Colt's Heart

The story of my feet hitting the ground

2012-02-05T14:16:00.000-05:00

I have been worrying hard for the past month about Colt’s upcoming open heart surgery and how we were going to pay for this operation since we no longer have any health insurance, I had carried all the health insurance on our family through my employer HP since Bradley was self-employed and then when I got laid off, we got really lucky because with our Colt qualified for a medical card up until

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Month -~ Raise Awareness ~ Spread Hope

2012-02-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) account for 24% of infant deaths due to birth defects.In the United States, about 4,800 (or 11.6 per 10,000) babies born every year have one of seven critical congenital heart defects (CCHDs, which also are known collectively in some instances as critical congenital heart disease). These seven CCHDs are hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary atresia (with

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-15T10:02:00.003-05:00

I have really got to get back into the swing of things and most more updates, just a summaryColt got to start preschool last month after I got it okayed with Dr. Cottrill and Dr. Plunkett , we loved going to the Happy Hearts Picnic, Colt thought we were on the set of Wipeout because of all the bouncy blow up things, it took us a long time to get him to take a break even though he was really

Long overdue update

2011-09-26T12:17:00.008-04:00

Life is busy, but never too busy to give thanks to the lord.Dear Lord thank you for your son and for ours! We are never promised to tomorrow, we are given today, let's make the most of it!Colt turned 3 on June 17We participated in the DQ Miracle Treat Day for UK Children's Hospital in August, Colt got to be the miracle child for the Downtown Winchester Dairy.Colt had a followup cardiologist

June 2011

2011-06-06T20:06:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a really long time since I have posted, and I have been meaning too, but with one energetic little one it seems time just flies by. So much has changed in our life since my last post, due to workforce reduction I was laid off of work in October and was given 8 weeks to find another position within the company, however it was rather difficult to find another job within the

2 years plus with my 2 favorite people

2010-08-27T14:02:00.009-04:00

Well, there is so much to say, I wish I was better at keeping up with this, my goal was to try to post as least every other month. I am just in awl most of the time at how smart Colt is getting, somewhat a little too smart for his own good. He is full of energy and other than a broken arms 4 days before his b-day 6/17/10, he decided to be like Eval Nevil he says and jump out of the crib,other

American Heart Walk 2010 & Special Prayer Request

2010-05-13T21:33:00.004-04:00

Well even though it was really cold, the Heart Walk was great. Colt’s Heart Team raised over $1,000.00 for the American Heart Association and everyone looked great in their T-shirts. Colt was entertaining he danced to the music that was playing before the walk began it was adorable, he loves to dance and run. The best part was at the beginning of the walk Colt's Pa (Bradley's dad) who is also a

Join us for the American Heart Walk 2010

2010-03-25T22:46:00.004-04:00

Hi Family and Friends -I have been meaning to write so many time, but Colt really keeps me busy, there is never a quite moment until sleepy time.I am hoping to encourage everyone we can to participate in the2010 American Heart Walk, it will be on at theWinchester Traveling Trail Saturday April 17th, 2010Registration is @ 9:00 am and the walk starts @10:00 amColt now has a team on the American

Almost 20 months

2010-02-10T22:15:00.001-05:00

I know it’s been so long since I wrote an update. Colt is almost 20 months now.Time really goes by so fast and I try to make each day count, Colt had a great Christmas and on to a new year hopefully we will be potty trained in the next 6 months. Colt is absolutely wonderful and so smart he can count to 10 with a little help in between, say some of his ABC’s, and the all words he can say amazes me

14 1/2 months

2009-09-06T20:32:00.004-04:00

Sorry I have not posted an update in a while, Colt has been keeping me really busy, he had been taking steps here and there but, then all of a sudden he took off on August 20th. He runs from me now and thinks he is such a big boy since he can walk. So hard to believe how quick he is growing up and how smart he is. He is stubborn just like his dad, but it is a cute stubborn.Health wise he is

My Hero

2009-07-14T21:49:00.012-04:00

It is never easy to lose someone you love and 3 years ago today my Papaw Swayne passed away from a massive heart attack. He was my Hero.I wanted to send love and prayers to all our family especially my Mamaw who still has his pj's hanging on the back of the bathroom door. I have never seen a love like the 2 of them shared. She has never stopped thinking or talking about him even when people tell

Colt's 1st Birthday

2009-06-27T21:08:00.001-04:00

He had a great birthday party thanks to all the family, friends, and neighbors that came to share it with us. We had close to 100 people show up to celebrate with us even though it was extremely hot. Colt loved all the balloons and was excited to see all the people, but he wasn’t too sure about the green icing.Special thanks to Stacia for Colt’s adorable cake and to all the people that helped

Almost a Year Old

2009-06-09T17:21:00.006-04:00

Hi All -Can’t believe how great everything is going. I am a year older and now Colt is going to be 1 in 8 days, so hard to believe almost a year has gone by already.He is trying to crawl but it is more like he is scooting on his behind, but he can go anywhere he wants, in the walker watch out he is dangerous, I wear tennis shoes everyday to keep from getting my feet ran over. He wants to walk but

American Heart Walk 2009

2009-05-05T22:33:00.002-04:00

The Heart Walk went great. Bradley and I pulled Colt in the Wagon 3 times around the traveling trail and he loved it, he loved it some much by the 3rd time around he was asleep. Just the feeling of walking for meaning a a purpose felt great. I appreciate all our family and friends who came and walked or donated money to the American Heart Walk. Since there were so many of us walking for Colt, we

9 Months Old

2009-03-18T15:21:00.006-04:00

And 4 teeth later. Colt is doing really good, we had a 6 week checkup with Dr. Cottrill. All went well. It is so hard to believe he will be one before you know it. It has been really busy since we got out of the hospital, Bradley's dad (Pa Pete) had a mild heart attack March 3 and ended up having a Quadruple bypass the following surgery, we took Colt to see him when he got moved out of ICU to the

Home

2009-02-14T16:49:00.004-05:00

Sorry I forgot to post an update to let everyone know that we got dismissed Sunday evening and have been home trying to get back into the swing of things. Each day he gets closer to being back to his little lovable happy self.It have been a pretty crazy week, Sunday morning Colt woke with a cough and for the first couple of days Bradley and I had been up every night with him trying to pacify him.

Getting back to himself

2009-02-07T17:41:00.019-05:00

Colt got all 3 chest tubes taken out yesterday and Bradley and I got to hold him for the first time since his surgery, it was kinda scary since he is sore and he can't be picked up under his arms, but he was really glad, everytime he seen us, he gave us that look like "Why are you picking me up?" Over all everything is going as planned, he did have to get a blood transfusion last night and still

2 Days Post OP Glenn

2009-02-05T11:44:00.004-05:00

Last night Dr. Cottrill came in last night and checked on him and she said he was fussing a little bit and was saying MA MA MA...... and this morning he said again..... I am so happy and finally feeling a sense of calmness.Today Colt is now off his oxygen and is still doing good and he is more like himself.You could see the excitement in his eyes when we walked in this morning. They are going to

Day After Surgery

2009-02-04T11:05:00.005-05:00

Bradley and I are so happy to see Colt and be in the room with him, other than a little swollen and really tired, he is looking great. He is getting to eat an ounce of formula every 2 hours and gotten to eat some bananas already and now sleeping peacefully.All his IV lines are out except one, he still has his 3 chest tubes, if all keeps going well they will be coming out maybe tomorrow. Still on

After Surgery

2009-02-03T17:37:00.004-05:00

Colt has made it through surgery wonderfully. He is doing very well, completely off of the ventilator and breathing on his own. He is on very little pain meds, his oxygen stats are running in the low 80's where is exactly where they wanted and his blood pressure is running normal so for the first time in 7 months he is not on blood pressure medicine. Bradley and I got to go back to see him for a

In Surgery

2009-02-03T08:22:00.006-05:00

These pictures were taken this morning before they took him into the O.RHis nurse Jane and anastegologist; Dr. Johnson, carried him back into the O.R., this morning at 7:15 a.mA very special thanks to Pastor James Williams for coming and praying this morning at the hospital. He is scheduled to be in surgery until around noon.We will post as we know more.Please continue the prayers and thoughts

New Surgery date

2009-01-25T18:54:00.007-05:00

Our visit with Colt’s surgeon Dr. Plunkett went great, what a nice guy, he explained the procedures and explained what will be done during this surgery which is called the Bi-directional Glenn and that it will take about 4 hours.Just an overview….The bidirectional Glenn procedure is the surgery used to prepare the heart for a Fontan procedure. It is a surgery in which a detour (shunt) is created

Heart Cath Results

2008-12-19T13:11:00.007-05:00

The Heart Cath went very smooth, there were no blockages and the cardiologists were satified with the results.Other than a little groggy, wanting to be close to me and Bradley and really hungry afterwards Colt did fantastic, he didn't even have to get any pain meds.We found out yesterday that Colt will go to his surgeon Dr. Plunkett on Jan. 12 th to be evaluated and surgery is scheduled for

Heart Cath

2008-12-15T19:37:00.005-05:00

Wanted to drop a few lines to give and update, everything has been going great with Colt , each and everyday has been a blessing and we are always giving thanks to God for the gift we have been given. He is so sweet and such a good baby, he sleeps all through the night, I have been reading bible stories and my other favorite "God Gave Us you" every night and singing him to sleep (no I can't sing)

Good news for Colt

2008-10-24T22:54:00.001-04:00

Our appointment at the cardiologist included great news for Colt…..Above is a picture with Colt and Dr. Cottrill, she is one of a kind. Everyone at her office is so sweet and caring, we are so thankful for her.Colt is doing great and he is still in the stable category, his blood pressure was a little high since he has gained weight (13 pounds) and 24 ½ inches long. So all his meds were increased