Tuesday, August 26, 2008

1st Grade


Sydney left on the bus as a first grader today. Scoring a nice teacher, Mrs Melert and having best friend Kate in her class seemed to ease any fears she had. She said the best part was riding the bus, 2 recesses and the french fries at lunch. However, I packed her lunch. I peeked in her wallet and sure enough the emergency lunch money I gave her with explicit instructions was gone, along side it, the lunch box with her now warm smooshed up lunch still inside. She says she forgot she packed!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Surgery Day

Pre Surgery

We arrived at Akron Children's Hospital at 8:30 AM this morning. Dr. Milo was running ahead of schedule so we buzzed right through the check in process. A child life specialist then came by to talk with us. She showed Andrew the hair nets, masks and oxygen masks he would see in surgery. She asked him to come along with her to pick out a smell for his anesthesia mask. He happily took her hand and headed down the hall. They returned with some strawberry scented chap stick. This simple task reinforced to Andrew that the staff would bring him back to us. She rubbed the chapstick on the inside of his anesthesia mask giving a sweet smell, then attached a balloon to one valve asked him to take a deep breath in then out to inflate the balloon, which he did. She told us they will ask him to repeat this task back in the OR and add a little anesthetic gas to the mix. Genius!

Andrew in recovery

About 30 minutes later we were called back to recovery. Andrew did great! He was crabby and very floppy when we arrived but we immediately got to hold him. Just like his sleep test he was obsessed with the red pulse ox light and begged to have it off. Once it was removed he moved the focus to his IV. But, he would have to tolerate it for another four hours till we were discharged. Overall he did very well and had three Popsicles and some juice before we left.

So far day one went better than expected. He slept for a couple hours, had noodles and applesauce for dinner and a Popsicle and jello for dessert. Hopefully, he will sleep comfortably through the night.


A big thank you to everyone at Children's for making everything stress free. And to everyone who has called with well wishes. And Grandma Franny & the Napholz's for the gifts.

Right before discharge

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Cindy's Wedding



Cindy Sekula, a dear old friend got married today. Congrats Cindy & Corey. Thank you so much for inviting our family. This was the first time we have taken both kids to a wedding and we had a blast. They must get their dancing legs from Matt because they were ripping up the dance floor.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Noah's Lost Ark

As most of you may know I am a sucker for animals, especially those of the African plain. Thanks to my friend Angel, we learned about an animal sanctuary not far from our home; Noah's Lost Ark. This non breeding facility is dedicated to providing a permanent safe haven for unwanted and abused exotic animals. I was suspicious at first that a back yard facility could provide a safe, caring environment for these magnificent animals but was very pleased to see their animals looked well cared for, healthy & happy. My mom & I talked sweetly to a resting bison named Elroy, who then took an interest in us. He made his way over to a feed bucket and began head butting it. Following his direction we tossed in a handful of feed and sure enough he gobbled it up and head butted the bucket again. What a charmer! He suckered us right in and over and over we tossed in the feed until the next victim came along.


Noah's Lost Ark has a large population of big cats, leopards, tigers and lots of lions each with their own sad story. A big male lion named Hawk make our entire trip. Unprompted, Hawk emerged from his shade cover and for 2 minutes serenaded us all with his roar. What a remarkable experience, I have heard lions roar in Africa but only from some distance, never within 10 feet. Wow, no wonder a male lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away. It was a sound that penetrated your rib cage and make everyone in the area stop and take notice.



Anyone looking for an educational animal experience I would highly recommend, Noah's Lost Ark.