October 20, 2007

The day of Jack's funeral was rainy and cold. We were all sad and the heavens knew it. The next several days were beautiful, filled with blue skies and sunshine. Jack was welcomed home by so many people that it seemed like he wanted to introduce everybody. Jack's best friend Luke passed away the day of his funeral and within one month 3 more of his buddies left their families as well. We joke that as soon as we get there he's going to be grounded for taking his friends with him. It has been a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful network of friends who are experiencing similar challenges. We are filled with gratitude for each one of you who has followed us down this slippery road. However, there are always treasures awaiting the traveler that become priceless experiences and memories that are held forever. The beginning of roads such as these are often marked with "dead end;" however, upon returning the signs suddenly read "scenic overlook 2 mi. opposite direction." We often find ourselves somewhere along that path, reliving the moments that have shaped the last few months of our lives. Peace is in our hearts knowing the plan of our Heavenly Father is real. We are grateful for all of our friends and family who have been so kind and supportive. This experience has brought all of us closer together and deepened our commitment to the principles of the gospel. Thank you for all you have done, you were there when we needed you the most.

October 18th

It is difficult to describe our emotions over the past few days. Jack accomplished all that he was sent here to do and returned home. We are heartbroken but have peace and understanding at this time. As the week progressed Jack helped us realize that his mission was complete here on the earth. After doing all that we could physically do, Heavenly Father found a place for him. We are so grateful for all who have been so involved in his life and would like to welcome you to a service held in his honor on Saturday October 20, 2007 at the Wells Ward. (1990 South 500 East Salt Lake City) A viewing will be held at 9:30 a.m. prior to the 11:00 a.m. service.

Baby Jack returned to his Heavenly Father on October 17, 2007 after enduring complications from heart surgery. Although he was only here for a short time, he accomplished all that was required of him. Jack’s little life brought countless people to their knees and has invited change into all of our hearts. The network of family and friends that have surrounded Jack has been a constant amidst the unknown. His parents would like to express their heartfelt appreciation to the many hands that cared for him in the Pediatric ICU at Primary Children’s Hospital. The depth of their touch has left an imprint on our hearts forever. Jack is survived by his parents, Darren and Sarah Nelson. A funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday October 20, 2007 at the Wells Ward located on 1990 S. 500 E. in Salt Lake City. A viewing will be held an hour and a half prior to the services. We can’t wait to see you again Jackie B!

October 14th

The weekend has treated us rather nicely. Jack has had a really good day. Now we know that Jack really loves the nitric oxide so they decided to leave him on it for a little while longer. It may have been just too much for him yesterday. Jack has had 37 IV's, 4 PICC lines, and a few central lines. In doing all of this the nurses have to be really careful which medicines they give simultaneously through the same lines. Because Jack is so small the lines they put into him are equally as small and if not carefully monitored they can become occluded. Recently one of Jack's PICC lines was not working for this reason and it became unusable. Luckily today they were able to fix the line and now it's working. These are obviously little things, but they make life for Jack and his nurses a lot easier. It is amazing to see how skilled the nurse is who places these lines. We are always so thankful for his work.
Jack has done a great job today. Doctor Hawkins stopped by and took him off one of the diuretics that works on his kidneys but adversely effects his blood pressure. It has proved to be a good move as his blood pressure has increased significantly. Thanks to the blood pressure he is peeing better than he ever has. Between 9 and 10 tonight he hit a record high of 19 cc's. We're prepping him for the redneck games. We hope that the trend continues and we have similar things to say tomorrow night.

October 13th

During the last few days Jack got a new chest tube, a new arterial line, and had some of his medications changed. His head and belly are measuring a centimeter less than they did on Wednesday so we are encouraged by that. Everyone in the PICU had a hard night. Over the last few weeks we have become friends with a Mexican family whose little boy is next door. Last night they had to send him home to heaven. It was nice to be able to talk with them and be strengthened by their faith in the plan of our Heavenly Father. We pray for them.
Jack's kidney function continues to slowly improve and they are weaning him off the nitric oxide. We will see if the pulmonary hypertension is better. Jack weighs 9 lbs 6 oz, without all of the fluid he would weigh about 6 lbs 8 oz. You can imagine what your child may look like if he or she had almost 3 lbs of water weight. Hence the lack of pictures on our blog. GO UTES!

October 11th

Jack went on a little field trip today to the cath lab. He spent about three hours downstairs while he was being checked out. Yesterday, an echo of his heart showed some pulmonary stenosis. This basically means that his pulmonary artery had narrowed for reasons that are not entirely clear. They were thinking that this could be part of the reason he continues to retain fluid. After inserting dye into his heart his function looked good and they determined that it wasn't really an issue. It was good for them to be able to look at things a little closer now that he is stable enough to withstand it. We are glad that things looked good during the cath procedure, however, it would be nice to understand a little more clearly why his body is behaving this way. Jack will be able to progress as long as his output can be 150 cc's or so more than what goes into him. So far tonight he is about half way there so we are encouraged. This is largely dependent upon his ability to avoid receiving fluids in order to improve his blood pressure. All things considered today has been a good day. He has done a good job peeing and endured his tour of the hospital without much distress. He is a brave little soldier who is doing his very best.

October 10th

Although Jack continues to pee, the swelling is sticking around. He is working really hard to get better and we love him more each day. He has had to withstand incessant suctioning of his little nose all day and has been such a champ. We can't imagine how uncomfortable he must feel sometimes. It is incredible that he is usually able to calm himself down when he gets angry and most of the time do it without the help of medication. The nurses are so good to him even though certain activities like this make him really upset. Jack continues to receive among other medicines, two different diuretics and hydrocortisone to help his kidneys. The numbers that are used to measure kidney function usually lag behind the changes that occur, however the numbers have started to head in the right direction after his struggles the last couple of weeks for which we are relieved. Hopefully he is busy storing his energy for what lays ahead of him. We are so thankful to all of you for the prayers being offered on our behalf.

October 8th

Here's a look at what all of you have been praying for. Beautiful isn't it. That's what we think. We are getting real good at telling how much is in the tube before it actually gets measured. I'm going to say that's about 6 cc's. Not bad for 20 minutes. The two little boxes on the floor are the chest tube drains. Jack has had a good day. He is resting well and wakes up enough to move around a little and mobilize some of the fluid. In the other picture I was just making sure he would be able to hold his own churro when his mom takes him to the state fair. Thanks for all the posts. You don't want to know how many times we check each day to read your comments.