Congenital Heart Problem
Yes, it can happen to anyone. We discovered that it can happen to us also. Our newborn son was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries and ASD and VSD. That latter two meant that he had multiple holes in his heart. So, we have been on an emotional roller coaster the last week and a half. Below is an email I sent out to my co-workers to explain our ordeal:
Two Thursdays ago I had to take off because my youngest son (at the time) was sick with a virus. I tried to take care of him so my wife (who was pregnant at the time) would not get sick. He got over and none of us ended up getting sick, which is wonderful considering the week we had ahead of us. Friday I took off to be at the hospital for the birth of our 4th child. My wife was to be induced on the morning of the 27th around 6:00AM. Everything started well, and even a little earlier than expected that Friday. Amy felt fine throughout labor and really had one of the best deliveries yet. She was very excited that our last (we shut the factory down) was so easy.
After the baby was born, he went down to the nursery for the normal checkup, weighing, etc. There were issues at this time. Everything seemed to be normal. The baby even went through the circumcision which we later found out would not have normally been done if they had known of the heart problem due to stress. After a day in the hospital, and several visitors, everything seemed to be going well. I had gone downstairs to get some supper and when I returned, there was a doctor explaining things to Amy. I overheard one word, surgery. After the doctors left Amy went back over everything that had been told to her. She said that the baby had a heart defect that had been detected as a heart murmur (we were aware of the murmur previously) and proven to be an issue. A lot of babies have heart murmurs at young ages that eventually stop. This one however caused a flag to be raised by our pediatrician and tests to be done to determine the cause. The Echocardiograms showed that the baby had TGA (Transposition of the Great Arteries). His Aorta and Pulmonary arteries were switched. Everyone’s heart starts out this way and eventually corrects itself before birth. For some reason this did not happen with our baby.
We were told that the baby would have to immediately be transported to UAB where a heart surgeon would perform the switch operation that was required. We were told that some things were working in our favor as there was an umbilical artery that normally would have closed up after birth that was open and functioning to ensure that the baby was getting oxygenated blood. This was also another sign that there was a problem since it should have been closed. They gave the baby some medicine to keep this artery opened. There was a chance that this medicine could cause the baby to have breathing problems, but this did not happen. At 7:30PM Saturday the ambulance from UAB took Aaron up to UAB and got him in the RNICU (Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). We followed behind in our van and met them there because we were not allowed to ride in the ambulance which made momma very nervous. When we got to the NICU, the baby was surrounded by a group of doctors. My father-in-law referred to one of them as a nurse and was quickly corrected. Two of the doctors took us out of the room to explain the situation to us.
Supposedly this is something that UAB sees around 12 – 15 times a year. The surgeon is very familiar with this operation and was schooled in South Africa and the US. The doctors told us that other than the switched arteries, there were more issues at hand. The baby had three holes in his heart. One hole was in the Atria (top chambers of the heart) and was known as an Atrial Septal Defect. The other two holes were in the Ventrical chambers in the lower part of the heart and this defect was known as Ventricular Septal Defect. These were congential (present at birth) heart defects. So, the doctor did not know at the time if the 3 holes would be repaired during the surgery. That would have to be decided once inside. Sunday was a dry day for news. The baby sat in the NICU and we stayed in a waiting room to hear news. We heard nothing until late in the evening when the doctor came by. The surgery was set for Monday at that time and other surgeries were moved. We were told by the doctor that the holes in the heart were actually good. This allowed oxygenated blood to flow where it was needed since the heart was not working correctly. He told us that they sometimes have to go in and put a hole in others to allow this flow. So, he told us that our baby came prepared for this surgery.
Monday morning was wild for us as the surgery was early in the morning.
Our Family and friends took up about a third of the Cardiovascular Intensive
Care Unit waiting room which was quite large. I have a picture of everyone
sitting together and it is amazing how many came. Our church staff, family
from out of town, and friends from Prattville all came to be there. Half way
through the surgery, the doctor sent someone out to tell us that the baby
was off the bypass. This was a good sign because we knew that his heart was
pumping again. We were told that due to swelling they might not close the
incision on the day of surgery. However, they did. Within a few hours, we
were able to go back and see the baby. He looked rough and was lifeless on
drugs. He would be in this condition for a day. He stayed on pain killers
and sedatives for a couple of days and they slowly decreased the dosage.
Towards the end of the week, we were sent to an actual hospital room where
we cared for the baby ourselves. He was on no pain medicine or any other
meds the last two days we were in the hospital. We were told by hospital
staff that this was very good and that children were normally sent home with
a prescription for pain medicine. When we were released Friday evening, we
were given no prescription and a clean bill of health. The baby will remain
a heart patient and will need regular check ups, but he is cleared to play
any sports, when the time comes, and the doctors could not even find the
holes in his heart on the day we left. There is a small remnant of the hole
in the Atria, but it is closing well. So, all in all, things are well.
Everything really is good here at the house. The baby is doing exceptionally well and we are so happy. He has a scar on his chest and a couple of places on his stomach where there are stitches remaining. Just know that this can happen to anyone. Give blood. Be thankful for what you have.
Top2007 NetQoS Symposium - Austin, TX (Day 1 and 2)
It may not be the biggest IT gathering of the year, but it is definately a large symposium. I have to start off by saying that this company knows how to treat customers. We arrived in Austin today around lunch time. We took time to get our gear dropped off at the hotel and then got something to eat. Then we watched 300 at a local theater. After a brief rest back at the hotel, we headed of to Barton Creek Resort and Spa. Yes, it is just as it sounds. It is splendid, marvelous, and down-right un-imaginable. The homes in the club area are huge. I was amazed by the shear size and magnitude of these beautiful homes. I hope to catch some pictures tomorrow of the resort and some of the nearby area. These pictures will most likely be low-quality pics from my cell phone, but hopefully will catch your interest.
My co-worker and I are in Austin for the NetQoS Symposium. This is a big social event in the hometown of NetQoS. NetQoS has really gone the extra mile. There is a keynote speaker from Cisco and they have even added a Netflow certification that they are working to have recognized by the industy. I have included some pictures of the conference below.
Also, while were are in Texas, David and I have decided to see some sites. We drove down to the Capital yesterday evening and ended up in an immigration riot/parade. See the picture below:
TopOuch! Judge Rules Vonage Can’t Sign Up Any New Customers
A judge has effectively barred Internet phone carrier Vonage from signing
up new customers as punishment for infringing on patents held by Verizon,
though the company will be allowed to continue servicing existing customers.
Vonage is planning to appeal.
This is not what I want to hear right now as a new Vonage customer. I guess
I jumped on the bandwagon just in time. I still am planning on writing a
third update on my progress with Vonage. I wanted to let a little time pass
to make sure I give them a thorough review. I have been pretty satisfied so
far. I just want to do a better job of prioritizing my traffic. So far
though, I have had no issues with dropped calls or echoing.
I hope this case turns out to be legitimate. I hope that Verizon is not just
suing without cause. Will Verizon become the SCO of Telecommunications? I
hope not. I am so tired of these patent law suits. The US patent office
needs to do a better job of scrutinizing patents. You should have to show
more proof of concept. There should be requirements for prototypes and
examples of the technology that is being patented. I am tired of these
companies that do nothing more than patent squatting. I don’t think this is
what Verizon did, but this is still a dirty case in my opinion.
A Response to Chris Pirillo About a Video on His Site
You see, I live in Alabama. A lot of you probably think that this is just everyday stuff to bumpkins like me, but you really miss the point. There are perfectly good recreational uses for firearms. Hunting is not the only good use for a gun either. I have taught each of my children from about 2 years of age how to hold a gun, how to aim a gun, and what happens to the target after you fire. I show them the wholes and the tore up targets. This is to teach them not to ever point a gun at a person unless you want them to look the same way.
Some people think they are protecting their children by not letting them touch guns until they are older, if ever. But you can control what they touch at your house. How about when they are at relatives houses and friends’ houses. Do you follow your child every second of every day. We all wish we could. But the fact remains that most likely at some point in your child’s life, they will be confronted with a gun. Maybe it will be sitting on a shelf or in someone’s car. I want my child to know that if they pick that thing up, it is going to cause damage to someone or something.
Maybe in the state our country is currently in, we should just be happy to see two parents spending time with their child. Maybe we should be glad that two parents who seem to enjoy life and getting out decided to keep their child instead of selectively destroying him before birth. Maybe, just, maybe, the gun has drawn more of our attention in this video than what really matters, and that is people.
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FAMILY PLANNING: PILL MUST BE PRESCRIBED