Remembering Vinnie

Monday, August 9, 2010
Yesterday was the worst day of my life. It's so hard to let go. My brother was such a wonderful person with the biggest heart. He was such a giving person and had so much love that he was a registered organ donor. My brother now will help save other lives with his kidneys, liver, heart valves, eyes, bones and skin. What a self-less act. But that's my brother. Always thinking about others and never himself. I feel so privileged to be his sister. Anyone who knows him, knows what an awesome person he was.

My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jeb did make it here yesterday morning in time to see him. Since he was donating his organs, the transplant team actually had to take him to their facility. So they waited to for us to have our time with him before taking him. When all the family was there, we gathered around Vince's bed, held hands and said a prayer. We all signed balloons that had been given to my brother. So when it was time, we walked out of the hospital together, as a family, sang the song, "I can only imagine" by Mercy Me, (I have this video on my blog already from an earlier post if you want to hear it.) and then let the balloons go. It was a very nice way to have closure and say good-bye.

It's just really hard to believe he is really gone. It just doesn't seem possible. I know he is resting in Jesus. The next thing he will know is that he will wake up and see Jesus' face. We will be reunited in the clouds of glory, surrounded by the angels singing Hallijuah, Glory to God in the Highest!

It's been a long day, one of the most emotional days of my life. I don't even know where to begin. Just when we thought things were going so well....
Vince had a CAT scan done today and the results are not what we were expecting to hear. He has extensive damage to his brain due to the lack of oxygen and blood when he first collapsed. The damage is causing swelling on the brain and there is nothing they can do to relieve it. His EEG test did not show positive results. The neurosurgeon said that this is one of the worst CAT scans he has ever seen. There is basically nothing they can do for him.
That is definitely not what we wanted to hear! NO NO NO!!!!!
It's been really hard to accept this news. It's really hard to believe when all of his other signs are so positive. I know God is in control but ya know, sometimes it's just so hard to give up our own control. I have to keep the faith.

We are keeping him as he is right now on the ventilator, waiting for the rest of our family to get here. My grandparents arrived tonight. My brother Phil and Randy will be here tomorrow. My Aunt Deb and Abbey are on their way as well.

I will praise You in this storm, oh Lord. I lift my eyes to you, the maker of heaven and earth! You the God of Gods, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You are my strength, my rock and fortress.

Please continue to pray for my brother and family. It's in God's hands now and we just have to trust Him. This is not an easy task to do.

I have so many great memories of my brother. Growing up Vince was the mean one. He was always hitting or pinching me. But that's what big brothers are for right. I remember one time we were at Burger King. I was probably about 5 years old and Vinnie was 13 or so. I sat down to eat my happy meal. I was sitting there eating my fries first before I ate my cheeseburger. Along comes Vinnie. "Are you going to eat that?" pointing at my cheeseburger. "Yay, when I'm done with my fries." The next thing I knew my cheeseburger was gone. He ate my cheeseburger!!! I couldn't believe he did that! My dad had to get me another one. Thus, learned to eat fast, otherwise my food would be gone.

I'm trying to keep this as updated as possible. Just be patient that it might be until the end of the day. If I haven't called you, please don't be offended. I just can't handle crying every time I talk to someone. It's starting to take it's toll on me. I love you all so much. I really appreciate your love and support. We feel your prayers and your love. Thank you so much.

God is Good All the Time

I am sitting in the ICU at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters hospital in St. Louis, MO. My brother Vince had a massive heart attack on Tuesday. God is always in control, He holds our hands and wraps in loving arms around us. It is truly a miracle that my brother is alive right now. We are very positive that he is going to come out of this. Right now we are waiting for him to wake up. They are supposed to start weaning him off the sedatives slowly today and see how he responds. He has opened his eyes twice now, which is a good sign, and has been making facial gestures when the nurse does something to him that he doesn't like. My mom, sister and my brother Nick are here. I'm going to kick my brother's butt when he wakes up. If he wanted a family reunion, he just should have said so!!!

So let me back up a little bit and start from the beginning. On Tuesday I am on my way to pick up Rayna from summer camp and I get a call from Babs, my sister-in-law, saying I need to call my mom and grandma right away that Vince was in the hospital. I could barely understand her. A nurse got on the phone and explained to me what was going on. My brother had collapsed after working outside and they were administrating CPR. At that point it was really touch and go as they couldn't get him stabilized and nobody knew what was going on. They were finally able to stabilize him and found out that he had a massive heart attack with his left descending aorta 90% blocked. This is the main artery that pumps the blood to your whole body. They were able to immediately get him into surgery to put the stint in. That they were able to do that so quickly is just one of the many miracles that have happened to my brother.

He came out of surgery and they put him in an induced coma so he can rest and heal. That is basically where we are at right now. We are waiting for him to wake up as they are now slowing reducing his sedatives.

God has truly been with my brother every step of the way. He placed all the right people in his path to come out of this and make a full recovery. Vince was working at a client's house staining the deck and Babs was helping him. They came inside to take a break and Vince was saying that he wasn't feeling well. The client's daughter and her boyfriend were also at the house at the time. Babs went to go get the paint brushes as Vince was worried about them drying out. That was when he collapsed. The daughter called 911 and the boyfriend immediately started CPR. It just so happened that this guy is training to be a paramedic. The ambulance arrived within 3 minutes. They worked on stabilizing him for 45 minutes at the house before they could get him in the ambulance. I believe that if God had not placed this people in my brother's path that day, he would not be with us today, fighting to come back to us.

Now that the stint is in, his heart is doing really good. All of his vital signs are good. His blood gases are good, his blood pressure is stable. His body is responding as it should be. He looks good, his color is good and a lot of the swelling in his arms and face has gone down. I am just glad I can be here. I flew out Tuesday night. I did get some sleep last night. I'm just trying to make sure Babs gets some rest.

Please continue to pray that God can give him the strength to wake up and come back to us. Pray for Babs and the kids, Madison and Brendon.
I will try and keep you updated.

My Review of Sleepover Twin Travel Bed

Originally submitted at Bedroom Furniture.com

Features:

• No Phthalates, BPA or lead
• Twin size sheets fit over center mat
• Inflates & deflates less than 2 minutes
• Includes electric pump & storage bag
• Fits into "carry on" size luggage
• Perfect for kids ages...

Sleepover Twin Travel Bed

My son loves this bed!

By Jacki mom of 2 from Athens, GA on 7/1/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Easy to Inflate, Inflates Quickly, Easy To Transport, Convenient Storage, Deflates Easily, Comfortable

Best Uses: Travel, Camping, Spare Bed

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

My son loves his new travel bed. He is 2 years old and we were tried of carrying the pack n play with us on trips. This bed is easy to inflate and deflate and easy to carry and store. I just use a regular twin fitted sheet on it. It is bigger than I thought and pretty comfortable. My son gets excited when we travel now because he gets to sleep in his "robot" bed. I see many uses for this bed.

(legalese)

I would love to win one of these for Rayna!

Win a pettiskirt thanks to @shopadorabelle – www.shopadorabelle.com over at www.modernmagical.com by @HeatherL – Pettiskirts are magical!

The Show Must Go On!

Here we are, once again it is Monday. And right now it is raining cats and dogs outside! I felt like Moses this morning when I took Rayna to school as it felt like I was crossing the Red Sea to get her to her classroom. The sidewalk where the gate is always floods with water. So glad we both had our rain boots on. Lorenzo's feet have finally grown into Rayna's old rain boots. He was tickled to death this morning to wear the pirate boots and enjoyed walking in the puddles. Which now I think the puddles have turned into lakes. I think I now need to channel Noah and build a boat to get anywhere. We are in a flash flood warning and expecting 3 inches of rain today. Well at least it is washing all the pollen away.

Wow! I can't believe it is May already. This is going to be one busy month. We have Cinco de Mayo on Wednesday, Mother's Day on Sunday, Lorenzo's birthday on the 17, among all the other birthdays this month, trip to Vegas, Grandpa G will be here and Rayna's last day of school is the end of May.

Yesterday Rayna had her first ballet recital. It was delayed about an hour due to a power outage. Like I've said before, never a dull moment. As we were waiting for the power to come back on, I went backstage to check on Rayna, more of a hair and make-up check then anything else, and all the girls were restless and hungry. They had been there since 1:30 p.m. and it was now 3:45 p.m. The show was supposed to start at 3 p.m. The smart mom that I am packed 2 packages of gummy snacks that were eagerly gobbled up by the girls. I felt like I was rationing out food to the survivors of some disaster victims the way they held out their little hands in anticipation of the small morsel. Thank goodness the lights came back on sooner than we were told. I'm not sure the girls would have lasted much longer. But the show must go on!

She was so adorable on stage in her little costume. I think her favorite part was she got to wear a little make-up. I will definitely be posting some pictures soon. I also have to post some pictures from the Mother's Day lunch at Rayna's school too. I'm just glad we had a babysitter for Lorenzo. He would not have been able to sit that long waiting for the show. We took Rayna out to a celebration dinner at her favorite restaurant, Cali n' Titos and then for ice cream.

I know this week and month is just going to fly on by so I better be prepared.

Monday Again

After a long week and weekend with no Randy around, things are finally feeling like they are getting back to normal. All that is except for a sick little Rayna. She started running another fever on Sunday and still wasn't feeling good today so off to the dr. she went. Randy took her since I had to go to work. The result: Streptococcal pharyngitis or other wise known as strep throat. This is the second time she's had it. She had it back in Dec. right before New Year's. We were doing so good with not getting sick. We went almost 3 whole months of not having to go to the dr. Now I love my dr. just as much as the next person but I really don't need to see him every week or even every month. It's bad enough when you are pregnant and have to go every 4 weeks then every week. That's what we call job security folks. No wonder the health care industry is doing so well.

Well she is on antibiotics now so she should start feeling better soon. She has her first ballet recital on Sunday so we have to get her well for that. I can't wait to see my little ballerina dance. I still need to post pictures from her gymnastics meet. It will be nice when her extra activities end and we can have a little rest before we start the summer festivities. Summer camps, swim lessons, maybe piano lessons and Tae Kwon Do too. She told me the other day that she wants to learn kung fu.

I better get in gear as I only have a couple more weeks until Lorenzo's birthday. I did find a video online tonight on how to make a train cake. It looks like it would be pretty fun and easy to do. We are definitely going with the train theme birthday this year. Rayna changes her mind every other day what she wants for her birthday. That's ok, but come June she had better decide.

I've had better Mondays and I've had worse so I guess this one falls somewhere in the middle. Randy is home, Rayna is on the mend, I got to go to Zumba class and Lorenzo, well, he is himself as usual.

Mary Poppins

Who doesn't love Mary Poppins? She is so magical and delightful with a spoonful of sugar. She brings out the best in everyone and always has a smile on her face. I think we all wish we had a Mary Poppins to call on every now and again or a fairy godmother like Cinderella would even be nice. I'll take either at this point.
Today was a rough day. It's been a rough week actually. There have been some high points but I can think of more low points right now than anything else. This is where Mary Poppins would come swooping down and have her magic descend upon my house to tidy it up all the while singing "Spoonful of Sugar". If I was really techie like Randy I would be able to put in a link to the song. But he isn't here right now as his flight home tonight got canceled. Such is my life this week. Nothing is really going how I would like it to go. Maybe if I keep singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious I might always sound precocious too. I mean really, who didn't like Mary Poppins. I have such fond memories of this delightful musical. Just saying the name, "Mary Poppins" puts a smile on my face and warm fuzzies in my tummy.
Not too long ago I did get to share this wonderful show with my kids and Randy who had never seen the whole thing. I was just utterly shocked that my own husband who can recite random movie lines had never seen all of Mary Poppins. I'm not even sure if he has seen all of "The Sound of Music". Don't worry, all in due time it will be introduced into my house. This are by far the Disney classics that really do stand the test of time. Ones I can watch over and over again. I'm waiting for Disney to re-release these on Blu-ray knowing full well that my generation will buy them to pass along the memories to our kids. Disney is smart like that. Maybe even Ken Jennings smart.

Maybe if I play my cards right I will get to go see this fantastic musical at the lovely Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

Pretty Paperie

Pretty Paperie
Win a sweet fairy dress over at www.modernmagical.com by @HeatherL from Paperie Boutique by @shutterblog – Put some magic back in your life!

Manic Monday

Normally I really don't mind Mondays. It's really not that bad. A typical Monday goes like this: Rayna goes to school, I go to work, Lorenzo hangs out with his little friends while I am at work, come home, have lunch, nap time for Lorenzo, quiet time for me, pick up Rayna from school, go to Zumba class, come home, have dinner, and then bedtime.

But not this Monday. First of all, both kids had been sick all weekend. Rayna was still running a little fever in the middle of the night last night, so no going to school for her. Then Randy had to leave early this morning to get to the airport for a 9:30 a.m. flight to NY for the week. The kids did sleep until 8 a.m. so that was nice but other than that, the day went down hill from there on out.

I knew Rayna must have been feeling better as her and Lorenzo fought all morning. Then it was the battle of the wills as she didn't want to eat the yogurt at lunch that she had asked me for.
Finally nap time arrived, probably the only other bright spot in the day. But it's what happened after nap time was over that really pushed me over the edge. I heard Lorenzo in the monitor and before I could go and get him I hear, "I poopy mommy." So I'm thinking great, he finally pooped, he hasn't pooped all day. But what to my wondering eyes do I see as I enter his room, Lorenzo standing in his crib holding his diaper full of poop and more poop on the sheet. Good thing it was bath night anyways tonight and I had just gotten my new Eco Sense Pre-spot stain remover from Melaleuca in the mail today. So I throw the sheets etc in the the laundry and Lorenzo in the bath.

Oh it gets better! As I am making dinner tonight Lorenzo wanders into the kitchen and pulls his pants down and I see that he isn't wearing his diaper anymore. I asked him where is his diaper. His response, "Where? Diaper? I don't know." So I pick him up, take him to his room to put on a new diaper and he points to the diaper pail, "In there diaper. I pee pee."

Needless to say, I think we need to seriously start potty training him. If he would only sit down long enough to do it. To think that he will be turning 2 years old in a month. Didn't I just start this blog when he was still in my belly? Time flies so fast. Speaking of fast, my dear nephew Cameron is 17 today. It feels like just yesterday that he was born too.

Well off to bed as only tomorrow knows what is in store for us. But I am sure glad to put this Monday behind us! All in all, I have survived another day in Adventures in Parenting, Gaytan Style.

Zumba

My body is telling me that I should really be in bed but I'm not sure if I can make it off the couch after going at a Zumba fundraising dance tonight. I know it was for a good cause, Haiti, but I think my body is now protesting the 2 straight hours of Zumba dancing. Well at least I got a good work out tonight. Does that mean I don't have to go to the gym for the next 5 days??

I can't believe it is February already. Where does the time go? The kids are growing like weeds both physcially and mentally as Lorenzo is learning more and more words to say and Rayna is reading books at about a first grade level. Work is going good for me. I enjoy sharing the world of Spanish with 2-4 year olds. It is a challenge all within itself but it is fun. I'm actually feeling a little more crafty since I have to come up with activities for my kids to do. Randy is pretty much working from home now that the Elberton plant is closed. He is in NY this week.

Probably the latest and greatest exciting thing is I finally got my new washer and dryer that I have been dreaming about for a long time. I got the steel blue Samsung steam. It is very pretty and I love it. I think I have done a load of laundry just about everyday since I got them. I have yet to use the wool setting though. Maybe tomorrow, I have a pair of pants that need to be cleaned.
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/appliances/washers-dryers/washers/WF419AAU/XAA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&returnurl=

Ok I think I have to give into my body and go to bed. Another time, another day, another story!