In the last month, we have pretty much just had summer. It seems
almost surreal in a way. Dale is going to be upset with me for
writing this (but he probably won't read it, so we're okay): Izzy
hasn't had to come home from camp early as a result of
over-exhaustion or sickness. (And Dale doesn't like me to draw
attention to the fact that things are going well because as soon as
we acknowledge it, the superstition goes, that things will go very
bad.) I choose to be happy that this summer has been fun ;-)
Don't get me wrong. She still has unexplained stomach pain. She eats very little much of the time. But, overall, she has been doing well, being a kid, enjoying summer. Look for yourself!
Friday morning, we had Izzy's 6 month check up with Dr. Cutler, Izzy's cardiologist. Even that went well in the context of an Izzy visit. In fact, the cardiologist stated that Izzy's heart looked great . . . for Izzy. Her overall function was okay for Izzy. She has some dialation still and her inferior vena cava is slightly swollen (showing some back up), but her liver was good and everything, overall good for Izzy. Status quo is awesome as far as Izzy is concerned. We can't hope for more without a substantial leap in research within a exceedingly short amount of time. Izzy's distal pulmonary arteries deep in her lungs need to grow. They can't do that on their own and stem cell research seems to be the answer, but nobody is even close to working on that yet. The biggest concern for even Dr. Cutler is Izzy's lack of weigh gain. She is still around 32-33 pounds. That is how much she weighed a year ago. And surprisingly enough, Izzy grew about 1/2 an inch in the last two months, so she is thinner. That's not good. Dr. Cutler wants Izzy's GI meds to be maximized in hopes of getting her to eat more. In the meantime, we were instructed to give Izzy foods full of fat. So, ice cream it is!
Izzy's Ice Cream Challenge has been ongoing for about a month now, with two weeks to go, and we have already raised over $700 for the Michigan Chapter of the Children's Heart Foundation. It has been so fun to see pictures of people eating ice cream for Izzy across the country! If you are helping us, please post your pictures on the Ice Cream for Izzy Facebook page, so we can share with everyone.
Izzy's shirts turned out great, didn't they! I have a couple of extra in case you wanted one, but missed the window to purchase. They will be available at Izzy's Ice Cream Social. We hope to see lots of people there on Saturday, August 1, from 1-4 in downtown Mt. Clemens.
Tickets can be purchased at this link: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/2015Izzysicecream. You can also use that link to donate directly to Izzy's Ice Cream Challenge. Remember, for every $20 you send, you will get an official "I ate ice cream for Izzy" bracelet.
You know you're going to eat ice cream today anyway for National Ice Cream Day, so make it for a good cause. Perhaps the research we fund by eating ice cream this summer will help Izzy in a couple of years if we can continue to maintain that status quo.
Don't get me wrong. She still has unexplained stomach pain. She eats very little much of the time. But, overall, she has been doing well, being a kid, enjoying summer. Look for yourself!
Friday morning, we had Izzy's 6 month check up with Dr. Cutler, Izzy's cardiologist. Even that went well in the context of an Izzy visit. In fact, the cardiologist stated that Izzy's heart looked great . . . for Izzy. Her overall function was okay for Izzy. She has some dialation still and her inferior vena cava is slightly swollen (showing some back up), but her liver was good and everything, overall good for Izzy. Status quo is awesome as far as Izzy is concerned. We can't hope for more without a substantial leap in research within a exceedingly short amount of time. Izzy's distal pulmonary arteries deep in her lungs need to grow. They can't do that on their own and stem cell research seems to be the answer, but nobody is even close to working on that yet. The biggest concern for even Dr. Cutler is Izzy's lack of weigh gain. She is still around 32-33 pounds. That is how much she weighed a year ago. And surprisingly enough, Izzy grew about 1/2 an inch in the last two months, so she is thinner. That's not good. Dr. Cutler wants Izzy's GI meds to be maximized in hopes of getting her to eat more. In the meantime, we were instructed to give Izzy foods full of fat. So, ice cream it is!
Izzy's Ice Cream Challenge has been ongoing for about a month now, with two weeks to go, and we have already raised over $700 for the Michigan Chapter of the Children's Heart Foundation. It has been so fun to see pictures of people eating ice cream for Izzy across the country! If you are helping us, please post your pictures on the Ice Cream for Izzy Facebook page, so we can share with everyone.
Izzy's shirts turned out great, didn't they! I have a couple of extra in case you wanted one, but missed the window to purchase. They will be available at Izzy's Ice Cream Social. We hope to see lots of people there on Saturday, August 1, from 1-4 in downtown Mt. Clemens.
Tickets can be purchased at this link: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/2015Izzysicecream. You can also use that link to donate directly to Izzy's Ice Cream Challenge. Remember, for every $20 you send, you will get an official "I ate ice cream for Izzy" bracelet.
You know you're going to eat ice cream today anyway for National Ice Cream Day, so make it for a good cause. Perhaps the research we fund by eating ice cream this summer will help Izzy in a couple of years if we can continue to maintain that status quo.
Heart Hugs,
Mel
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by Connie Testement
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