Daron James Williams

My precious brother passed away on Saturday after a 2.5 year battle against leukemia.  He was a kind, thoughtful, and wise brother.  He will be missed, always. 

5/15/82 - 3/29/14

It's been a long winter

I can't say a lot of nice things about 2014 so far.  As I mentioned previously, my dear brother Daron had relapsed again.  We knew this was terrible news and carried a very poor prognosis.  Daron, was admitted for inpatient chemo over a month ago.  A secondary infection almost killed him but he fought back!  After being in a "coma" for 2 weeks and intubated for 3 weeks he was able to finally breathe on his own again.  Things seemed to be looking a little better so I decided to set aside my "grim reaper" role and allow in a little bit of hope.  Unfortunately, the hope was short-lived.  We learned this weekend that the chemo did not treat the cancer.  There is nothing left to do for Daron aside from keep him comfortable and remind him how much he is loved.    Please pray for my family (Anita, Byron, Kevin, Colin, Feifei, Victor and kids) as we anticipate the loss of our beloved brother, son, and husband.

He will always be remembered fondly...
http://annandvictor.blogspot.com/2010/01/uncle-daron.html

His caring bridge update is below...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/daronwilliams/guestbook

Warfarin

Did you know that Warfarin, the breakthrough drug used by millions to prevent strokes ("thins your blood") was discovered in Wisconsin?  Warfarin stands for  Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.  I guess they just added in the -arin to make it sound better. 

 Grandma (L) and her sister Elizabeth

These pretty ladies are 87 and 91!

 Grandma and her 4 kids

Millions of people take Warfarin.  One of those patients is my beautiful Grandma.  She was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation about 10 years ago.  Atrial fibrillation is when the atrium (small compartments in your heart) just kind of quiver, rather than pumping efficiently.  One of the risks of a dysfunctional atrium is that of clot formation.  Clots can form on the valves and then dislodge and travel to the brain which can lead to a stroke. 

Thankfully, Warfarin works really well. Unfortunately, it works so well at thinning your blood patients usually have to stop it for a  number of days prior to invasive procedures.   Depending on the procedure, and how high of bleeding risk is associated with it, you can sometimes bridge a patient with a faster acting anticoagulant (that can be stopped quicker if need be).  Anytime someone stops their anticoagulation, their risk of stroke increases.

My grandma is 87 years old!  If you met her, you'd never guess that though!  She could beat just about anyone at a game of cards and bakes the best oatmeal cinnamon bread you've ever tasted (although her daughter's are quality competition).  She's smart and fit (swims 4 days a week).  She's been such a wonderful grandma and friend to me my entire life.  (For the past 15 years I've talked on the phone with her about once a week, often more that that.) 

Although she is as "healthy as a horse" her heart recently decided it needed a little attention.  Her aortic valve is not working properly and needs replaced.  This week, as part of her pre-operative work up she had to have a cardiac cath done.  She passed this test with flying colors.  Because that's an invasive procedure she had to stop her warfarin. 

Well, as you may have guessed my dear Grandma had a massive stroke last night.  This was her biggest fear in life!  Give her anything but a stroke or alzheimer's and she wouldn't complain but everyone who knows her at all knows she does not want to be compromised by either of those!

Apparently, after watching K-State lose to University of Kentucky she got up and noticed her legs were wobbly.  So she pushed her emergency call button (amazing she had it on her, she usually doesn't) and laid down.  When the emergency personal arrived to her apartment she informed them she was having a stroke and was able to tell them that she'd had to stop her coumadin for the cardiac cath earlier that week (very important as that was a good indication as to the type of stroke).  They rushed her to her local ER where the doctors gave her a dose of TPA (powerful clot busting drug).  Her symptoms seemed to improve for a short time.  They then flew her (bet she never thought she'd ride in a helicopter) to Kansas City. 

Once she got there the invertentional radiologist trained in neurology was able to perform cerebral angioplasty and place a stent.  When she woke up her symptoms seem to have resolved (her speech is normal, cognitively normal, and while required to lay flat all day her limbs seem to be working well too)!  The pictures of her brain perfusion before and after stent placement are just amazing!!  How thankful I am that all the right people were lined up at the right time and that my Grandma realized what was happening and was able to get help immediately!

Grandma still needs her heart valve replaced which is a big procedure - I am hopeful they will be able to do that before she is discharged.  She is in the ICU still but doing quite well.  I'd appreciate prayers for her complete healing and that she is able to tolerate the valve procedure without any further hiccups.

My grandma is my biggest blog reader, she also e-mails, has a cell phone, an ipad, and likes to "facetime" us!   I love her dearly and hope I am just as healthy, smart, and fit as she is in 50+ years. 

Perfusion Before:

Perfusion After:

Perfusion Before:

Perfusion After:

I could show you pictures of the large clot they removed but my Grandma is super tough and I'm 

afraid she might just kill me if I share that with you! Ha!

Will Kyle Smile?

Kyle is a thoughtful, pensive baby.  While not fussy, he is quite serious most of the time.  Today, I took quite a few photos of him, hoping to catch a rare smile.  Here are the (cute) results....

Bookworm

Lainey has "seen the light" and now knows how to read.  She reads really well!  Watching your kid learn to read has to one of most fun things you get to do as a parent!  As a book lover, I am so excited that they have the ability to do one of my favorite things.  Erik is an excellent reader but so far he doesn't seem to find reading a joyous activity. :)   Lainey on the other hand is just 4.5 and I'm certain she's already reading at an early first grade level.  During the past 2-3 months she's gone from recognizing a few sight words to full on reading.    She does find great joy in reading and told me the day, " Mom, I just LOVE to read!".  Me too, sweet girl, me too!

Baby's First Real Haircut!

Poor baby Kyle seems to have very, very fluffy stick up hair.  Even better than that, he has significantly more hair down the middle of his head (a mohawk).  It is (or was) long enough that  you'd think it might lay down nicely.  Well, instead of laying down, it curled over on itself.  Pictures really don't show it accurately.

Anyway, since he's not a girl and this poofy mess was just going to keep get longer, I decided to cut it almost all off!  He really looks like a different baby.  It most definitely makes him look more Chinese.

He went from this...

 To This...

 Well, not quite!

 Still getting used to my baby with a buzz cut!

I'm hoping it will grow back in a little more even and 

maybe eventually lay down nicely?  We'll see!

He can thank his Dad for his fine 'do! 

I sure do love my sweet little guy!

Carson turns 3!

My sweet, fiesty Carson is three now! 


Carson is full of life!  He greets each day with a big smile and a lot of energy! He is very different than Erik and Lainey. They are much quieter and observant, fairly easy going.  Carson is more emotional, busy, loud. 

Carson's main emotion the first three years of his life has been happiness and joy!  Man do I hope he is able to hang on to that throughout his life.  He is just a fun little guy!  He is more anxious than Erik and Lainey.  He doesn't like things that are loud or crowded.  He is somewhat fearful of dogs, the dark, monsters, etc.  He has a very vivid imagination (hence the fears) and spends most of his days fighting off bad guys and "moogers."  (Whatever that is?!) 

Carson is a sweet big brother and a good helper.  He is usually more than happy to run and get something if I ask him to help (a diaper, wipes, his clothes). 

He is a little bit territorial of his things, more than the other two were.  He tells me, "I don't like Kyle/Erik/Lainey.  They are being mean!"  He really does like his siblings (a lot!) but he gets quite irritated if they take his stuff or bother him.  Ha! 

Carson has a great sense of humor!  He loves to make people smile.   Carson is still home full time.  I have a sitter come to the house when I work but no preschool or activities otherwise.  He is a wonderful little buddy!

Carson eats and sleeps well.  He strongly prefers meat over any other food choice.  He really dislikes bread, unless it is toasted.   He was very uninterested in potty training.  About 2 months ago, I made a deal with him that he would wear underwear when his box of diapers ran out.  He thought this was a good idea and we actually did it!  He potty trained very easily in less than a week.  Awesome!

Carson is one of the happiest people I've ever met!  I'm so glad I get to be his mom! 

Kyle - 6 Months

My baby boy is 6 months old!
It's hard to believe he's so big already but it's fun to watch him grow.

This has been a very chaotic month for our family!
Victor traveled for a few days, we went to Pennsylvania together, and then I made an emergency trip out to California.  Phew!

What's Kyle been up to??

Rolling and rolling!  He can roll to get wherever he wants to go. So cute!  He also props himself up on his arms and can rotate in a circle to get toys.  He sits well independently.  He has a hand in him mouth at all times.  If he takes his hand out of his mouth, it is often to grab onto his feet. 

He still likes to be swaddled for sleeping but he has started rolling onto his stomach while asleep.  He is really not a fan of that.  When his arms are swaddled he can't roll back, so he just hollers!  Because of that we stopped swaddling him.  He is getting up twice most nights.  The first time it is usually fairly early (10 pm) the second feeding ranges from 1 AM - 3AM.  Sometimes he sneaks in a 3rd feeding.  Overall, it's not too bad. 

Kyle is a giggly little baby.  If you say, "Boo!" or giggle at him he will laugh right back at you.

He is very observant and watches his siblings very closely.  Carson's already talking about how Kyle can't get his stuff.  Haha!

He is still exclusively nursing.   I think he nurses around 7-8 times in 24 hours. I've introduced food a few times and he's not very interested.  I'll continue to slowly introduce it. 

He has a little separation anxiety although it's very mild at this point.  He's spent a lot of time with Victor while I was in California last week (and will be again this weekend) and Kyle seems quite happy about that arrangement.  When I got home he cried when Victor left the room (while I holding him).  He had done that to Victor when I was holding him once.  Not fun!  He also let out a mild squawk when I left for work yesterday.

He has very, very fluffy stick up hair!  Took 4 kids to get one of those! (He can thank his Dad for that trait!)  He is quite fair, has dark blue/gray eyes, and red rosy cheeks (he can thank him Mom for that trait).

He seems quite determined to get places and doesn't every like to just sit still.

He's 17 pounds - 35%
(Lainey was 16 lbs, Erik 18 lbs, Carson 19 lbs)

He's a big blessing to our lives!  We are thankful for him!