Battle with Right-Sided Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)


Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Daisypath - Personal pictureDaisypath Anniversary tickers

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Phoenix Children's Hospital Dog Therapy


An example of the Phoenix Children's Hospital's Dog Therapy with our daughter, Whitney Kaholumehekainani. These dogs and their owners are volunteers and we're very grateful for their service and the smiles they put on our little girl's face. The dog's name in the video is Sam, he's a Keeshond breed, and he would have just celebrated his 13th birthday on April 15th 2012 (according to his business card).


Sunday, April 15, 2012

upcoming surgery

HEY there everyone!  Just realized that I never really told you that Whitney is going to get a different kind of feeding tube on Tuesday this week.  It's called a gastrostomy-jejunostomy tube (GJ tube).  It will be in the same spot as the G tube and look similar but it has and extra port on it that has a longer tube attached on the inside and that will be in her intestines.  To help Whitney not throw up formula (she may still throw up but it would be bile) and gain weight, this is the best option for her.  It means that she will be on a "continuous drip" which means her intestines will be slowly fed formula all day and night for who knows how many months!  Long enough to get her up to a healthy weight.  She will have to wear a cute little backpack all day long depending on her feeding schedule. 

Here is a picture of a sweet baby with the GJ tube.  This is what Whitney's stomach will probably look like.  And the next two pictures are what the tube looks like. 



 









ALSO,  the surgeon is going to perform "exploratory surgery."  Which means she is going to try to see if Whitney's anatomy is what's causing her to vomit so much.  So will hopefully fix the shape or layout of Whitney's stomach or intestines.  They are thinking that that is what's causing her to not digest her food.  She is still lactose intolerant but even with special formula she vomits everyday. 

I'm really just hopeing that this new tube and the surgery help Whitney.  I've been "looking forward" to this for 3 or 4 weeks now so I'm not super scared.  It is though, always scary sending your child back for surgery, screaming.  I have great friends who have offered to help and I'm so grateful.  Please say a prayer for Whitney.  Thank you. 



Pretty Hair





Vomit Hair




Clean Hair

Monday, April 9, 2012

Happy Easter 2012

(There are a lot of pics from today but that's because we just got a new/used camera and so we haven't been able to take many pics in the past couple weeks hence the lack of blog posts!)



Whitney got some fun stuff for Easter!  From Gramma P.: a new dress (Aunt Rachel got the headband/bow!),  barking dog, sing-a-ma-gig, whistle, Noah & the Ark book/magnets, and a My LDS Quiet Book! (perfect for church).  From Grandma H.: a Kitty Cat toy that moves around and sings!  From Mama:  Magnetic Alphebet, side walk chalk, dry erase crayons, and dresses.  Thomas and I got lots of candy from our parents!








To start our day off. We tube feed Whitney only 3 oz and she threw up. Then Thomas and I got all ready for church and I even took a shower! The plan was to feed Whit again, bathe her, then get her ready for her first day back to church. The actual was we feed her, she threw up again, then she fell asleep on the table. 






So I stayed home with her.  When she woke up from her nap around 1:30 pm I gave her a bath.  Everyone got home from church and traditionally took some pictures.  I got to dress Whitney up!  but only for pictures.  So she was all cute and fancy for like 20mins.  Afterwards we feed her again.   



Montgomery Family 2012
Montgomery Family 2011




















Rhett & Brianna (cool camera color accent)





Mom and Dad




So we only got a few "good" family pictures but it's more fun to post the funny pictures!  






















Whitney coloring/dying easter eggs!!

She had fun... at first!  But when she noticed her hands were stained she got upset!




























Rhett & Brianna coloring Easter eggs



Clayton and Colton dying Easter eggs





Second bath

She loves pouring the water over the edge! 






Whitney threw up a third time today and fell asleep on the table again around 6:00 pm, right when we were going to go to Thomas's parents house.  Thomas was asleep on the couch.  They got up around 7 so we still went over there for a couple hours.  Where Whitney, sneakily, got a THIRD bath in Grandma H.'s sink.  Yeah, this girl is obsessed with water!  




Whitney did at least have a good night.  We tube feed her all night and she got 300mls/ 10oz of formula to make up for what was lost during the day.  Whitney is growing up so quickly and beautifully!  We love her very much!