It makes me happy for you seeing the little fighter recovering well from surgery. I hope, he will soon be :sonic:
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It makes me happy for you seeing the little fighter recovering well from surgery. I hope, he will soon be :sonic:
Good luck with your son m8, hurts to hear about these things :(
Caleb, I like the name :thumbup:
yay! getting better! :D :D :D
same feelings here..come on lil boy get :up: soon :)Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilippF
Best luck to you and your family man.
The young one is a fighter :yepp:
Ok the little man is coming home to Sacramento tomorrow! he still needs to be in the hospital because he is getting antibiotics via I.V.
But atleast he will be a little closer to home!
Could you guys do me a big favor and check out this thread it would mean a lot for my home town. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=165476
Woohoo! Glad to hear he's coming closer to home. Voting also, whoever cut that video needed to implement a proper sound filter to cut out the highend camcorder whine along with some better transition moments :(
My dad is in that movie! lol
Done :)
Im glad to hear the little guy is getting better, i cant imagine what you guys have gone through, i have a little guy too, and know how you must feel!
good luck to you and the wife, im not particularly religeous, but you little guy is in my prayers.....;-)
BTW- kids are awesome. they really open your eyes.
Yay we made it home! We got to come home Friday, just 10 days shy of 2 months. We also got a statement from UCSF (just over $741,000). Thank God for insurance! Our doggy is in the background, he loves his little brother.:D
Attachment 68103
Awesome stuff! His stance reminds me of a boxer "watcha looking at, want a knuckle sandwich punk?" Glad to hear the insurance pulled through, that is a huge bill. That kid's got a head of hair on him!
Wish your family the best.
2long4u,
I feel upset about myself for not noticing this thread earlier. I am so glad your son is doing well and has come home.
Coronary hypoplasia is major and I am glad the surgery went well.
I am not here to compare but to provide you with a little inspiration. I have a son named Mitchell. He was born severely ill and was not expected to live more than a day. He also lost his sister 11 months before he was born to the same genetic condition, which affected his kidneys, liver, spleen, esophagus and pancreas. Not exactly cardio-vascular, but Mitchell had major surgeries as well and did not come home until he was 15 months old. Mitchell also underwent a kidney transplant and has my wife's right kidney. He came so close to the edge way too many times, and the seizures were so severe that he was in danger of becoming a vegetable.
That was about 11 years ago. Mitchell is now 11 years and 9 months old. I have signed him up as a member of XS and he is a computer geek, just like his father. Mitchell is a water cooler, builds his own machines and has a relatively high end rig.
Here are two pictures. Hope it keeps your spirits up. Its going to continue to be a battle, but most of the battle is won simply with a positive attitude.
Oh BTW, about 10 years ago, because of over 7 months in the ICU and 8 months in a regular ward, I received a love note from Stanford University Packard Children's Hospital. The bill was for $2.86 million :p: I sold my three treasured cars to fund most of the family expenses. Thanks to insurance, most of it was covered (I flew from NYC to SF every weekend on Friday and back to work on the Monday redeye because I had a job in NYC.. no insurance, no kid), but all sacrifices were well worth it. ;)
Wow you flew every weekend? There are 2 hospitals in northern California that specialise in the surgery he got, UCSF and Stanford. If I had a different insurance carrier it would have been at Stanford. I'm glad to hear your boy is doing good. What kind of English riding does he do?
Yes, sir. Every weekend. I was flat tired, but no where as tired as my wife. She stayed in the Ronald McDonald House by Stanford, and when Mitchell was kicked out of the hospital (in favor of the never ending stream of sick kids), my wife had to set up a mini ICU of her own in the tiny room. She did dialysis and did all his injections. She hardly ate or even used the bathroom, never mind the laundry (of a newborn) and rest. Sleep? My job was to get off the plane on Friday evenings and essentially take over until Sunday evening in Palo Alto, then catch a quick ride to SFO and race to the plane. Get off the plane on Monday morning at 6 am and go to work. About 1/3 of the flights were donated by the airlines.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2long4u
The reason why we went to Stanford was because none of the hospitals on the East Coast wanted to deal with him. After two weeks, Yale wanted us to take him off life support and let him die! Harvard outright told us that he was "risky," and the only downside was to their silly reputation. I got Stanford to come out all the way to Connecticut. We chartered a medical ICU jet with two doctors and four nurses on board. It was like a Hollywood movie, and boy was it expensive lol Mitchell was on ventrilator for about two months, but most of the time on room air 21% oxygen.
Actually, what is freaky to me is that Mitchell had the same exact NG feeding tube via his nose. It was a real trip inserting it. I still give him injections nightly. For a few years, his list of meds was insane.. about 15 of them administered through the NG tube. He was also fed formula/milk though a Kangaroo pet pump. Now, he's down to seven different pills and its more managable.
The physicians at Stanford also generally practiced at UCSF. The surgical team was of course top notch. I fought many many battles with various insurance companies over the years, as you can imagine, given the bill lol
Mitchell does mostly therapeutic riding and light equestrian. I got him into it just for fun. He has high functioning autism called Asperger's, but that's unimportant. He's a fabulous student, better than I can ever hoped for, and he's a good musician as well.
No one would ever know that Mitchellwent through anything, unless he lifts his shirt. He has the standard chest to stomach incission scar, and also all sorts of surgical scars all around his body.
Him doing well is all relative. Unfortunately, he needs another kidney transplant and a liver transplant. I'm next up on the surgical donor list. Hopefully, actual transplant wouldn't be needed until Mitchell gets into his late teens or twenties. Kidneys unfortunately are supposed to last only 5 years and his has lasted 11 years. He better outlive me and get me some grandchildren ;)
As a parent of 3 kids... I salute both of you. I can't really think of other word than that since I wasn't put in similar situation and can't really imagine what it would be like (I've learned enough things about life not to underestimate some strains people go through).
This thread reminds me of what I put my parents through when I was 18 months old. At 18 months, I pulled a fresh pot of coffee off the counter onto myself, recieving 3rd degree burns to my left arm, and 2nd degree to my chest and left thigh. Only a small scar on my left shoulder remains, but the memories are still with my parents.
I can only imagine what its like seeing a child of your own in so much medical need.
Its great to see Mitchell doing well IanY. :up:
Awesome to see Caleb come home as well 2long. My parents tell me I had a face like that right after I was born. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2long4u
Im shocked how anyone can put a price like that for a life, more so to someone thats so new to the world. Money will get you everything, but money will not buy you a life. It makes me sick that the USA works like this.Quote:
Originally Posted by IanY
So glad the UK as tiwsted as were going (Thanks to Bush & Brown) we don't pay OTT price and just NI on our wages (though it's gone up recently).
2long4u - I'm so glad that everything has worked out and your all home safe and sound. Im no xmas fan, i hate it and complaine how early it all starts but i wish your family a very very happy crimbo and it to be the best one with it being your sons first. So where do i send youngen his MAPP Tourch too then? You did say he was a baby phaser
IanY - We've talked loads and i never ever knew. I think i have spoken to your son in passing on here, top lad! Just remeber when he'd beating dad ass at a pc game it cost you, thats the best and most expenisve gift ever i guess, LOL. Also wish ya self a good crimbo as i guess it could all change just like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by IanY
Pete,
Thanks for your kind words.
Just to put the US medical establishment into perspective. Flight from New York to California.. $200,000. Bed in U.S. ICU.. $6,000 per day. Bed in regular ward... $1,000. That's just the bed, and only the bed. The bedsheets cost extra lol
Ride in a US ambulance costs about $1,000. A car can drive to the hospital for less than $3 of gas.
The hospital pays each regular nurse $65 an hour in wages, and the cost after benefits andemployee taxes to the hospitals is closer to $120. Physician paycheck after benefits and employee taxes is closer to $500 an hour. Malpractice insurance probably costs three times the hourly wage of each doctor. Tack on a decent markup and you see the bed adding up quickly.
Thank you, big guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polizei
My step brother is a Dr. and makes about $40,000 a year as a resident. But after his residency he will be making $500,000 a year.
Polizei, when I was in the hospital when I was born the nurse spilled a cup of coffee on my foot and when they took off my sock the skin went with it. I still have the scar. Good thing I was too young to remember.
Pete, what is crimbo, and we already have a MAPP torch!!
Ian, we have the exact same Kangaroo joey pump. He gets all his meds through the NG and he gets his milk from the pump when he is too tired to get it by mouth. He is on 6 different meds now. When he was in the ICU at one point he had 10 pumps!
It is very frustrating, I have all the parts for my phase but I have NO extra time to assemble. I wouldn't be opposed if sombody wanted to donate their time!!:D :D
so what type of load is caleb holding at what temps?Quote:
Originally Posted by 2long4u
Well some times he loads his pants!:rofl:
Our computer is a lowly AMD 2500 moble barton. It is a great overclocker, but in order for me to go higher I need it colder. Stock is 1.8 gigs. Right now I have it at 200MHZ with an 11 multiplier which puts it at 2.2. I have had it to 2.4 with a 12 multiplier. This is all with stock cooling. We have very good memory but we can't find its max because we can't get the CPU any higher without increasing temps.
Those are some memories there... I got interested in computers back when the 2500+ Barton was king and the 9800Pro was the 8800Ultra of today. Good times.
Gone are the days of a 350w power supply being excessive.