On the road again

Hello everyone,

Maximus is doing well, and growing everyday. Not much more time till his surgery. I must say as it gets closer, my mind races with worry. I guess that is to be expected. I am in Iowa tonight, and will be in Missouri tomorrow. I enjoy spending time with Max, his eyes are full of such wonder. He tries to talk, but I don't know his language. :o) I am sure we will understand each other after a while. Well, that is my up date for now. Have a great evening, and I will try to keep you up dated.

John.........

Maximus went to his first day care.

Hi everyone,

Maximus went to his first day care. Michele had a nice lady come to the house to see how she if she liked her. She was very nice, and treated Max well, so she let him go to her house this week. Other than the Hospital, this is the first time he was left with out one of us in some one's house. He is adjusting pretty well to it, and so is Michele. We are getting closer to the surgery date. Every day that passes the insanity builds. We are managing though. Well, I am in Illinois again this week, and should be home late Friday. And from what I here it is going to be a nice day. Well, I will close for now. Thank you for paying attention.

John....

Maximus got to meet some of Mommy's co-workers yesterday.

Hello Everyone,

Well, Maximus went to Mommy's work yesterday. There were too many people to mention. I think he liked all the attention. But in time the noise and commotion got to him. I got to spend time with him yesterday. It was allot of fun. Mommy thinks I dressed him too heavy for the weather. I think you can always take something off. It was a nice day out. Once we came home, I put his stroller together. Max and Mommy went for a all terrain walk with it. It has air filled tires so she was testing it out going threw the yard. She showed Max out family garden, and straw berry patch. He even spent time with me in the pole barn as I was cleaning up the place. ;0) I am sure he will spend allot of time out there with me when he gets older, so your never too young to start. Well, this is my up date, I will write again when I have more to say.

John........

Maximus J Smith has first easter!!!!

Well Son, you pulled off your first Easter. You got to see your family. You had to wear a bunny hat for your Mom. I am sure the next few will be a lot funner.

Here is the latest news.

We got word from the Doctor, threw a nurse, that we need to be in Ann Arbor the 14th of May. He will go into surgery the morning of the 15th. So we just have to be patient, and the day will come soon. It is ruff to look at such a happy boy, and know what pain he will go threw in his life. I would take his place, as I am sure any of you would for your children. We are numb to this all right now. I am sure it will hit us hard the morning of the surgery. It is something he has to go threw to be healthy. So we have no choice. Time heals all wounds, this one will be re-opened every so many years. I don't want him to not trust us. I mean that we have to let him go to the people he knows cause him pain. I know he will know when he gets older. But these are the weeks he learns to trust us the most. He would have learned how we would protect him from harm and pain. What a messed up thing.....

John...........

Home Sweet Home

Hello Family and Friends,

Sorry that you have been waiting all day to hear from us. We spoke with the Cardio lady around 10am. According to the X-ray the balloon only helped a little, but won't be enough. I don't think that they did ever talked to Dr. Ohye today-his name wasn't mentioned. But they will be scheduling another surgery in 4-6 weeks. We were released from the hospital and headed home.

We were certainly hoping that we wouldn't have to be doing this for at least a couple years, but the universe has different plans for Max. We did see a couple of families that were there the first time so at least we have been home for the past couple of months with our little guy.

We stopped and picked up Grandma P. in Ionia and got home about 12:30 pm. Grandma took care of Max while John and I slept. Any of you that know me know that I need my sleep to function. The total hour of sleep i got last night just doesn't allow me to function in the least!!

Anyway, back to Max. They will have to completely replace the conduit and repair his artery at the connection. We asked about the Truncal Valve being repaired a the same time and she didn't know anything about that. I'm curious to actually hear Dr. Ohye's plans. The surgery will entail opening Max's chest all the way open again! I was really hoping that somehow they wouldn't have to do that-no such luck ):. Literature I read said the healing process should be quicker with each surgery but I think that was assuming he would be closer to 2yrs of age. I am not looking forward to any of it that is for sure!! Especially after I stay last night.

This is where we are right now. It totally sucks but we have to get Max better as soon as we can. The whole situation is so disappointing. Max has been doing so well and gaining weight steadily. He wasn't having any kind of symptoms what so ever.

I know I haven't ever posted on the blog-I just get too emotional and overwhelmed whenever i read it. I want to thank everyone for all your prayers for Max. they certainaly have worked to help pull him through all this!! We love everyone very much and couldn't have made it through all of this without your support.

I have to start back to work next week so I will spend the rest of the week holding my baby close to me!!!

Love Always,

Michele

I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't an easy fix for Max. Hopefully you will hear from the doctor soon and he will want to get this done before his vacation. Your little family has been through so much already! I think it is terrible they aren't giving you answers. Thanks for taking the time to keep us informed.

Sue

Still waiting.

Well, the nurse came in late yesterday, and said the doctor was not at the hospital. Maybe today. I can see why the medical industry is in such shambles. This morning, with out telling anyone, they decided to have a fire drill. So at 5:50 am, all of there fire alarms went off. Well, if any of you have seen the flashing lights, and horns going off, it is not a good experience even when you are awake. Maximus has been here over night like they wanted. He has to get X-rays around eight o'clock. And we still have no word if he will have surgery this week, or in four to six weeks. Like I say, hospitals are about as efficient as our banking industry. As long as they set the price, they can do what they want, when they want to. They are one of the few industry's that can sell you something that does not work, and they don't have to fix it, or even give you a refund. They just tell you that it is going to cost you to fix there mistake. What a sick joke. I can only imagine how bad it must be at lessor hospitals. I am not real happy about my experience here so far, but I guess they are doing what they have to. It would be nice if they did stuff because they wanted to. Get the greed of corporate America out of the picture, and everyone would be better off.

John.......

Just a quick up date.

We still have not seen or heard from the doctor. Maximus has eaten, and messed two diapers, so on that front he is doing well. If I here more, I will post.

John........

Ok, he is out.

They did the balloon thing, and it did not go as well as they would like. So they are trying to get ahold of Dr. Ohye, to see if he would like to do the surgery this week while he is here, or after he gets back from his vacation. (He goes on vacation Thursday.) So is we are lucky(If you could call this luck) they may do the surgery this week. I will let you know more when I know more.

John.......

More answers...

Well, the nurse just came out. She told us that it does not look good. His blockage is where the conduit is attached to his artery. So it is not a good place for a stint. They are currently trying to use a balloon. If they can get it to make the space larger, they may not have to have a full surgery. So, keep praying, and I will let you know when I know.

John....

We made it through the snow storm.

Hi everyone, I wanted to tell everyone we made it to the hosptial safely. I have a new pick of Maximus in his hosptial gown. I call it a dress, Michele calls it a gown. :0) He has been seen by a nurse, but we are still waiting for the doctor to get off her dead hiney, and show up. But patience is a virtue. Tell that to a baby who has not eaten since 1 am. I will keep you posted.

John.......

My thoughts are with you guys. I wish we were in Michigan right now to be able to support you fully. Know that our thoughts and prayers will be with you on Monday. Max has been doing so well. This is really a surprise. I hope the stent does the trick and you won't have to worry about any other surgeries for a few more years. We love you guys.

Time to get the prayer machine fired up again.

Good evening everyone, We need your prayers again. Maximus had his cardio apointment today, and Michele and I have to bring him to Ann Arbor again Monday. They found a restriction in the conduet they installed. They are going to try a stent. If that does not work, they will have to do the entire surgery again. :.o( I shouldn't have spoke so soon. I thought he was doing fine. I guess that is what I get for getting so excited. So please pray for him. He has been threw so much, and so has Michele. I am trying not to think of the trama he will keep going threw. At his age, I don't know how it is going to effect his future. This is the stage of his life he learns the most. Well, I am going for now. I will take my computer with me when we go, and keep the blog updated.

John......

Thankyou for all your prayers.

Well, Maximus is doing great. I have been gone allot this month, and when I get home I see progress. He is growing everyday, thanks too all your prayers. I think it has done allot of good. He is as strong as his name, and growing by the day. I only wish I could be there more to see it. Tonight I am in Nashville Tenn. I am along way from home but my heart is there. Grandma Peacock is there tonight giving Michele a hand. Thank you all again, and good night..

John.........