Tyson Hugh Hooper

Tyson Hugh Hooper
Our son, Tyson Hugh Hooper, was born with coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic arch, and a transitional avsd. His first open heart surgery reconstructed his aorta and was on day 9 of life. His second open heart repair was not anticipated to be needed until two or three years of age. Ty had other plans. We spent the vast majority of his first 3 months of life at Vanderbilt as he went into heart failure and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. As a result, the medical team concluded that he needed the repair much sooner than usually recommended, and at just shy of 3 months old Ty underwent his second life saving open heart surgery. God has already worked so many miracles in Ty's life and the life of our family and we know he is using our story. Because of this, we are grateful for Ty's special heart and feel beyond blessed that God chose us to travel this road. We ask for prayers as Ty continues to heal. We are praying for a full recovery and life without restrictions for Ty. We are praying for God to use our family and Ty for His glory.

Thank you to each and every person who supports us through prayer, giving, or just by loving on our family! We are humbled and blessed by all of the ways the Lord is providing for us and know that he is using Ty and his story to do great things!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Post Surgery - active and happy!

Ava Grace seems to grow by the second.  I know any parent can relate to that feeling.  It seems as if I blink I miss something!  In fact, I did.  I missed her first "official" crawl and her first "official" sitting up on her own.  Those events were witnessed by Daddy and Lily.  I was just a room away for a few moments when it happened.  It is amazing. 

Living with a tiny little person is like a great mystery.  We often wonder aloud about her future.  Will she be outgoing?  A leader?  Will she be soft-spoken like her sister or loud and rowdy like her cousin Kensley?  Will she be into sports or music?  And closer to the now, we wonder when will she walk, what will be her next word, what's the next mile stone in the path of her little life that she seems to be sprinting through?  One of the big things we have wondered about is if she'll be a climber or not - hoping not.  Kensley, my niece, is a big time climber... out of her crib, up and down the high chair, up to the top of the table.  Every time I hear the story of her latest climbing adventure I think, "Oh, Ava Grace, I hope you aren't a climber, it'll give mommy a heart attack for sure!"

One day post-surgery, we found out that she might be taking after her cousin in the climbing department. Ava Grace crawled over to and then up in her swing!  Mind you she has JUST gotten good a crawling and still doesn't get anywhere too fast.  It was quite a sight to see!  Mom and I were visiting in the living room.  One minute she was playing with her toys and the next she was climbing on in!  We were both amazed!  I have learned to keep my camera out and ready so I can catch her in action!  You just never know what she'll do next!
Those who play hard, rest hard, of course!  Tuesday was big sister's open house.  Grandmommy stayed home with Ava Grace and Chris and I both went to meet Lily's new teacher (Love Her!  Think this will be a much better year than last year.... we hope!!)  Here she is precariously perched in Grandmommy's lap...legs in grandmommy's lap and head resting on the arm of the chair.  Mom said she tried to stay awake until we got home... said she kept looking around for us me.  I have created a little monster of a mama's girl.  (Shh... don't tell anyone, but I kind of like love it!  She's so sweet!)

Wednesday, day two post-surgery, showed us that her laser circles were already shrinking!  Especially the top of her PWS where there was less overlap, you can see the dots getting smaller and the pink cheek beginning to show through.  We were so amazed that it began to heal immediately!


Above and below are both of Wednesday as well.
(Yes, we went through three outfits!)

She drools a lot and it seems so uncomfortable to be in damp soaking wet clothes all day!  So... we have lots of wardrobe changes.  Yes, there is a simple solution... I could put on her cape bib, and leave it on all day.  But then you couldn't see and fully appreciate her cuteness and girly girl outfits! 


Ava Grace has decided that grown up toys are WAY more fun that the stuff we give her.  She prefers the remote, our phones, and the dvd player (working on that one... her first "no-no.")  In fact, as I type she is literally climbing me to get to the computer.  We decided to pick our battles and we found an old remote and took out the batteries.  She loves it!  She uses her pointer finger (for everything lately and) to punch the buttons on the remote!  So stinkin' cute!


And I'll leave you with one more picture.  Thursday, we saw more cleaning and lightening of her laser marks!  Yay!

What about those eyes?  Green, hazel, brown?  We still can't decide!

2 comments:

Sarah said...

it looks like it's going to heal up quickly doesn't it! I'm amazed at her talents and skills, and kind of glad that at this stage I'm not the one who has to keep her safe. Looks like you'r going to have your hands full! And in that last picture, her eyes look really green to me. Is her hair still reddish?

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