Tag: mandystory

Does Kurt Warner really know my daughter?

Hi Guys,

Kurt Warner holding Mandy
Kurt Warner holding Mandy

It has been a busy time for us. As I mentioned in my last post, Teresa and I have been staying at the hospital for almost a month now, learning all of the aspects of Mandy’s care. Its been an incredible time, getting to know her all over again and finally being a family. Let me recap some of the things that have happened.

We have Mandy on the passing air valve up to about 30 minutes at a time. I cant tell ‘you how cool it was to hear her making noise for the first time. Actually I can. I created a video, keep an eye out for the link. I cannot wait to hear her babble and cry.

Next Mandy is continuing to get more and more active. Ive seen her lie on her tummy and hold up her head and look around. She’s doing that very consistently now. And yesterday She propelled herself from one side of the crib to the other in one push with her legs. It will not be long now! Once she gets started, there will be no stopping her.

Also Mandy has some pretty famous friends. There are a group of ladies from the Arizona Cardinals that come in to volunteer, including Alice Wizenhunt, the coaches wife, and Brenda Warner, Kurt Warner’s wife and they all adore Mandy. But last Friday, we got the ultimate surprise. Kurt Warner himself showed up in our hospital room! He even held Mandy for a bit. Teresa and I were just astounded to meet him, especially after he gave all the Glory to God after the NFC Championship. It was a treat that I will long remember.

Back to the training…

Teresa and I have finished all of the training. Now it’s down to one final test. We have to do total care for her for 24 hours. That is set for tomorrow morning. Please pray that God will give us what we need to get through. Ill try to post tomorrow and let you know how things went. Shortly after that Mandy will go home. All of the pieces are in place now.

Mandy is going home and we cant wait!

Love in Christ

Michael Blaes

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A Sincere Thank You and an Update

mandy0325.jpgHi Guys,

 I just wanted to express my heart-felt thanks for the donations that came through. We were able to raise enough to cover the next two payments.

 It was just the timing that threw the budget out of sync. We had some unexpected expenses that came at the wrong time.

 Again Thank You

 Back to Mandy……

We started training on Wednesday, and so far everything is going well. The facility that she is in is awesome, and the staff are incredibly patient and hospitable. I practiced suctioning some more, and began to learn how to setup and change her feeds. Friday I am supposed to learn now to change out trach.

According to Mandy’s doctor, she will be at the hospital for about a month. They have to wean her off of one of the medications before they can release her to our care. And of course we have to know how to take care of her.

 Mandy is not a fussy baby  at all. She cries when she needs something, diaper changed, trach suctioned, etc. But once the need is filled she settles down right away. She has a very soft cry that you really have to learn to listen for. In fact it is uusally the monitors that let us know something is wrong.

 One of the funny but annoying things is she is starting to wiggle more, moving her arms and legs. But everytime she moves too much it sets off the monitors. The technology is just not geared for children. 

To be honest, its refreshing, seeing her move around, and not have to be sedated all the time. At one point she was on 3 different pain medications all at the same time. So she was always groggy and not very responsive. Now Im starting to see her personality emerge, and it is really cool.

Thanks for all the prayers,

Love in Christ
Michael and Teresa Blaes

But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Matt 19:14 (NLT)

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