Our Little Braveheart: June 2011

We have been just enjoying life lately. Mostly going to baseball games and sitting outside on the deck enjoying dinner and watching kids play and run in and out. So much different than last summer of waiting on phone calls with cath appointments, surgery appointments and results. I have had to talk myself down from a few anxiety attacks of not seeing the cardio for six months but, I've made it through them and we see him this month! Now I'm panicking again... breathe.
Did I say on the last post that I prayed for neighbor friends, whew... there are always kids running here and there now - Evan leaving doors open and me standing on the porch holloring his name. We have boundaries and it feels SO WEIRD letting him out of my sight. Eric tells me to quit being a helicopter and quit hovering, lol. I usually sit outside and read, water flowers, etc. if he is out playing - a safe distance away to allow him to just be.
This baseball season was SO MUCH FUN. After the first few games the kids just kept getting better and better, making runs and good plays. Evan has become a great hitter! He gained a nickname from the coaches and fans this year - BIG E! When his coach first yelled it, "Get us a hit Big E!" I worried that it would bother him but then I saw this huge smile on his face. He only struck out a few times this season - almost always getting a hit - lots of doubles and rbi's (are you impressed, I learned some baseball?) They would yell "Get us a hit Big E - bring our guys home" and Evan would smile this huge smile and hit and when he would stop at a base he would still be smiling. After the game he would say "Did you hear them Mom... next time I bat make sure you holler GO BIG E!" So for baseball he isn't my little guy but, Big E! He had an awesome coach this year. He was so good with the kids and Evan learned so much. Our team even made it all the way to the final game in the championship and ended the season some in 2nd place. GO CUBS! I can't wait for next season!
Things with my Mom have been hard this summer. She started with knee surgery right before school was out. That went good. As soon as she seemed to be on the road to recovery and out and about again she came down with pnuemonia - 2 weeks ago tomorrow. This put her in bed for 4 days or better. She was really sick. She went in for her checkup from pnuemonia last Wed. and they noticed her heart racing. After an EKG it showed that her heart was beating 175 bpm and she was in Afib. I was shocked when she called and told me this. They set her up with a cardio and they confirmed Afib and put her on coumadin and a betablocker. It is believed to be caused by the pnuemonia as her heart checked out fine for the knee surgery. On Monday they checked her and her heart was 75 bpm and she was not in Afib. They said this can come and go but at least for then it was gone although, it is uncertain if it was the meds or it just being gone. She is at the Dr. today for a stress test, echo and EKG. This is to make sure there is nothing else going on with her heart. We aren't sure what this holds... there are a few possibilities - our hopes is that this will go away and never come back - she might end up needing to be on this medicine long term or there is a possibility they will have to shock her heart. My Mom is my best friend and this has reminded me how lucky I am to have such a wonderful relationship with her. Evan has been missing his Mamaw (and her him) but has been busy with Vacation Bible School and spending extra time with Mommy to let Mamaw rest. So thankful for friends offering to keep him on days I'm not off. I'm a lucky girl.
I mentioned storms in my last post - it has been crazy here! We have had so many tornado warnings and thunderstorm warnings. We had a horrible storm just last night - tornado that came through and dropped here and there all over Louisville. Evan is a mess during storms. He has always had trouble with fear - fear of being alone - fear of storms. His fear of storms makes him a mess. He cries and wants to run to the basement - sometimes I feel like if I shake him he would snap out of it but, I just keep trying to tell him that he has to listen to me and that everything is okay. I can be telling him let's get to our safe place and he is running circles and crying. No one would probably believe me about this but, we had friends over during one of the storms and they were like WOW... he is terrified. Poor guy... we are working on fear.
Hope all of you are well and enjoying summer as much as we are!