Gavin Christopher Owens » April 2007 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Sun, Apr 29, 2007 7:49 PM
Thanks to everyone who either were apart of or supported Gavin's Team for the March of Dimes. We had a great day to walk. Our team raised $2,500! That was way more than the goal we set of only $500.! It was so nice to see the huge outpouring of love and support people have shown our family this past year. Adam and I saw this day not only as a day to support a great cause in finding ways to prevent premature birth but also was a day to celebrate Gavin's life and the odds he has overcome so far in his short life.

Gavin will be going to down to duPont on Tuesday for his new GJ Tube. Once again we hope that this will be the answer to getting him to thrive and grow, but Adam and I are just taking one day at a time because we have been down this road many times before. I will be sure to update later in the week on how things are going with the new feeds.

Be sure to check out the photos from the walk!

Comments:
Evy: The pictures are great. It was fun to see Madi with the puppy. I am praying for all of you as you travel to DuPont tomorrow. I hope you do not need to have a lengthy stay, but enough to make sure all is well.

Mary Alice Carpenter: What strength you all show. Madison is such a living doll and Gavin's smile melts me when I see his pictures. I missed the March of Dimes walk section but be assured I will donate and hope they assist you in some small way with Gavin. Our prayers from my entire family continue for all of you. Thanks for the update and good luck tomorrow at Dupont.

Jimmy DeWan: I will pray for Gavin and the family tomorrow. I pray that everything goes wonderful. That he comes out feeling good again. I will pray over the doctors that everything will go good as they work on Gavin tomorrow. I pray for a speedy recovery and that he does not have to stay down there too long.

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Sat, Apr 21, 2007 6:21 PM
Sorry for the delay in the update. We have had a VERY busy week. We have been down at duPont almost everyday since we were discharged last week. Mostly it was for his NJ replacement but also his central line clotted off this week and they had to open it up. Gavin is having a really rough time this past week. He is again at an all time low in weight and is looking very emaciated. After leaving DuPont on Friday after having his NJ placed in again, I drove all the way home only to find it out again when I opened his door.(Sound familiar? This happen once before.) After I called the hospital to let them know Gavin's team of doctors decided that we were not going to have it replaced and he will just be on TPN for the next 2 weeks until his stoma is healed enough to have the GJ placed in. This is a very scary thing for us as TPN is hard on his liver not to mention Gavin was losing on both the TPN and enteral feeds. He has been acting kinda off this week and Adam and I both fear that an admission to duPont is in his near future.

On a positive note we started with night shift nursing care for Gavin and I love it! I haven't felt this refreshed in awhile and am so grateful to all the nurses who have come out to help us!

Please remember that no news really is a good thing. Adam and I will be sure to update with anything new going on. For now lets just pray little Gavi can stay strong until we can start feeding him again!

Comments:
Kelly & Brian Kohr: We are praying for little Gavin and your whole family! My faith is strong that he will come through this and one day there will be nothing left but stories to tell. God Bless you and keep your spirits high.
Love Kelly

Joe: Lord, please hold your hand over Gavin, and make him well. Allow us to bring your name up high by allowing Gavin a full recovery. We don't understand why things are this way, perhaps we need to learn something from this, lord if you please find it in your heart to heal gavin all will know that it was your hand that made it possible. All will know you are the true God. I ask this in Jesus name.

pop-pop: we are so blessed to have you and your family a part of our lives. you bring us joy and strength as you ,adam.maddy and gavin show all of us your stregth. keep holding on to the good and gracious Lord.he is our strength.your family is never out of our prayers

Bill & Ruby Wilson: JESUS KEEP GAVIN STRONG UNTIL HE CAN START THE FEEDING AGAIN, THANK YOU JESUS!

Aunt Pat: Karen, I'm so glad you are getting some rest. I am so amazed at your and Adam's strength. I know the multitude of prayers going up for you and Adam and Madi and Gavin are sustaining you and giving you some strength. We continue to pray and think of you constantly. We love you all so much. Love, Aunt Pat, Uncle Don, Amanda, and Melissa

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Fri, Apr 13, 2007 9:06 PM
Gavin was discharged from duPont yesterday. We left without a fever, which admitted us, but came home with a few new issues. His heart rate is still quite low. Becasue his EKG looked good and his blood pressure is stable there is nothing really to treat. The only concerned is that it reconfirms the fact that his body is just slowing down. Another issue is that Gavin's tryglicerides in his blood were very high in the 2000's, normal being around 200. Because of this we had to hold his TPN last night and now is current TPN does not have any lipids in it, which he really needs. Hopefull his numbers will come down, which they have already begun to do, and we can add his lipids back in.

On a frusterating yet kinda humrous note...after a long night of alarms and me sleepig on Gavin's floor next to his crib I woke up to find gavin in his arm restraints holding his NJ in his hand, as he had pulled it all the way out. Adam took the day off and we went back to duPont less than 24 hours since we left and had it placed back in. Madison had a tough time, being at the hospital all day, so we thought we would give her a treat and stop to rent a movie on the way home. We pulled into the video store, less than a few miles from our home, I went to get Gavin out of the car and found him once again holding his NJ in his hand. While holding back my tears of frusteration I just had to let out a small chuckle! Oh Gavin....that's all I can say! The ER was not able to place it in tonight so we will be once again making the trip down to Delaware first thing in the morning.

Admidst all the chaos with all his tubes, wires, pumps, monitors, alarms and hospitlaizations leave it up to Gavin to force Adam and I to take a step back and remember why we are fighting so hard for him. We take one look at Gavin with his big eyes stareing at us with excitiment, as he knows he just did a "bad thing" by pulling his tube, and our hearts fill with joy knowing that this broken little body is home to such a perfect spirit full of joy and love!

Thanks for all your encouraging words! They mean so much.

Comments:
Mary Alice Carpenter: Just wanted to let you know my nephew that is 13 has downs and leukemia is praying for Gavin. When he prays his prayers are so sincere so I truly believe Gavin will improve.

Matt and becky: You guys are such a huge inspiration and we are just blown away by your tremendous family and all the craziness you've had to endure! We pray for you all so much-- especially little Gavin! He's so adorable and obviously a little magician!

Fava Family: Still praying that the Lord will heal your little man from the inside out.

Randy and Marilyn: Gavin was so cute in church while we were praying for him. At one point it looked like he was raising his hands to the Lord as we prayed. Adam and Karen, we are continually praying for a miracle for your little guy. Praying for strength for you as you care for him each day and trusting with you for that healing touch.

Joe Fava: It's good to hear that he is making you a little crazy with the NJ tube.

Grammy and Pappy: O.K. Gavin, enough with the Houdini act!!! You need to let that tube alone. I know it's probably not very comfortable, but please let it in!! Play with your toes. You have ten of them! I'm sending you a big hug from Pappy and me. And a whole truckload of kisses,too. We love you sweet Gavin. Stay strong. Love, Grammy

jennifer: Wow!!! I have to laugh a little at this...I can't believe he was able to pull that tube with those restraints on!!! He is a tricky little guy! Love ya..thanks for the update..give Gavi and Madi a big kiss from their Aunt Jenny..

Lisa Hathaway: Hey Owens' I continue to marvel at your great attitudes, strength and your son's spirit! Bless you all as you once again make your way to Dupont on this beautiful, crisp day!

Carrie-Anne: the rest....in his way humorous-Madi does to I'm sure. You are never far from thought or prayer.

Carrie-Anne: Karen & Adam...you're incredible parents. That's easy to see. Humor is a good thing, glad Gavin is keeping things

Gram: Hi Gavin and Troopers, So glad to hear about Gavin's fighting spirit. Can't imagine what a hassle this is being for you two. We continue to pray for a miracle.And you are all in our prayers.Love you all and keep up the fighting spirit Gavin.

Lisa and Michael: Gavin does have a good sense of humor... he's keeping life interesting for you! :) You will all be in our prayers. Madi is doing great! She's a great big sister and you are wonderful parents. God bless!

Amy & Matthew: Wow guys, we feel so much for you... we're really sorry to hear about the NJ issues, though it's good to see that Gavin still has his own brand of humor going on. We'll be praying for good traffic for you on your way down and up from A.I. Let us know if we can help in any way.

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Wed, Apr 11, 2007 6:40 PM
One thing that we have learned from our time with Gavin is that he is one mysterious man. Just when things seem to get settled somthing else arises. With that said... Gavin is having a hard time with the transfusion that he received last night. This moring I was awakened by his alarms going off for his heart rate holding in the 50's. Even after we got him a bit more responsive and he was crying and kicking his legs he still was only peaking in the 90's. He has been a bit better as the day went on and is now resting in the 70's, and although still low is in a safe range. An EKG was done and his heart looks good so we are just kinda waiting to see what his body is doing. The doctor is thinking that by the time he actually recevied his blood his hemoglobin may have dropped below 6 and it was very ####### his body to cope with the increased blood volume he received.

Also, this morning his blood was still milky even after not being on his TPN last night. This is concering and we need to make sure that his liver is metabolizing the TPN as well as some other stuff which is way above my head!

Gavin is doing amazing with his feeds! The NJ seems to have solved alot of the tolerance issues for now. He is up to 15cc's at 1/2 strength formula and although he is reching a bit he's doing great. As of right now the only thing keeping us here is the blood issues, but hopfully if Gavin can keep his numbers up we will be able to go home soon, which is the best place to heal!

I am very tired and need a bit of strength to get through the next few days so that I can be ready to be a mommy again when we get home. Please pray that I can find the strength to allow myself to take a break! All you mothers know how hard that is. Thankfully I have an amazing husband and family that are doing an amazing job and keeping things together and balanced!

Comments:
Fava Family: We will not give up praying for Gavin and your family. Karen, I also pray that God renews your strength.

Debbie: Karen, We have been praying for all of you, but especially this week you have been on my heart. Blessing you and backing you up! Grace, peace, rest, strenghth, and all you need!

Lisa and Michael: Adam and Karen-- my friend Tina, who has been praying for Gavin, has asked me to tell you that she has an O-Negative blood type, so she is a universal donor and she'd be more than happy to donate blood for Gavin if he needs it. Feel free to call us if you need it okay? 410-549-0779. We love you all! God bless!

jennifer: HAng in there...everything is going to get better...Love you!!

Lisa and Michael: Karen you are an amazing mother and your whole family is amazing- you are an inspiration to us all. We will be keeping all of you and especially sweet Gavin in our prayers. Thank you for all the updates. He is on our hearts and minds!!! God bless you all!

Matthew and Amy: Wow. It sounds like you've had quite a week at the hospital. You and Adam are seriously heroes. We'll keep praying for you both and for the little people in your lives.

Amanda: Im so glad to hear that gavin is doing well with his feeds!! I am amazed by the strength you have shown throughout all this and I will pray for you to have continued strength. You guys are constantly in my thoughts and prayers as well as the prayers of my OT classmates. I can't wait to see you guys again. I love you all very much.

gram and poppop: you are the amazing one!!! we are blessed tp have a grand daughter like you. you and
Adam are our great joys we will be praying that the Lord refreshes you and you will have all the strength you need to continue in these difficult times. we love you !!!

Carrie-Anne: Gavin is a strong boy. He is in a very strong family. We continue to pray for Gavin, Madi & their parents. We will pray for strength for all. Love & Blessings

Pastor and Liz: Karen and Adam, you both are incredible! We read this every day to see what's going on and we continue to hold all of you up in prayer. Gavin is a fighter and we stand with you in faith believing God is able to do more that we can even imagine. See you soon.

Fava Family: Jacob's prayer for Gavin:
Dear Jesus. Gavin is so cute. Jesus please take care of him very much. Jesus please make him better. Jesus you can see baby Gavin all the time. Please take care of him while he is sick.
Love,
Jacob

Evy: I pray that this will be last of Gavin's setbacks. I know how hard it is to take a break when our children need us. I pray that you will be able to find some time to rest and recharge your body & spirit. I know about medical puzzles
and they can be frustrating. I also know that with God, we can do all things. My other thing is
that God doesn't give us more than we can handle.
I pray that your family will be together at home soon. It is truly the best place to heal, rest and recover. Love, Evy

Mary Alice Carpenter: Karen you are an amazing woman let alone mother to your children. I know you are reaching deep to pull out the strength to withstand all the news you have received. My prayers continue for Gavin, but know that I will pray extra hard that you have the strength you need and a little extra to show the rest of your family the love they are giving you.

Lisa Hathaway: I'm so sorry to hear about Gavin's set backs...praying for an increase in his hemoglobin...I will pray for your strength to be renewed Karen...I'm amazed at how you are dealing with all of this!

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Tue, Apr 10, 2007 5:33 PM
Gavin had a busy day today! The doctors decided that it was too soon to convert his G-tube into a GJ-Tube due to the stoma not being completly healed and so an NJ was placed in. So far he is doing well with his feed of pedialyte at 5cc's/hr. This is great news! Hopefullly we will start to be able to increase this rate and get back up to 20cc/hr.

On the not so positive side.... Gavin's hemoglobin is down to a 6.1, which is very low. He is in need of a transfusion however, so far we have not been able to type his blood to find a match becasue his blood is filled with his TPN. Gavin's hemocrite was so low (18) the lipids in the TPN kinda act as a filler in place of the red blood cells. From the tests that were run it looks like Gavin is breaking down his own red blood cells. Why? They have no clue. At the moment Gavin's blood is a nice shade of pink...great color for a sweater not so great for blood. We are hopeing that He will eventally be able to clear out the TPN from his blood and we will be able to type him.

Another note, poor little Gavin is in restraints! AS you may remember we had the G-tube placed due to him pulling out the NG well the NJ is much more difficult to place back in and has to be done under floroscopy. Pray that GAvin finds peace and he can just rest and not be to bothered by his lack of mobility!

Thanks to everyone, especially my sister who spent the day with me today!

Comments:
Joan & Jim Fahs: You're a beautiful family. We're praying for Gavin & your entire family.
Love,
Joan & Jim

grammy: Just got back from the shore. Be sure to let Gavin Know its all nice and clean for him to travel there. Sounds like things have gotten more conplicated. Sorry to hear about the restraints.We love you all and admire you all for your strength and stamina. love always Gram & Pop

Jennifer: What an amazing day I had with you both. I am so amazed at you strength through out all of this. Gavin you are going to make it through this and you Aunt Jenny was tickled pink to spend an entire day just looking down into your beautiful blue eyes. I am so proud of both of you..and my heart is filled to the brim today. Thank you for hanging out with me..and Karen, words cannot express my love for you at this time. All of you remain in my prayers...love you.

John Spencer: Gavin,

I am praying for you. I am also praying for your parent's ('cause i know they need support too).

God has been taking care of you and will continue to do so.

John and Theresa: We are praying with you for a miracle and that God would surround you with His peace. I can't even begin to imagine how hard this has been for you guys. So many people are praying for you. Our love and thoughts are going your way.

Fava Family: We continue to pray for Gavin's health to improve. Last night our youngest son Jacob prayed for Gavin. We always tell him that God especially listens to the prayers of children! We will continue to pray for Gavin and your entire family. Keep the faith!!

Jimmy: I will be praying for a miracle to happen. I know that there will be a miracle coming. Don't know when but there is going to be one. We are praying big time for Gavin. We want to see him feeling wonderful. We want to see him happy. We want to see God do wonderful miracles in him. Keep me posted on how he is doing. I will be saying tons and tons and tons and tons of prayers for him and the whole entire family. Get Well soon Gavin

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Sun, Apr 8, 2007 4:44 AM
Happy Easter! Gavin had another rough day yesterday as he is not tolerating the enteral feeds at 5cc/hr. He was very uncomfortable and his residuals were a bit to high. The "residual" is what is left over in his stomach after a feed or in Gavin's case during his feed. It is checked by simply pulling out his gastric contents via his g-tube. After having his feed off for one hour he still had a residual of over 7cc's. This is significant considering he is only getting 5cc's/hr. Once again the desicison was made to shut him off and give his belly a break for the rest of the night.

So how in the world are we going to feed this little man? This seems to be the question of the day. I think that the next step is going to be trying a NJ tube. This is very similar to his NG tube that we just got rid of except that the tube will be placed further down into his bowl, bypassing the stomach. If we find this to be sucessful they will most likely place something more long term in, similar to his g-tube.

Madi had a very busy day yesterday! (Well I think Adam may have been more busy chasing her around.) We gave her her very own "g-tube" and she enjoyed putting on gloves and calling herself Doctor. We all had a few exams and she found us all in good health! My parents are spending Easter with us down here and are bringing an egg hunt to Gavin's hospital room.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday! It's a great day for us to remember the power God has. If he was able raise Jesus from the dead he is more than able to give Gavin the strength he needs and his team the wisdom they need!

Thanks as always!

Comments:
Don andJudy Moyer: What a blessing you all are....we continue to hold all of you up to God. Gavin is so fortunate to have so many loving people surrounding him, may God continue to shower His love upon you.

The Gardners: We're praying for you all-- especially little Gavin! Hang in there and know we're thinking of you guys!

The Gardners: We're praying for you all-- especially little Gavin! Hang in there and know we're thinking of you guys!

Fava Family: We will continue to pray for Gavin's health to improve and for him to become stronger every day.

Ava: I love you Gavi!

Aunt Nancy & Uncle Al: Dear Karen, Sorry we couldn't see you and Gavin at Easter. Maddie was sooo cute! You and Adam are just amazing and your strength is a gift from
God. We're praying and constantly thinking of you and Baby Gavin. Love, Aunt Nancy & Uncle Al

Bill & Ruby Wilson: DEAR JESUS, PLEASE TOUCH LITTLE GAVIN. THANK YOU.

Evy: I was glad to hear you already have a

Evy: Happy Easter! I hope through everything you were able to take some time and joy the day. I am sure Madi had fun humting eggs and keeping everyone healthy. I pray that Gavin had found some comfort today. I was glad to hear you already have a

Grammy and Pappy: Dear Madi, Happy Easter, sweetheart!!! Did you find all your eggs? We hope you had a wonderful day. You are such a good girl. It was so good to be with you last Saturday. We love you and Gavin so much,and pray for you both everyday. Love to Mommy and Daddy, too. Take care my darling. XXXOOO

Aunt Pat Uncle Don Amanda Meli: Happy Easter Karen, Adam, Madi, and Gavi! Karen, your strength amazes me! I am sorry to hear about Gavin. We will coninue to pray for him. I hope your Easter is fun with Madi and the Easter Bunny and egg hunt. Our love to you all.

Renata: Happy Easter!!!
I wish your heart will be peaceful and hopeful today!Hope you continue to trust in God's promises for your lives!May God bless and heal Baby Gavin!

Lisa and Michael: Happy Easter! We have you in our prayers... you are an inspiration. God bless you! Sweet Gavin, God is with you! - The Walk family

Heather & Jeff: Happy Easter everyone! Even though it breaks my heart to hear that Gavin isnt doing well...I'm so happy to hear that you are positve & always looking to God for strength. You set such a great example to everyone. We should all try to complain less & praise God more. Thank you for the update. Have a great Easter, hope Madi finds all kinds of goodies during her Easter egg hunt! Love ya, Heather & Jeff

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Sat, Apr 7, 2007 7:30 AM
What a crazy, long, frusterating, exausting past 24 hours it has been! Over the past 6 months or so Gavin's digestive system has been slowing down and he has been tolerating less and less of his tube feedings. When he was very small his enteral feed was able to run at 55 cc/hr. Over time he went down to 45, to 30, to 25, to 20 and then down to 18cc/hr. Yesterday Gavin was just screeaming all day as long as his feeds were on. Becasue of his metabolic issues and his supernormal caloric consumption we can't have him srying becasue he expends way to much energy.

Late yesterday afternoon we made the desicion that we would stop him enteral feeds and jsut give him Iv fluids to keep his hydration and then transfer him to his TPN via his CVL in the evening. Gavin slept so well last night. His heart rate was nice and low and he just seemed pretty comfortable! SO today we will start trying to fugure out how we are going to feed him. Being 100% TPN dependent is not a road that we want to travel. The TPN will eventually kill his liver and force us to go into territory that I don't even want to think about now. This morning our doctor felt it is best to force somthing into his digestive system becasue the lining of the bowels can only receive nurtrition from the inside and will not respond to the TPN. Becasue the actual physical anatomy of the bowel looks good, as his problem is on he cellular level, we need to keep it looking good. For this reason we started running his feed at 5cc/hr with 50/50 H2O and formula.

On a positive note, Gavin seems to be responding well to the antibiotics. He had some fever last night but his last temp was good. This morning he was very happy and being his usual funny self.

Adam and Madi are coming down today and will spent tonight with me at the RM House. We were told that the Easter Bunny is sure to make a stop at duPont so we are excited to see what fun lies ahead for tomorrow!

Be sure to sign up for the March of Dimes! We would love to have big team to help us celabrate Gavin's life and also support such a great cause! There is a link on our home page and you can also talk to Adam or Myself with questions.

Thanks for your love and support!

Comments:
Jimmy: I will continue to pray for Gavin. You guys try to have an awesome Easter tomorrow. My prayers are with the 4 of you. Happy Easter.

grammy: Hi Guys, Karen you continue to amaze us with your knowledge about Gavin's health. You are doing a supernatural job!! We love you and continue to lift up the four of you. love Gram and Pop

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Thu, Apr 5, 2007 4:35 PM
We just wanted to let everyone know that Gavin was admitted to duPont this morning with a fever. We are waiting to find out the results of the blood culture, which can take up to 48hours to grow. Most likely this is his line and hopefully we can treat through the infection with antibiotics. He is still pretty uncomfortable as his temp is still hanging out at 103. His hemoglogin has dropped again and he is also low on platlets. We are going to try to hold off on the transfusion as long as possible and let his body try to make the new cells.

Gavin has reached a very low weight, 4.9kg and we are going to play around with his feeds to see if we can get him going again. He is now almost 100% TPN dependent and this is not the direction we need to go in. He needs to put on some weight or soon his body will begin to feel the effects of the starvation.

Please pray for the docter's and the other members of Gavin's team to find the most effective plan of action. Hopefully this infection can be easily treated and it will not cause his body to become too weak so he is able to maintain his weight while fighting the infection.

The people here are amazing and be sure to know that he is in good hands! Thanks for all your help and support. If you are taking care of Madi be sure to give her a big hug and kiss from Mommy, Daddy and Gavi!

Comments:
Marilyn & Randy: Know we're thinking of you and praying for total and complete healing for Gavin. Love you guys!

Evy: I pray that is only a speed bump in Gavin's road to healing and health. I can only imagine how difficult this is for all of you. I will continue to pray for all involved in Gavin's care and his healing. Love, Evy

Bill & Ruby Wilson: WHAT A BATTLE!!WE ARE HOLDING YOUR HANDS UP IN PRAYER!

Mary Alice Carpenter: God Bless you all. It just seems like this little guy can't get a break. I hope the infection is found and cured quickly. Maybe you need to fill his tube with a milk shake! It is imperative that you keep faith in the doctors and we will continue to pray for all of you. Happy Easter

jess: We are praying for you guys and are confident in a complete recovery. God bless

Jimmy DeWan: I will keep praying for Gavin. I know he will get better quick with all the prayers that are going around for him. He is such a cute little person. Get well Soon Gavin

Ava: Dear Gavi,
Don't you worry...so many people are praying for you...God is on your side. I am praying that the same Holy Spirit power that raised Jesus from the dead...will raise you out of this sickness and give you strength to get home soon. I love you buddy.
ava engleman

Carrie-Anne: Bummer...we continue to pray and hope that Gavin feels better fast and comes home. God has his hands on him. Hugs to all.

Matt and Amy: Back again! That stinks, but worth it if the doctors can help Gavin feel better. I wish we could visit you at Dupont, but we'll be away for the holiday weekend. Please keep us posted. We're praying.

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