Shayne's Heart

So, for those of you that don't know, Shayne was born with an A/V Canal Defect and had open heart surgery when he was 20 months old to correct it.  It was performed at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, and was one of the first procedures of it's kind performed to correct this defect...in fact his cardiologists put off his surgery as long as possible to continue to consult with other cardiologist around the country to put a "game-plan" together as how to correct the defect.  He was given a 50/50 chance of surviving the procedure...that's how risky it was.

Thankfully he did survive and has had to have no other procedures since...and has had no real complications either...until now.

When he had surgery they basically had to reconstruct his heart in order to close the valve that didn't form to keep the oxygenated blood from mixing with the deoxygenated blood.  When they did that they messed up the Sinus/Atrial Node (SA Node) that controls the electrical impulses in the heart.  It's basically the brain of the heart that tells it how fast and how regular to beat.  Because his SA Node is messed up his resting heart rate is between 36-42 beats per minute (bpm).  He also doesn't have a very regular heart rate.  It speeds up, it has bigeminy, it skips beats, it does all sorts of weird stuff...but it works and it's his norm.  If you hook him up to an EKG it looks like he's having a heart attack because his electrophysiology is all sorts of messed up...but it's his norm.

He has had some occasional bouts of Atrial Fibrillation, or A-fib, where his heart has been kicked into a very fast rhythm, 140-180, and it takes either a long time, 8-10 hours, or medications, diltiazem, or dilt, to bring it back to his resting heart rate.  These episodes have been few and far between.  In fact the last real episode he had was in 2007 and before that it was in 2003.

But on  the evening of Wednesday, January 11th, it happened again.  Shayne was at basketball practice and jumped into a drill to help out.  He usually warms up first to make sure his heart isn't pushed too fast, which he recognizes is a trigger but he didn't warm up as well this time.  His heart rate jumped up to about 140 and didn't come back down like it normally does.  When it still wasn't coming down after putting kids to bed, and with him not feeling very well, we called a friend from up the road, Mandy Pugh, and she came and watched kids while we ran back into the ER.  This was around 9:30 at night.

Shayne was hooked up to the EKG and they confirmed he had A-fib and gave a dose of IV diltiazem to hopefully slow the heart rate down enough that it would convert back to his normal rhythm on it's own.  Two doses of IV diltiazem and about 3 hours later his heart rate dropped to 60 and we thought we were good to go.  But...we weren't.

The next morning Shayne knew that something still wasn't right with his heart rate.  So, shortly after he got to work, (he's the Director of the Emergency Department) he had them run another EKG strip and it showed he was still in A-fib but just at a slower rate because of the effects of the dilt.  Luckily the ER doc who saw him the night before was still there and he's an excellent ER doc.  He called Shayne cardiologist in Anchorage, who very good cardiologist, and he recommended cardioverting Shayne.  That means they needed to shock his heart to basically jump start it into going back into a normal rhythm.

So, I get a phone call around 8:30 in the morning from Shayne saying they are going to cardiovert him in about 30 minutes.  I'm not gonna lie...I was a little freaked out and really wanted to be there with Shayne when this happened.  So...I called Mandy again and she came and watched kids who weren't yet awake while her mom, Jeannette (one of the ER nurses who works with Shayne) ran me into the hospital so I could be with him and drive him home after.

In order to cardiovert someone they have to do a conscious sedation so they don't feel the pain and trauma of being electrocuted.  Isn't that nice?  :)  So, around 9:30 they sedated him, which was more than a little freaky, b/c it looked like Shayne was dead.  Not so much fun for me, but I'm glad Shayne wasn't going to feel the shock.  They shocked him and then his heart rate on the monitor flat-lined for like 4-5 seconds...but it felt more like 45 minutes!!  We all just sat and stared at the screen waiting for his heart to re-start.  It finally did and immediately went back to his resting rhythm of 46 bpm.  Yeah!!  It took a little bit to get Shayne to wake back up, but he finally did and didn't remember or feel a thing, which was a good thing.

After running a couple of different EKG's though, there was a problem.  His EKG's weren't looking like his "normal" EKG's.  They looked like he was having, Tachycardia Bradycardia Syndrome,  or tachy brady syndrome, which isn't good.  In fact his cardiologist in Anchorage after seeing the strips they ran, asked if he was conscious?  He was very shocked when they said he was conscious and talking and acting fine and felt great.  We had to walk him up and down the hall to make sure he wasn't feeling faint b/c of the syndrome.  

And, b/c of the syndrome his cardiologist wanted us to fly to Anchorage that day and admit him to the hospital's CVIU, CardioVascular Intervention Unit, with the possibility of having to put a pace-maker in that evening if needed.

So, I quickly found somewhere for Shordy to stay for the night.  Thank you Williams' for watching him.  I'm so glad that he and John are such best buddies.  We booked flights for around 5:30 that night and got into Anchorage around 6pm.  I had to take Tiny with me, b/c I'm still nursing but knew I had the Tuia's and the Zollinger's to help me out with her if I needed it.

After getting settled into the CVIU, and running another EKG on him his rhythm was starting to look more normal.  His resting heart rate was still staying between 44-52 which was good too.  His cardiologist wasn't on-call and at the hospital but his partner, who is also very good, was there.  After taking some time to go through Shayne's file and look at all the EKG's he came into talk to us.

He basically told us there was no reason for him to be in the hospital.  Woo Hoo!!  He said that Shayne's rhythm looked weird after being cardioverted because of the Diltiazem he had been given the night before.  Because Shayne already has a weird looking rhythm the medication would add to that weirdness (it would cause a lack of p-waves, which Shayne only has sporadically anyway) which made it look like Shayne had Tachy-Brady Syndrome...which he didn't really have.  We just needed to wait for the medication to work out of his system, which it started doing by the time we got to Anchorage.

As far as a pace-maker...they only have a limited life span before you have to go in and replace the wires.  And because of Shayne's young age and limited electrical positions you can place the wires, we are much better off putting off the pace-maker until he absolutely needs it.  The cardiologist, Stroebel, said Shayne could go into A-fib and need to be cardioverted (which he recommended doing if he ever went into A-fib again) 2-3 times a year before he would recommend getting a pace maker.  Which was totally fine with us.

So, he sent us "home".  Which meant we went to the Tuia's and then onto the Zollinger's to spend the night before we flew home the next morning.  And Shayne felt good...which was awesome!

Then...he decided to shovel snow in the driveway on Friday, the day we got home.  I didn't think it would be a good idea, but I didn't say anything...and I should have!  Anyway, we went out and shoveled and in the process his heart-rate went up into the 80's and didn't really want to come down.  We were a little worried. So, on Saturday he ran back into the hospital just to run a quick EKG strip and it looked normal, even if his rate was a little elevated.  

His cardiologist, Compton, wanted to do a Cardiac MRI, so we went back to Anchorage on Friday, January 19th, and Shayne had his second Cardiac MRI done.  He had his first one done in November 2008 just to have a good baseline/normal one done.  His heart-rate is doing better, but still continues to elevate unexpectedly and beats REALLY hard on occasion, but we haven't heard anything from either his cardiologist or the radiologist who read the MRI, so we're assuming no news is good news.  We did find out his Ejection Fraction Rate, EF Rate, has improved since his last MRI...and that's good news.

We don't have an appointment with is cardiologist until sometime in late February, b/c his cardiologist is out of the office, but I did talk to him and he said Stroebel made a good decision not doing the pace-maker, and that he thinks everything looks good, but to meet with him when he gets back to help answer some of our questions and put a game-plan together for the next time this happens.  Yeah.

So...that's the news on Shayne's heart.  I wasn't planning on going into this much detail, but this is our family journal and I use this blog frequently to go back and remember details.  I hope this isn't too confusing.  I tried to make it as easy and understandable as possible.  I even put a good picture of what Shayne's heart looked like before he had surgery.  It's all weird looking now...but that's Shayne.  He's a little weird.  That's why I love him so much.  That's why this whole experience has been a little hard for me...it's not easy facing the fact your best friend, whom you think is going to live forever, might not.

But...for now he's good.  And that makes me and him and his little boy, and even his baby girl...very happy. 

Uh-oh...She's Standing

Hangin' with Dad...thinkin' she's pretty dang smart.

How cute is she in that M&M shirt she got from Dad when he had to go to Vegas for a conference.  But...I have to put a bow on her so you know she's a girl in that shirt.  She really needs to grow some hair so I can put cute pig-tails in.

Grinding her teeth...she's all about that funny feeling sensation right  now.  Makes me cringe every time.

Look ma!!  No hands!

Love that smile!

Our life as we know it is about to change.

We thought we had to child-proof our home with Shordy.

But we already know that he will be no match for what we will have to do with Tiny.

When she finally becomes mobile...she will be running!

Yes...she's starting to stand on her own.  Just starting...but I'm pretty sure it won't be long.  She's not one to wait around.  She missed the patience line before she came to our family...I wish she had made that line...

Maybe she's forcing me to stand in that line now.  :)

Or maybe she's forcing her dad to gain some patience as well.  :)  Ha!  Can't wait to see her and her dad interacting!

Ok...maybe I can.

Either way...our lives are about to change.

"Take picture of my cars Mom!!"

Pointing out the cars...in case I wasn't sure where they were?  :)

I must be taking too many pics of Tiny, b/c this morning after making breakfast Shordy asked me to take pictures of his cars.  So, I got out my camera and proceeded to take pics of his cars per his instructions...see the first picture of him instructing me.  :)

He's been very into playing with his cars lately.  Loves to line them all up.  And when they are lined up...DO NOT MOVE THEM!

Anyone who knows my OCD child knows this will result in a slight tantrum and general freaking-out.  He does work through it and is getting better...but still...OCD.

Not sure where he gets that.  "wink-wink"

I was never, nor have I ever been at all OCD about things.

Hmmm...OCD is bugging me...it should be CDO...right?  :)

8 Months!!

Another picture that uploaded all wonky...not sure what the deal is.  This was a really cute pic.

Love that toothy grin she's showin' off.

I cannot get enough of those big bright blue eyes...can not.

Holy cow!  We have an 8 month old Tiny One!! Time has flown by way faster with her than it did with our Bug...way faster.

Anyway, she started doing a lot of fun things this month.

On Jan. 1st she rolled from her back to her belly consistently...we are so in trouble now b/c she is already thinking about crawling by sorta getting up onto her hands and knees.  It's a little late to finally roll to her belly, but Shordy didn't roll to his belly until he was over 9 months old, but his budha belly sorta got in the way.  :)

On Jan. 13th she started scootin' around while she was sitting up.  You know that scoochin' thing they do as they reach for an object and then in some weird way manage to get their whole bodies to the object.  So, she doesn't sit in one spot now.

We had to go to our friends Ty & Liz's on the 19th for Shayne's cardiac MRI.  While I was getting stuff ready for bed Shayne & Ty were chillin' on the floor with her and Ty stood her up and then let her go, and she didn't fall.  She totally just stood there for 10-15 seconds before falling forward into his arms, and then they did it again while I was sitting in front of her and she did it again and fell toward me.  She's always had really strong legs.  Has stood and supported her own weight since before she was a month old, so this didn't surprise me too much.  I "yelled" at Tyler for getting her to do it though, and promptly told him to stop, b/c I didn't want a 9 month old walker.  :)

K--these are the big things she's done this month.  She's still the sweetest little girl you've ever met.  She smiles all the time, giggles with very little effort on our part, and is just pleasant.  She's busy.  She's a mover and a shaker.  She may drive us crazy when she goes fully mobile...but she will smile the entire time and she has a beautiful smile that melts our hearts.

We love this Tiny girl...and so does her big brother.

Play 'til you drop...

Not sure why this pic uploaded all wonky...how weird.

So, when we went back to Anchorage for Shayne's Cardiac MRI...see previous post about his heart issue...we left Shordy at Ty & Liz's while I dropped off Shayne and did some shopping.

We got there the night before, really late.  (We ended up stopping and helping a girl whose car broke down in -35-45 degree weather and she was actually an old student of mine from the Alternative High School).

Anyway, so Shordy got to bed late and then played really hard with Ty & Liz's little boys, Zach and Xander.  Then after Shayne's MRI, Jared & Kaye came by for dinner with their kids too.  So, Shordy, Zach, Xander, Malia, & Tyler were running around playing like crazy.  Then about 30 minutes before we were gonna leave we find Shordy passed out on a small table they have in the play room.

Seriously passed out.

Twitching passed out.

He had literally played until he dropped.

How funny is that?

Needless to say we left him there as we got our stuff together, and just picked him up and put him in his car seat.  He pretty much slept the entire way home.

I love it when kids play so hard they just drop...how much fun is that?!

We're Camping!!

Can't you just see them hanging out in Heaven together?  I just know they were best friends there.

This particular morning Shordy woke up and started carrying around these short metal poles we have and calling them his campfire wood.  So, he decided he needed to go camping, because he had campfire wood.  He had forgotten about this play tent we got last summer, so I decided to bust it out and put it up for him so he could go "camping".

He thought the tent was AWESOME!!

He played in it, watched a movie in it, had lunch in it, and of course "camped" in it.

Then when Tiny woke up from her nap he had to have her in it too.  He loves his baby sister.  I'm so glad.

So, as they were sitting in the tent, he says:
"Yook Mom!!  We're camping!  We're camping in our tent!"

I cannot wait to take them camping this summer.  He's gonna have a BLAST!!

Our Sunbeam

Isn't that such a funny smile?

He looks so grown up to me...not my toddler any longer.

So I cried just a little today.

But it was a good cry.

I cried because we have a Sunbeam!  We no longer have a toddler in nursery...we have a full fledged Primary boy!!

He did pretty good...considering.  Dad had to go with him to his classroom after sharing time...sharing time was ok with all the singing and the kids to distract him.  Going to an actual classroom was a bit different.  But, dad only had to stay for a bit.  The poor kid is the ONLY boy in his class.  Yup...there are like 5 other girls.  At least it won't be a rowdy class right?

I think he's such a handsome little boy in his sweater and corduroy pants...so dang cute!

Last week should have been his first week as a Sunbeam, but we were in Anchorage for the Tuia baby blessings...Brayden and Colton.

I can not believe we have a Sunbeam.

Where did the time go?

7 Years...but not an itch

Yup...Seven year ago today.

Wow...seven years.

Feels like it was just last week...seriously.

I still remember the giddy feeling I had while walking into the Idaho Falls temple...holding my wedding dress (in the bag) over my head to protect me from the snow storm/blizzard.

Feeling such peace as Shayne took my hand and led me to the veil, the Celestial Room and then to the Sealing Room.

How much love I had for him as I looked at him across from me at the alter.

How much respect I felt as he asked for a moment by ourselves in the Sealing Room after we were married...and how insightful and in-tune he was with what he shared with me while looking into those mirrors.

But that was seven years ago...

...and I thought I loved him then...





I'm so glad I have forever to love him.

Reflections of 2011

Man how fast time flies!  Especially when you are loving your life.

We had so many changes in 2010.  Not just little changes, but life changing changes.  Most of them I've blogged about, but some I haven't.  But all of them have affected our family and for the most part have been positive for us.

Shayne changed jobs in March of 2011.  He became the Interim Director of the Emergency Department at our hospital.  Then in May the made him the actual director.  This means he's gone from working 36-40 hours in 3 days and having 4 days off, to working 50-60 hours in 5 days with only 2 days off.  It's been a HUGE adjustment for him, but for me and Shordy as well.  We went from having him home 4 days a week to having him  home 2 days a week.  And granted we see him every evening, but still don't get as much Daddy time as we are used to.  But...it's been a very good change for Shayne.  He is finding fulfillment again and satisfaction and challenges in this job that he wasn't getting as an ER nurse.  He needed the change.  I will put a separate post about this change...I'm sad I haven't done it before now.

The job change also meant Shayne had to go back to school to finish up his Bachelor's of Nursing degree...yup he's only had an Associate's degree up until now.  And, one of the stipulations is that he be working on his Bachelor's degree for this position.  So...not only is he working more hours, he's now taking online/distance Nursing courses through BYU-Idaho, which is where he graduated from in 1999...when it was still Ricks College.  :)  So, he's been busy with school work too.  And...he had to shave his face.  Yes...he has to abide by the honor code and dress code to be going to school at BYU-I...even if he's not on campus.  And, Shayne having more integrity and honesty than anyone I've met is abiding by these rules, even thought I'm sure no one would know any different.  So, the man who has always had a goatee as long as I've known him, except when we were working at the temple in Anchorage, is clean shaven...that's a big deal!

We also had another Miracle Baby born in May.  This alone would be a huge life changer...and she has been.  She has brought a whole other dimension to our family.  She has added such a wonderful and positive dynamic to our home.  We have loved, loved, loved this little girl so much.  Her happy disposition and always smiling face melt our hearts and make us smile every single day.  She has her little brother wrapped right around her little finger.  He loves her and is so sweet to her.  I'm sure they knew each other before and were best friends, b/c I can see it already.  Going from a one child family to a two child family is a big life changer...we've had to slow down a bit, but we love the change.  We've slowed down a bit, but have definitely not stopped.

We went from having a toddler, to have a little boy this past year as well.  I don't know if it would have happened anyway, but he just grew up over night when we brought his Tiny sister home.  He decided all of the sudden to start growing (which means lots of nights up rubbing his legs when they are aching from leg cramps), which had made him lose his cute little budha belly that made him look like such a little brick.  His imagination and the games he plays have moved to a more kid-like aspect.  He's not a completely innocent toddler anymore.  And, while it makes me a little bit sad...I know it's gonna happen and instead of being sad that he's no longer in the last phase, we try to look forward to the fun phase he's in now and take advantage of every moment we have with him...because he is our first Miracle Baby...and he will always be that to our family.

What a year of blessings for our family.  We really had a good year in 2011.  We had to make some major adjustments in our family...but we have been so blessed because of those adjustments.

This past year is just another year to add to the evidences that our Heavenly Father is real...and He loves us.  He wants us to be happy.  He provides ways for us to be happy.  And while we know there are many trials ahead of us...we are just grateful for the blessings, peace, and happiness we have enjoyed in the past year.