So Much To Be Thankful For!

Well, it's official, my 13 year old nephew is definitely taller than I am! :) There's no denying it any longer! He came down to Mishawaka from St. Joe, MI with his Mom & Dad to celebrate my Mom's Birthday at Red Lobster today (Saturday). I've been thinking today of how blessed we are to still have him with us! Last Summer was rough. Around the 4th of July we found out that Trey's heart had a birth defect which was not caught until he was almost 13 years old! For 2 months last summer he couldn't play any sports or be physically active at all until his open heart surgery. They couldn't get him in for surgery at the U of M until September 6th, so they had a very long summer. Here are my MySpace Blogs which I wrote the day of his surgery:

It’s 9:35am Eastern Time - 9/6/07 Good Morning! Two adorable 18 month twin girls were brought to Trey's room this AM to wake him up! :) It was after 8:00am when the surgeon came to talk to Trey with the relatives present, before he was taken to be prepped for surgery. Mom, Don, Eddie's Dad, sister & bro-in-law, me, and of course Pam & Eddie. The surgeon is very confident the birth defect can be fixed. He said there is a 98-99% chance there will be no severe complications. He said it is a rare condition, but extremely rare for someone of Trey's "old" age! Who would have ever thought that 12 would ever be considered old?! :) He said usually as a baby there is heart failure and other symptoms with this condition. We are so grateful to God for the fact that Trey's pediatrician caught this! I found out today that this pediatrician was supposed to retire three years ago, and we praise God that he hasn't retired as of yet! Pam & Eddie left Trey after the IV was started and he was dozing off. They were told it would be an hour and a half before all the tubes would be put in and they would start making the incision. We expect the surgery to begin by 10:30am EST and to last 3-5 hours. I am upstairs in the internet/communications room for friends and family. I will head back down to be with the family as surgery is scheduled to begin in a half hour to 45 minutes. Trey is a very brave kid. Pam thought it might hit him prior to surgery and that he would get upset, but he appeared to be cool as a cucumber still joking at times. Pam wasn't able to get connected to the internet yesterday so her updates were not current as of a few minutes ago. I will keep you updated as I know more. Have a great day! :)

1:00pm - September 6th, 2007
Trey is still in surgery and we are receiving updates every hour. At 10:40am they had started the surgery and were going to start putting him on the heart and lung machine. We were just updated for the 3rd time at 12:45pm. The surgery is going well and the surgeon is working on fixing the problem now. It sounds like they have to take material from the lining to construct a longer artery. My terminology may be off a bit as I am not knowledgeable regarding medical terminology. They mentioned something about the aorta also. The WELS Chaplain was visiting with us when we received this update. He appropriately read Psalm 40 to us and prayed for Trey. We asked if they knew how much longer the surgery would take. We were told approximately two hours. After surgery is over no one can see him for an hour. So, it sounds like it will be around 4:00pm EST before Pam & Eddie will be able to see him. Like Eddie's sister said, we don't care how long it takes, as long as the problem is fixed. I want to give updates to relatives and friends through this blog, but am also finding it to be therapeutic for me as well! Thanks for reading this! I'll write more later.

September 6, 2007 - Thursday Trey is out of Surgery! Trey's Surgeon came to tell us that the surgery was successful and Trey's heart is now back to working on it's own (as opposed to being on the heart and lung machine)! Needless to say we are now breathing a bit easier ourselves! This was at 3:15pm. He told us they would get Trey situated in the ICU and it should be 45min-1hr until Pam & Eddie could go see him. Eddie checked with ICU at 4:30pm and they said Trey was still sleeping and they are currently getting him cleaned up from the surgery. They said Pam & Eddie should be able to see Trey in 15-20 min. By the time Pam & Eddie see Trey, it will have been 8 hours since they left him. It's been a long day! Only 2 people can go into ICU at a time. Trey will be thrilled that they took pictures of his heart during the surgery!. This highly intelligent child is so curious! He fought the meds to stay awake yesterday during the catheterization and he watched it all on the monitor! He wants pictures for his scrapbook! He asked Pam to have the Dr.'s take pics during surgery...to which Pam said..Trey you can ask! He didn't ask, but when the surgeon told us they took pictures b/c of how rare this situation was, Pam couldn't wait to tell Trey. She knows getting to go home and see the pics via email will give him motivation to get well soon so he can see those! :) Pam will probably tell you in greater detail how his heart was making due before. He was a walking time bomb and we are truly blessed!! Hopefully Pam & Eddie are with Trey in ICU as I am typing this! The rest of us obviously have to take turns, but I look forward to seeing him soon! He will probably be in there for a few days. I am heading back down to the ICU waiting room, but will write more later! Please thank God for a successful surgery! =-)

July 19, 2008

Today, Trey is healthy and as physically active as ever! March '08 the Dr.'s gave him the green light to be able to participate in contact sports again. He's been to Basketball camps and everything! I'm sure his battle scar will one day (sooner than we think) impress the ladies! I am so thankful to God for sparing Trey's life! It truly was a modern day miracle! I'll never forget the day of his surgery and seeing him in ICU, and I hope that I never stop thanking God for protecting Trey, especially during his first 13 years of life!

Trey's website is http://www.treysmithracing.com/. Check it out!

I love you Trey!