Update on my aunt

I spent a couple of days in Corpus this week. We sorted paperwork, cleaned and organized, and visited Tante (that's what we call her) in the ICU 3-4 times a day for about 10 minutes each time. She had become septic and they have been giving her strong IV antibiotics. She was on the ventilator (breathing tube down the throat) and very sedated and restrained because when she was awake she would pull at the tube. For the most part, she didn't know we were there or seem to have much awake time or awareness of what was happening. However, the past day or two they started to wean her from the Ativan and the ventilator so they could try to remove the tube. She was able to nod her head a little bit and track with her eyes - which was great to see.

They tried yesterday to wean her from the vent and her oxygen saturation was bad; today they were able to pull the tube - and so far she is stable. She remains in ICU and in isolation, and today and tomorrow they will be doing tests to check for lung cancer. There is risk with the tests; when they biopsy, they need to pull tissue from the edge of the lung and it could cause a lung collapse. And, there is a chance that her throat could swell shut from the tube removal or she could have other breathing trouble from the pneumonia, which would require re-intubation in the short-term and a tracheostomy a day or two later. Today is a big day in that she is able to communicate her desires and to understand her situation. She has asked appropriate questions about what has happened and how long she's been in the hospital (9 days now - 7 days on the ventilator). She has been able to consent to re-intubation if needed. She seems iffy on consenting to the trach, but if that's needed, we should have time to give her more information - and hopefully we will have more information to give regarding a cancer diagnosis. We are encouraged that she is doing better - that the tube is out and she can be more awake and aware of what is happening. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers.

My Aunt

On the 14th, my aunt came from Corpus Christi to Austin for her 82nd bday. She got sick on that day and went to Brackenridge ER. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted. She was released on Sunday night and stayed with my Mom until Wed. morning, when she drove back to Corpus. My Mom talked to her Friday, and her voice was very hoarse. She has had problems with her throat since radiation treatment for cancer many years ago, so it wasn't a huge concern. On Sunday, we couldn't reach her. Finally, Sunday night, we called the police to do a welfare check, and also started calling hospitals. We found her in ICU on a ventilator. She was apparently admitted on Friday night after a neighbor called EMS.

Anyway, the pneumonia is apparently very aggressive and continued to worsen in spite of the antibiotics. She's been moved to a long-term acute care hospital and is in ICU and in isolation there. My Mom, brother, and we are her only family, and are working to encourage her progress and also get a handle on her affairs. The Dr. has said that the best case scenario has her in the hospital for 6 weeks. Yesterday, her white blood cell count and pulse rate dropped, which is really the first good news we've had. This is her fourth day on the ventilator and they are keeping her pretty doped up. When she's coherent, she is agitated and wants the breathing tube out. We're taking it a day at a time... please send your good vibes, your prayers - whatever you've got to give - her way!

(Jake's 11th birthday, 8/25/2010) Jake and Spencer enjoying stimulating lego building conversation at lunch.

Kiley - Our Little Artist

Kiley loves to wra-write and color. When she does she often uses phrases like "another one", "hold this" (meaning the cap to the marker usually.), "purple", "pink", "green", "blue". She mostly gets the colors correct these days. :)

We're still not sure where she learned it but she is very careful to hold anything she is writing or coloring with properly. It's very cute.

Busy little BEE

You can just make out the moon and the stars in this one.

Kiley let papa help with this one

Enjoying that firefighter hat!  :)

The firetruck Kiley will be seeing in a few minutes at school.

Jake loving his new legos (early birthday present)

Other Puerta Vallarta Memories

I think I've made it clear that we had a good time while in Puerta Vallarta. If not I'll say it one more time. It was really cool!!

A couple of days ago I was talking with Kiley at bedtime and I reminded her about the ocean. I said, "remember when mama and papa walked with you out into the ocean". she got quiet for a little while as if to think about what I was asking. Then she said, "here it comes....". Which is exactly what she was saying when a way was about to roll in. I think she remembers. :) Here it comes....with a big smile on her face. I hope we can create many more memories like that for her and the kiddos.

At the beach
So while we were on the beach we played in the sand for a while and walked out into the ocean so that Kiley could try to wash the sand from her feet and hands. I don't think she quite understood that that wasn't going to work and that it wasn't quite like washing off in the swimming pool. It was very cute.

While we were having our fun walking in and out of the water, Courtney was doing flips with one of the really young kids on the beach. She was trying to show him, not that cart wheel flip but the other one where you land on both feet at the same time.....i can't remember. She kept saying it's been a while but pulled it off as if she was as young as the kiddo she was showing.

The older kids were out a little deeper playing in the waves with some other kids. The water wasn't anywhere near as cold as it was the previous week when we were in CA. I say cold but I'm sure it's relative when you consider we are from TX. Anyway it was warmer and the kids had a blast. The only really puzzling thing was that immediately after the sun went down mosquitos EVERYWHERE....it had to have been billions of them. Fortunately for us Courtney's new found friends had some "Off" and we quickly sprayed ourselves down and made our exit. It was so weird how they seemed to come out of no where.

Drama
Kiley locked herself in her room. I know...it was a little scary but we calmly called downstairs and waited for them to come up to the room to help us get her out. It wasn't your typical lock since these were residence accommodations, it was a real lock. Kiley was pretty calm too. We were trying to talk her through turning the bolt the other way. It wasn't working.... When the maintenance person arrived we discovered the key he had did not work. That's right folks, no master key to get our little 22 month old out of the master suite. I started to freak a little but asked the Concierge who made it up to our room as we were trying to figure out what to do next to call a locksmith but she said since it was Sunday there wasn't one available. I said well, we need to call the fire department.

After about 20 minutes, Kiley was getting a little impatient and really wanting this game to end. I kept talking to her letting her know that I was right there and to play with her puppy. That worked for a little. In the meantime, Courtney was outside trying to break in through the sliding glass door with little success. They were very nice doors and were holding up well.

The maintenance guy wanted to knock the dead-bolt through but I stopped him because Kiley was standing right on the other side. I got a little desperate and asked if we could find some bobby pins because I have a little knowledge in lock picking and wanted to give it a try. Fortunately we didn't have to rely on my skills. The large maintenance guy realized that Courtney was on to something and went outside to help. I went with him and Courtney came over to comfort Kiley at the door.

We knew she had had it when she said, "mommy, snuggles". Courtney started crying but continued to comfort her.

After breaking one of his screw drivers, the large maintenance guy and one other person forced the sliding glass doors open. Jake flew through the door and gave Kiley lots of hugs. We opened the door from the inside and Kiley was showered with attention. She was fine. We were fine.....relieved.

Kiley was much more careful the rest of the trip. Poor angel. we love you kiley!! :)

More stories from Puerta Vallarta

Kiley was very pleased with the views from the room and was excited about getting down to the pools. Most days we were there we had breakfast out on the patio.



The kids were enjoying the room slightly while we figured out dinner plans. This is Kiley and Sydney on the bed. Kiley was hilarious. She wouldn't set foot outside (or inside most of the time) without her anteojos del sol.

Kiley and sister relaxing before dinner

As I mentioned before, we had an incredibly nice room, or should I say apartment, because it really was a lot of space but was perfect for us all. Kiley had a large master bedroom which she enjoyed sharing with her parents. But especially liked the tub that had a set of wooden and glass sliding doors that opened into the bedroom. She often said, "window, window" when getting out of the tub indicating that she wanted to go out through those doors instead of the more conventional way.

The kiddos had their own beds in a separate room they shared. Sydney had a place to play with her miniature dolls and Jake had space to help build a fort. He used master fort builder, Courtney Ortiz, for the design. It was perfect for watching a quick movie while settling in for the night.

As nice as the room was and the amenities we were really there for fun in the sun. We made it down to the pools everyday and some nights because that's what Sydney really likes. Although I'm not totally convinced that it isn't a ploy to stay up extra late. The pools had a shallow ledge that allowed space for our littlest angel to play and swim without always having floaties on her arms or around her waist. They also had a kid pool, fountains you could run around in and a hot-tub that Sydney and Jake love. I think it makes them feel like theyre all grown up.

Kiley and papa in the kiddie pool with Kiley's new dress

She's such a big girl

Excursions
Courtney was able to find a great package from Amex Travel that included some excursions. We took advantage of two of the four available to us. One allowed us in the water with dolphins and the other was a canopy tour on ziplines. Both were extremely enjoyable. The dolphins were in a tank similar to what you would see at sea world without the glass walls. We were in the water on a platform with another family and got to touch the dolphin which is exciting in itself. They are such amazing animals and I considered it a huge privilege to be in the water with one. We all got our chance to give them commands and have them kiss us on the cheek. More like push our face away with it's snout. I thought it would have been gentler but it's a very strong animal and it was lifting it's weight out of the water to do that. They are so graceful it's easy to forget those two minor details.

The Zipline experience was pretty incredible. Courtney stayed back with Kiley to give me an opportunity to have the experience with the kids. She said that she has many more with them and this would be a good one for us all. I thought that was very sweet and considerate. Especially since I know that she really wanted to go. It was definitely best that Kiley stayed back because there was a lot of downtime that she would not have been happy with and it would have been difficult to keep her entertained while three of us were zipping through the trees.

Sydney getting suited up

Jake with Captain Jack Sparrow

We had a lot of fun. There were 13 runs of varying lengths with the longest being around 2500 ft. that ran down just above the river. Here are a few more shots....

Jake resting up for the next leap

Sydney after one of the more scenic "zips"

Puerta Vallarta

We got back from our week long vacation a few days ago. We stayed in such a beautiful place! It was extremely spacious for our needs, the views were incredible, the pools were better than I could have imagined, the service was outstanding, and we even had time for a few excursions.

I would highly recommend it when visiting Puerta Vallarta. It is called the Marival Residence. They have a resort property as well but the experience that you get at the residence is worth the extra cash. :)

In summary, we saw beautiful sunsets daily, had plenty of pool time, not near enough beach time, wonderful drinks, wonderful meals and lots of great memories.

Since I'm actually in the office working, details will be coming in the next few days. :) Here is a shot from our balcony....