visit the cardiologist once a year.
We are having a little party for Jonathon this evening-grandma and grandpa, friend Randy and all of us. Dinner and cake and ice-cream. It's going to be a great day.
HAPPY HEART DAY MY ANGEL!!!!!!!!Love Mommy