First Day of School - Covid Style

Today is the first day of school for these boys.  We enjoyed every minutes of our summer break and it doesn't quite feel like school is back in session.  Due to the high cases of Covid in Arizona, all schools are online through October (as of now).  Owen had already decided on doing his online public school program that he completed for 6th grade because it worked really well for him. He likes to sleep in, moves slowly in the morning and then logs into his courses around 11am.  He usually completes his online course responsibilities first and then logs off to work on everything else.

  Logan planned to start a half day Kindergarten program, but online zoom sessions would be a nightmare with him.  He has a lot of energy and has to be actively engaged in his learning.  We decided to go with the same online program for Kindergarten, that Owen is currently enrolled in.  It is a lot of hands on learning with phonics books, white boards, math manipulatives and lots of fun flashcards.  They sent me about 10 boxes full of engaging curriculum and he is so excited to get started!  I guess you could say I am homeschooling since he only spends about 45 min online in the morning to start his day with his teacher and classmates before logging off to learn.

We are excited to adapt to all the new changes around us.  This school year looks different than we anticipated and it's okay.  It is going to be a busy school year for all of us!  I did not forget about Kam and fully expect to post all about her next week for her final year at ASU.  I'll give you an update on how she is doing.

I still have a couple weeks until Nursing School starts back up in full force and still have zero idea what it will look like.

HAPPY FIRST DAY of school to these sweet boys and I am so excited to play the teacher role!

KINDERGARTEN

SEVENTH GRADE - I cannot believe it!

COVID19 - Biopsy Results

These are some crazy times!  I hope everyone is safe and healthy.  We are isolating at home which isn't much different than our norm.  Owen is still doing online school for sixth grade.  All of Kam's University classes were moved to the online platform, which she loves!  Nursing school has moved to online lectures, Vsims in lieu of clinicals and we basically teach ourselves the fundamentals.  Logi has wild energy and keeps us all active and busy.

Owen had a repeat biopsy at Phoenix Children's yesterday to followup on his recent rejection.  His cardiac pressures were elevated which had me on edge, but his echo looks okay (no comparison done yet) and his biopsy results came back as 1A/1R with no antibody rejection present.  His rejection in February was a grade 2, so this is an improvement!!  I will know more on Monday when Stanford reviews the cath report and has all the data to review.  YAY!!

Before all the COVID19 craziness began, Kamryn and Rylee went to Manhattan for Spring Break.  They saw the last Broadway show "Dear Evan Hansen" before they shut it all down.  They had a really good time at the Statue of Liberty, Museum of Natural History, Wall Street, Broadway, and saw everything touristy there was to see.  They even had a scary encounter with a homeless druggy one night. They had a really good time and came home to quarantine for 14 days, before they mandated the stay at home order.  

Nursing school has been the best challenge for me!  We only have four weeks left with three exams, one final and an exit Hesi.  I also have six more hours of online clinicals to complete and a ton of studying.  Our online lecture this week was "end of life" so there's that.  I have made some great friends and am loving the chaos that nursing school brings!

This little cutie is all registered for Kindergarten in the fall, assuming we get this pandemic under control.  He is loving life in isolation as it means he gets more screen time.  The other day I asked him about viruses and he says "they are germs that invade your body and make you sick!"  I love the stage of life he is in and he is such a sweet guy.  I was explaining to him about Owen's biopsy this week and told him they would be removing little pieces of his heart to biopsy them and he said "they will put them back?  Or they will replace them with new pieces?  Or what? "  Life is pretty perfect with Logi in it.

Owen is currently doing virtual physical therapy and I need to get studying for exams this week.  Be safe, be healthy and for all those working in the front line of this pandemic.. .we love you!!  I am so excited to get my nursing degree and get out there to help. My time is coming...

Cardiac Rejection

I haven't been blogging as much as I used to due to nursing school, taking care of kiddos and things have been relatively stable with Owen.  My life is full of chaos and I am embracing every second of it.  If you follow along on FB (Owen's Superhero Heart) or Insta (andreansimmons), then you know Owen had a routine cardiac biopsy this week at Stanford.  His cardiac pressures and coronary arteries looked great!  Owen has been doing so well that we even discussed finally weaning off the prednisone he has been on for the past 7 years!  Results took longer than usual but we are dealing with grade 2 rejection.  It sucks!!!  Owen had a rough time processing the news and it about broke me to see him struggle with the disappointing news.  We both had our moment to process and now we are ready to boss up!   For those of you that don't know how rejection works.. there is a grade scale for cellular rejection... you can read about it here.

The game plan is to followup with the Phoenix team in 2 weeks and head back to Stanford in 4 weeks for another cardiac biopsy.  We are doubling up on his steroids to help kick the cellular rejection.  Please say a prayer for this perfect heart and this incredible boy.  I can only imagine the disappointment he feels and he really was so stoked to have a break from hearing bad news for a while.

Just an update on how well he has been doing.  Owen has been doing online public school and he loves it.  He has made lots of friends from church, in our neighborhood and loves hanging with his cousins.  He loves working out, playing basketball, learning baseball and lifting weights!  You would never know he had a crazy medical history or that he has to overcome so much.  Thank you for all your prayers, kind words, and positive love.

We will push through and continue this battle with congenital heart disease.  We are one of the lucky ones and we don't take a second of that for granted.  Love you all.