Home Sweet Home for Paige, Kellye, & Nate!

Paige was released from the hospital today after a month and 3 days of ups and downs! The excitement in Nate's voice over the phone was unmistakable. He is really appreciating the simple things. Tonight, he ran out to grab food from their favorite Mexican restaurant and told me how great it was to be in a familiar place. He was excited to head back home and share dinner with Kellye.


They've got her all set up with her continuous tube feedings at home, and they've propped up pillows underneath her mattress to ensure proper digestion. They'll be heading back to the doctor's office on Friday to make sure there's been no drastic changes in her labs, weight, and overall condition. They still face a long road ahead, and transplant is still 'on the radar,' but for now the goal is to gain weight and remain stable. Thanks for all of your prayers; I know they've all felt them. I now ask for your prayers for Paige's stability so they can continue to remain at home and try to reestablish their usual day-to-day routines.

Here's the latest photo I've received of sweet baby Paige. It's from her little hospital bed, soon after waking up yesterday. She looks wide awake, huh?

Spring weekend

We had such a nice weekend! We started it early on Thursday by celebrating Harrison's graduation. We had dinner at one of our favorite Asheville restaurants, Bouchon's Street Fair (casual French food). I had Le Croque Monsieur Frites with our favorite beer, Kronenbourg 1664. Afterward, we met up with some of our friends in West Asheville at the Wedge Brewery, http://www.wedgebrewing.com/, and later ended up at The Bywater http://www.bywaterbar.com/. The Bywater is a great new bar located next to the French Broad River. It has a huge outdoor space with grills, picnic tables, and all kinds of outdoor games. We had a great time celebrating with everybody, especially since Sylvia had just completed her thesis and James and Andy had just finished their finals!
After work on Friday, Harrison and I took a nice long walk through some lovely Asheville neighborhoods. It was so great to see Spring in full bloom! As we walked back to our car, we noticed a Little League Baseball game going on in the park. We decided to grab a hot dog and watch a bit of the game. It brought me back to all of the times I watched my brothers play ball as a kid.

Later, we met up with our friends at The Champagne Bar and Book Exchange (see earlier post about this great bar). We love that place! As I was leaving, I got the weirdest compliment I've ever received. A drunk 70-something man told me that I looked like Liza Minnelli. He also told me I had a nice nose. Weird.

Later we had some late night snacks at The Southern, http://www.southernkitchenandbar.com/, and played Foosball at Dirty South.

Saturday afternoon, several of us headed to Ben & Ashley's house to watch The Kentucky Derby. Ashley and Adam are both from Kentucky and have been to several derbies. We sipped on mint juleps as we watched the fastest 2 minutes pass us by. We spent the rest of the evening outside playing ladder golf and corn hole.
Sunday was another beautiful Spring day. After mass, Harrison and I spent a few hours hiking in the gardens at Biltmore Estate.

I cooked him a special dinner to celebrate the completion of his master's degree and then we watched a very strange Coppola film: Youth Without Youth.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you very special women out there! A special thanks to my dear mother and grandmother. This year my thoughts especially go out to my sister-in-law who is having her first mother's day. Kellye, you are so strong and nuturing; Paige is so lucky to have you as her mommy. Another very special mom is my sister. She is expecting her 3rd child on 11.11.11! For all of you pregnant mothers out there, I'm sending up special prayers today for God to protect and watch over you and your babies throughout your pregnancy.

Paige's heart cath results

Paige had a heart cath done yesterday. This procedure involves inserting a catheter into her femoral artery (groin) and threading it up into the heart. It allows for the MD to measure the pressures within the heart, look for any anatomic abnormalities, and check for blockages that might not allow blood to pass easily through the heart. I nervously awaited the results via phone, all day. I don't think I stopped praying or thinking about her until the call came. Nate told me that she tolerated the procedure and anesthesia very well. The good news was that the pressures that reflect how her lungs are doing looked good (the MDs weren't expecting this). The other news is that the pressures on the other side of her heart showed that her heart was having to work very hard to exchange oxygen. The doctors still feel like there's a grey area right now, as to what the next step is (a heart transplant is on the back burner). They're going to continue trying to increase Paige's weight with continuous tube feedings. If she can steadily gain weight, she may be able to go home. If she cannot maintain her weight, the transplant option will be explored further. PLEASE PRAY FOR PAIGE TO STEADILY GAIN WEIGHT!

This photo was taken by Nate as she was leaving for the heart cath procedure.

5.1.11 Osama Bin Killed!

Where I was when I found out about 9/11: a senior at Gadsden High, sitting in Mrs. Hawkins' English class. It was the first class of the day and we were going to watch "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." As we turned on the TV, about to pop in the video, we saw smoke pouring out of the World Trade Center. The days thereafter felt ominous.

Where I was upon hearing news of the death of Osama bin Laden, mastermind of 9/11: sitting in bed, watching reality TV. My husband came in and switched the channel to news. I couldn't believe the headline. After texting like crazy, we broke out a bottle of wine and watched the news for the next 2 hours. It is so nice to know that jerk is finally gone!

Proud to be an American!

The Royal Wedding

Yes, I did wake up at 5 am to watch the wedding. I got bored and snoozed until 6am. I watched the full wedding, live, as I got ready for work. I adored Princess Katherine's wedding gown! It was classy, traditional yet modern enough, and modest but figure-flattering. I did not enjoy the couple's mostly stoic expressions, but I guess it's not very regal to hold hands and wink at each other. All girls imagine to someday feel like a princess with their own Prince Charming on their wedding day. I guess the billions of viewers that tuned in were excited to see the real fairytale come true for commoner, Kate Middleton.

The sweet (but short) kiss brought me back to our wedding day. I honestly felt like a princess and even more so as I walked down the aisle towards my Prince Charming (sorry to be cheesy). Our first kiss as a married couple was so special. Not a day goes by without a kiss, unless we're apart of course!

On a side note, I'm getting very excited that Paige may come home soon! Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers for her, Nate and Kellye. Here's the latest from the carepage...

Paige's good news continues: her BNP is still in the low 500s! She gained weight again tonight and she kept all her feeds down today. She was in good spirits today but chewing on everything in sight. I'm convinced a tooth will appear very soon! In preparation for our departure on Sunday, they removed her PICC line today. Paige was so brave! She sat very still, kept her eyes on Mommy and Daddy, and only cried out one time. Things are looking good! They've even scheduled our follow-up appointment for Tuesday. We continue to pray for Paige's healing.
Have a fabulous weekend!

Tornado

April 27, 2011 - Tornado wrecks the Southeast.

The massive storm has taken over 300 lives in the Southeast US. My Sweet Home Alabama was hit very hard and the destruction was tremendous. I am so thankful that my family and friends are okay. As of yet, no one close to me has suffered much damage to their property either. Dadeville & Alex City, just 35 minutes from Auburn was hit badly. Many of my friends have beautiful lake houses there, and I believe they got lucky. Down the road in Tuscaloosa, our arch rival university really suffered a large loss. Students lost their lives, there has been no water/power, and finals were cancelled. I can't imagine how I'd feel if Auburn were hit in the same way. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the disaster.

Easter Feaster

This weekend, Harrison and I were in Atlanta to visit my family, especially our niece, Paige. If you don't already know from my earlier post, she's been in the hospital for the past 2 weeks with an enlarged heart that has trouble pumping out enough blood. She's been such a little fighter! For the past 4 days, she's been off the IV meds that have been helping her heart contract stronger to more efficiently eject blood. The doctors were hoping that if she could tolerate being off the IV medication, they could transition her to oral meds, and perhaps skip the need of a heart transplant. These 4 days have been a bit of a roller coaster ride with highs and lows. Easter Sunday was definitely a day to celebrate! Things are looking better and there's even talk from the doctors about her possibly going home next weekend!
Here's the latest post from her mommy on her care page:

More positive news today: that enzyme level (also known as the BNP) has continued to decrease! The doctors even brought up the possibility of going home -- maybe by the end of this week. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, though. (Remember that roller coaster ride?) I am extremely thankful that Paige's status has continued to improve and we did not have to go back on the milrinone (IV medication for her heart) or to the CICU. There are a few factors that have to occur before we can leave the hospital. Right now Paige is receiving her diuretics through an IV so she must transition to oral diuretics and remain stable.
Things are looking up for Miss Paige. We are certainly rejoicing this Easter Sunday and enjoying Paige's 1st Easter (even if it is in the hospital)! Stay tuned for pictures with her bunny ears. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers and Easter blessings. We know that none of this would be possible without God's help and mercy.

After visiting Paige, Nate, and Kellye all weekend, we headed to Newnan to go to Easter Sunday Mass and visit my sister's family for EASTER FEASTER. Easter Feaster has been a Cunningham family get-together for the past several years. At last year's Feaster, Nate and Kellye announced that they were pregnant. Unfortunately, they weren't able to join us this year.

I love my nephews, Blake and Ryan!

We had a great spread of food included Boston Butt smoked on Drew's Green Egg Grill (fabulous, since we haven't eaten meat in 40 days), potato salad, baked beans, garden green salad, chips/dip, grape salad dessert, and mint chocolate chip ice cream cake! The food was fantastic and we got to spend Easter Feaster in The Swartz's beautiful new home! Blake stole my watermelon! Blake loved having Uncle David push him around the yard in his car!

Relocation plans...

It’s hard for me to think about anything other than Paige these days. I visited her in Atlanta last Sunday and Monday, but I had to be back at work for the rest of the week. It was very hard to leave, but I hope to be back soon. I have a cold right now, so I can’t visit because Paige really doesn’t need to get sick. We live 3 to 3.5 hours from Atlanta, which means it’s not just a quick trip to visit.

This brings me to the next issue… Last Friday, I turned in my resignation to Biltmore Family Medicine. Harrison and I plan to move back to Auburn at the end of July. My last day of work is July 8^th. We really want to be closer to our families, and recent events have confirmed to us the importance of family . Neither of us have jobs yet, but we’re beginning to search. Harrison’s parents live about 10 minutes outside of Auburn, my parents live 2 hours away, my sister’s family lives 1 hour away, and brothers are about 1.5 hours away. Harrison's sister lives in Tampa, which is by no means close to Auburn, but is a much quicker trip than Asheville to Tampa. Because we all love football, Auburn will be a common meeting ground for all of us to get together often. We’ll have to find a large house to accommodate all of the guests we expect during football season!

We absolutely love Asheville, and we’re going to shed a lot of tears the day we see the city in the rear-view mirror of the moving van. If our families were a bit closer in proximity, we’d never leave Asheville. It has given us so much: many close friends, beautiful weather and landscape, our wedding day, our first jobs as professionals, our master’s degrees, and so many wonderful memories.

Prayers for Baby Paige

Our 5 month old niece, Paige, has been in the hospital since Friday, April 8th. At a routine doctor's appointment, she was found to have an enlarged heart. After many tests, she was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. This basically means that the heart muscle is having difficulty squeezing out the amount of blood that it's supposed to squeeze out. Because this condition has made her heart work harder than the average 5 month old, she also gets out of breath easier and burns off calories quicker. She's on several medications that are helping strengthen her heart to contract/squeeze more effectively. The doctors want to make sure that she's getting A LOT of calories so she continues to grow. They also want to make sure she's getting plenty of rest, because when she's awake and active, she's using a lot of energy. Nate is my brother and Paige's daddy, and Kellye is my sister-in-law and Paige's mommy. The whole family, especially Paige, needs many prayers for this difficult time. You can visit Paige's carepage: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/BabyPaige/

Here's Kellye's latest post from the CarePage: So here's what we know: Paige has an enlarged heart. It takes up a good portion of the left side of her chest cavity. The left ventricle is the chamber that is most enlarged and the muscles in that ventricle do not contract much to pump out blood. Her heart is enlarged because it's having to work so much harder to pump enough blood to the rest of her body but also because the excess blood that is not being pumped out, is being absorbed into the heart. Upon arriving in the hospital, Paige was put on an IV medication to try and help ease the strain on her heart. The doctor's are pleased with how she has responded to these meds. To look at Paige, you would not know that anything is wrong. She is still the same happy, vibrant baby. This leads the doctors to believe that this heart condition developed over time because her body has learned to compensate for her heart's size and malfunction. So where do we go from here? The goal is to introduce other heart medications to Paige orally so we can wean her off the IV meds and eventually go home. With a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, 1/3 improve heart function, 1/3 maintain the same heart function, and 1/3 continue to decline. Obviously our hope and prayer is for Paige to be in that top 1/3 that will respond to medication and improve her heart function. The doctors are looking for her to gain weight to show that she is ingesting enough calories and her body is able to grow. We are happy to report that Paige has been feeding very well, especially the past 2 days and as of tonight, her weight has increased! Again, we're taking it one day at a time. We're not sure how long we will need to be in the hospital. The doctors and nurses have been so personable, patient, helpful, and kind; they are really taking good care of all of us.

April Fool's!

Usually I don't come up with any good pranks for April Fool's Day, but this time, I thought I'd give it a shot. Today I texted Aileen, my sister, and told her that I thought I might be pregnant. She got SO excited... I started to feel bad and quickly told her "April Fools!" It's a good thing she lives in Georgia, because she would have killed me! She got me back by posting on my facebook wall, "Congrats on the baby!" Did any of you get pranked or pull one over on someone?