Alligator Ben

Hello,
The McCarthy family is doing pretty good. We had a fun Halloween and are looking forward to all the holiday events to come. Benjamin is doing good. He is working hard at his therapy and seems to be improving slowly. He is crawling and pushing up on his arms. Ben is not sitting on his own yet, but we are working on it. He still is pretty much eating stage 2 baby food and drinking from a bottle. He tries to eat puffs and mum mum crackers. Today he tried to eat a fry, and he adores frozen yogurt and ice cream. Ben got approved to get another round of synagis shots this winter to help him stay healthy. The nurse is coming on Tuesday. He also is finally getting his 12 month shots and has a cardiologist apt this month. This should get him all up to date on everything. Check out the photos below.

Dan is starting a new temp job at Johnson Controlls Inc. He has a 6 month contract that may end with a job with benefits. Although he is going to be working nights and lots of hours. We will miss him. That is our update for now. Enjoy your day.

Benjamin :)

Our little guy is doing well. The Eco results are good. His heart is functioning good at this time. Benjamin therapy is going good. He is improving on this left hand and we are working on sitting. Last week he was sick put seems to be getting better. We are taking the kids to a hay ride this weekend with Maria, Diana, and Tim. Should be a good time. There is also a cornfield maze for Ally to run around in and pony rides. The weather looks good and we are looking forward to it.

This winter Grandma and Grandpa McCarthy are going to AZ. So starting in January Allison and Ben are going to Walker Christian Daycare and Preschool. Preschool is built into the daycare day for Ally. They have experience with heart children and are comfortable watching Ben. So we are getting prepped for that. The McCarthy's will be back around Easter and Ally will probably just keep going to the preschool part only. That is what going on over here. Thanks for checking in.

Benjamin's Results

Hello All,
On Wednesday Benjamin had a MRI and Eco. It went pretty well. Ben had to be NPO, which means no food or drink beforehand. Which usually means a ton of crying before the procedure. But on Wednesday Ben did well until a half hour before it. After they finished and Ben woke up he cried until the sedation wore off and then he seemed to be himself. We got home at about 2:30. I do not have the results of the Eco yet. My pediatrician did call with the MRI results. The good news is that Ben has not had any strokes or tumors. The bad news is he does have a small spot on his right hemisphere that is brain damage, due to low oxygen caused from the heart defect and all he has gone through. This is what affecting the use of his left arm. He may never have good fine motor skills with it. There is a lot of unknowns at this time that only time can answer. Please keep us in your prayers.

Benjamin Daniel

Benjamin is doing well. We are going to have a sedated Eco and possibly a MRI in October to check him over. Our physical therapist and Pediatrician are concerned with his left arm function. Also the cardiologist wants to send Ann Arbor a update on how his heart is functioning. He is a happy boy. Below is a photo of Ben and his friend Caleb. We met Caleb in Ann Arbor and his mom, Jen, and I are developing packets of information for new heart moms. This way they can have more information/support as they go through complex heart problems. Caleb has HRHS and Ben has the opposite side HLHS. Both are serious and entail three surgeries, maybe more? Keep these boys in your prayers. Have a wonderful Labor Day.

WOW! Benjamin is One Today!

It is hard to believe one year ago was the most heart wrenching time of our life. Today we are thanking God for giving us our little boy and getting him through all the hard times he has faced. He is such a joy. Please enjoy some pictures from his first b-day party. As you can see he loved the frosting!

Benjamin is going to have a sedated echo at the beginning of Nov to check everything over and share with Ann Arbor. He is weaning off the lasix and is very happy guy. He still is not sitting, but he rolls and is starting to try to army crawl. Starting in September he will have therapy every Wednesday to help with this development. Thanks for checking in!

Benjamin Daniel

Benjamin and Allison had their cardiologist apt on Monday. Ben is doing pretty well. We get to ween back his lasix to none in the next few weeks. He looks good and we are scheduling a sedated echo for October to give Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor doctors a close up look at his heart. Allison has still has a murmur they are going to keep an eye on. We had family photos last week which turned out beautiful. Here is just a few our photographer posted of the kids.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=192398274151635&set=a.192398254151637.47654.124293957628734&type=1&theater

Talk to you soon!

Benny!

Benjamin is doing well. Although he is still having some unhappy moments due to constipation. We took him in Friday to see the pediatrician. We are trying prune juice now and if that does not work we are going to go to Miralax. Today he is meeting with Early On for therapy. I think he has improved physically, but he still has long way to go. He still cannot sit up on his own and his locomotion is limited. He rolls over and does tummy and uses he feet to try and move across the floor. His arms seem like they are not as strong as his legs. It seems like he has a little bit more time before he will be really crawling.

Ben is happy otherwise and is very talkative. He had some baby conversation with Myra over the weekend. He says Momma and Dadda perfect and calls us when he wants us. In a about a week and a half Ben goes to the cardiologist for testing. Allison is going too because they wanted to do a ekg on her as well since she had a heart murmur when she was 1.5. Which is probably nothing, but I think it is best to check it out and make sure she is fine.

We are looking forward to the weekend. I am hosting a shower for my nephew, Ryan, and his soon to be wife, Stef. They will be married in September and Ally will be the flower girl!

Have a good week!