Happy Birthday Christina

Good morning everyone! Ethan, Kevin, and I are up watching some Sunday morning cartoons, while we let Tina try to catch up on a little sleep that she gets deprived of on a daily basis. It's been a while since my last post so I wanted to give you all an update on what's happening in New Hampshire. It's definitely been an interesting few weeks since Tina last wrote. First off, Happy Birthday (it was yesterday) to my beautiful wife and the boys incredible mother Christina. I'm sure 27 wasn't what you were expecting, but the 3 of us love you so much and are so grateful for everything you do! My plan was to take Tina out on a date last night to this good steakhouse in Manchester. We had our night nurse Shirley lined up to do a 12 hour (6 to 6) shift, and Kristen was going to stay with Kevin while we went out. True to form for the Binaus these days, it didn't work out. Unfortunately, Shirley came down with a respiratory infection (complicated by the fact she's had lung transplant), and had to go down to her doctor in Boston. Please say a prayer for her recovery. Instead of Tina and I only at the steakhouse, we loaded up the boys, and met Kristen at Newicks Lobster House in Concord. Not quite the romantic night I was going for, but what can you do? The boys did great at the restaurant. We really are fortunate with how well they do in public. The most "exciting" event I must say was Ethan and Tina's helicopter flight down to Boston a few weeks back. Over the past several months we've had a lot of problems with Ethan's stomach (g-tube) leaking. We believe the tract got damaged back when he was at Franciscan's Rehab hospital, as they weren't very good about keeping the tube immobilized when he was younger. One Friday, a couple of weeks back, the problem got significantly worse. Of course the situation would happen on a Friday, as it's the one week day that Tina does not have any nursing support. She called me at the office several times letting me know that he was leaking more then usual and that he needed to either be laying down or constantly changed to stay dry. We contact Children's GI unit and they said if we had time to bring him down that afternoon and they'd take a look at it. I left work early and our plan was to let the boys take their naps, and we'd head down after they woke up. We put Ethan down for a nap and after a few minutes he began to alarm. Tina went upstairs to find him de-sating (his oxygen levels were too low), and his hands and feet were blue. I picked him up to try to wake him and help him recover, while Tina called the GI team again. They told her to immediately call 911 and within minutes the Pembroke policy, fire, and EMTs were all at our down step. Kevin was still sleeping so Tina road with the team in the ambulance to Concord hospital. For those of you who haven't been there, Concord has a nice hospital, but it's definitely not equipped to handle a complex child like Ethan. Our neighbor Liz came and stayed with Kevin and I drove to the hospital. When I got there, I found Tina and Ethan surrounded by at least 20 doctors, nurses, and God knows who else. Ethan's heart rate was up at 220, which is high even for him. They were attempting to place an IV line in his hand. Ethan has a reputation for being an EXTREMELY difficult stick. They eventually had to call one of their pediatric surgeons to place the IV. They made the decision to medically transfer him to Boston, and called the helicopter transfer unit up. Since Kevin was still at home, Tina flew down to Children's with Ethan and I went back to pick up Kevin. For the record, for a 16 month old, Ethan's now been on a helicopter and a private jet. Grandpa Kevin would have been jealous. They ran a litany of tests on him at Children's, but eventually attributed his episode to dehydration. He got loaded with IV fluids, and we brought him home the next day. It was definitely a scary few hours not knowing what was happening or why. Where do we go from here? The plan is currently to have Ethan go down to Children's for surgery on Dec. 21st (pray he's back home before Christmas). They are planning to remove his current g-tube and surgically create a new one. What's another scar anyway? While he's under anesthetics they are going to do another bronchoscopy, so we can develop his plan for decannulation (removal of the trach) or see if he'll need reconstructive survey of the esophagus. Our fear is that the doctors will determine he'll need reconstruction, and if that's the case we want to have a plan together so it doesn't delay him getting the trach out any longer then necessary. I'll keep you posted on what we find out. My mom and Kelsey came out for Thanksgiving, and we had a wonderful holiday with them. It's always nice having some extra help with the boys or getting things done around the house. While they were here we went to Rossview Farms and cut down our Christmas tree. Ethan had to touch EVERY tree down the line, which took some time. Kevin just wanted to walk across the snow. Kristen and her roommate came along too, so they could get a tree for their apartment in Manchester. The farm is awesome. They give you the saw and twine and you cut down the tree you want. They had a fire, hand-made wreathes, and cookies. How can you go wrong? The boys are doing great with their development. Kevin can walk at will, although he's a bit stubborn and still prefers to crawl most of the time. He talks like crazy, but isn't using regular word yet. Tina has been working with both boys on some sign language. Kevin will tell us if he's still hungry, or all done. Ethan can now stand just with holding onto your hands. This is a HUGE break for him, and has been a long time coming. He too has started signing that he wants more, typically when Baby Einsteins is over. They are both stacking blocks, Ethan will do two and Kevin can do up to four (we only have four blocks). The only downside to living in New Hampshire is that this time of year it gets dark way too early. Yesterday it was pitch black before 5pm. It's a little depressing. I cannot wait for the ski season to start again this year. I'm hoping both Tina and I will get a few more chances to go this winter. We ordered a sled for the boys. It's definitely not hard to find a good sledding hill here. We are greatly looking forward to the Christmas holiday. We will have lots of company. Tina's parents, her brothers Jon and Mark, her sister Liz, her brother Greg and his family, my mom, and Kelsey will all be in New Hampshire at some point over the holiday. We cannot wait to see everyone. Please continue to pray for Ethan's recovery. We really appreciate it. We wish you and your families a joyous holiday season! Get out and enjoy it. Much love, Ryan, Tina, Ethan, and Kevin