January Update

 I think January is the most boring month of the year. There is nothing exciting that happens and we are stuck inside the entire month. So, what have we been up to? Corbin has been so tired, like always, because he doesn't nap and doesn't sleep through the night. If I am not careful he will crash around 4:00. This day I was trying to make dinner and turned on a show for him. It maybe took ten minutes before I found him completely out on the chair.

 With Matt's new diet, we have been hooked on green smoothies and they quickly became Maggie's new favorite food. She will down an entire cup of one. Corbin is not so sure, if he doesn't see what I put in his sippy he will usually drink it, but he doesn't ever choose to drink one.

 On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, my sisters and I took the kiddos to Kangaroo Zoo. It was crazy busy, but they had so much fun. Corbin only enjoyed it when Cori would take him under her wing, but then he had a blast. He was a little intimidated by the amount of people. Maggie was crazy jealous that she had to be held the whole time. Overall, a great way to spend the day out of the house.

Maggie took her first steps yesterday. So hopefully she is closer to walking than I thought. I LOVE when they can start walking, it is such an easier stage. She is growing up so fast! 

Last update for January. Matt had is Cardiac Cath this past weekend and it was the first piece of good news we have heard since his diagnosis. He had to get a catheter put in through his neck and his wrist up to his heart. Dr. John told him his heart was pumping better and looks like it is responding the the medicine. So hopefully it will keep improving. The doctor moved his next appointment back to April in hopes that by then it will have improved even more. 

Nine Months

 Maggie is already nine months old! She weighed 18 lbs 11 oz, 46%. Her height was only 22% because she hasn't grown in the past three months, hopefully she has a growth spurt soon. Her head sure doesn't need a growth spurt, it was 86%. She is standing on her own, but is not at all interested in taking steps. Her third tooth is all but through. She is not sleeping through the night, but sleeps for at least twelve to thirteen hours, with just one bottle in between, so I'll take it.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Over Thanksgiving Matt started to get sick. He thought he had pneumonia or bronchitis, so the day after Thanksgiving he went to Now Care and the doctor told him his resting heart rate was in the high 120's, which is super high. She wouldn't let him leave until she did some blood work and told him she thought he might have some time of heart condition. Matt went home and was waiting a few days for his results, but his cough and shortness of breath was so bad that he went in two days later. The doctor on call that day told him he did have bronchitis and gave him medication. Then when his lab results were back the office called Matt and told him his thyroid numbers were high. Matt still wasn't feeling better so he went back in and saw a third doctor who was on call that day. This doctor told Matt that he had some thyroid issues. So after three different diagnoses and no real answers, Matt scheduled an EKG at Mckay Dee. Matt and I went to his EKG on December 14th, and Matt's heart was enlarged and his left ventricle was only pumping at about 25%. We couldn't even leave the hospital without meeting the the on-call cardiologist. He started Matt on medications that day and set up an appointment with the heart failure specialist for Tuesday, December 18th. That Tuesday, Matt met with Dr. John who diagnosed Matt with congestive heart failure.

Over the past month Matt has had a series of tests and blood work trying to find the cause and if there is another underlying problem. So far, the results have shown that Matt got a virus so his antibodies tried to fight it off, but couldn't tell the difference between the virus and his heart and attacked his heart too. The virus is gone, but the damage is done.

So where it is right now, Matt is on about five different medications which will hopefully regulate his heart. He is on a sodium restriction of 2000 mg per day, and he cannot drink more than 3 liters of fluid in a day. The good news at his first appointment was where his numbers were that day he had a 4% chance of dying from heart failure. We are so grateful for modern medicine and technology. This will hopefully not get worse and just be a lifestyle change for the rest of our lives. He is feeling better as far as his cough is gone. He does have some shortness of breath still that they are trying to get rid of. His medicine makes him very tired, but we will take that.

One crazy thing about this whole ordeal, is that Matt's older brother got diagnosed with left ventricle heart failure just four years ago, when he was 30, Matt is now 29. They say it is not hereditary, but I'm questioning that.

Grandpa Thompson

My Grandpa Thompson passed away December 28, 2012. He was such a wonderful man and will be greatly missed. It makes to so happy to know he is in a better place with my Grandma and their son. Today was his funeral and it was an amazing tribute to this amazing man. 

One of my favorite memories of my grandparents are calling them first thing on Christmas morning and waiting for them to come over before we could go in to open presents. I loved having them at our house to watch us open presents every year as I was growing up. I also will always remember my Grandpa's response to comments about his large family --which consists of 41 grandchildren, 98 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild-- "Zion is growing!" I love you so much Grandpa! You were such a wonderful example to me!