Jessica's Pulse

Just letting everyone know Jessica has a cold. Probably nothing serious, but we are taking her (and Rachel) to the pediatrician tomorrow morning have it all checked out. She seems fine during the day but suffers from post-nasal drip at night — which causes her to cough throughout the night. We are trying give her cough surpressant to see if that helps any.

Jessica’s Kindergarden books are here (at least some are). We will be starting her homeschooling very soon. She’s recovering from a little cold right now.

We have chosen a homeschool curriculum for Jessica for Kindergarden. We are starting her with the A Beka K5 kit and will be adding in Sonlight P4/5 in a few weeks — based on recommendations from some homeschooling experts. We also will be joining the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS) and Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in the next few weeks. We are also researching other options and requirements for South Carolina. We understand this will be very challenging but also very rewarding process and Ledy and I are very excited about this.ndependent Home Schools

Mom is planning to return to Atlanta today. She has been a great help with household chores and helping us get settled back into life in Columbia. Jessica is still doing fine after yesterday’s medication adjustment. We will continue to monitor for any signs of problems so we can follow up quickly if needed. For now, she is doing just fine.

Jessica had a little puffiness around her eyes today. We were concerned it might be fluid retention issues since her meds were reduced. Ledy called Sibley Heart Center in Atlanta and they recommended putting her back on of the meds that was taken off last time. They also recommended a follow up appointment with our regular cardiologist in Charlotte in a week or so. Since doing that, her puffy eyes are back to normal.

We have un-enrolled Jessica from Kindergarden. We feel like it will be better for Jessica to be homeschooled for a year following her surgery. This will reduce the risk of something happening when a teacher is not looking. Our elementary school here is a good one, but with 28-30 children with only one teacher in the room — too much opportunity for Jessica to be pushed around. Her chest won’t be fully healed until another 2-3 months. Also, we think it would reduce the chances of inflection, colds, and other illnesses to not be exposed to hundreds of kids right after surgery.

Jessica, Ledy, and Rachel are all back in Columbia. They returned last night around 7pm. Mom was nice enough to drive the girls home and will be staying with us a few days to help us get settled back in and to help with a few house keeping items.

The doctor appointment when well today. There was no signs of extra fluids around to the doctor decided to reduce Jessica’s meds once again. They are on the way back from Atlanta following the doctor appointment and should be here around dinner time.

Jessica had a follow up appointmnt today in Newnan, GA (in the Atlanta area). Everything went well and the X-ray was very good (no excessive fluids). The doctor thinks Jessica might be a little too dehydrated and has reduced some of the medications that control fluid retention. Because of the past problem with this, Jessica will be followed up next Wednesday to make sure no fluids return as the medication dosage is adjusted. Overall, we are very happy with these results and look forward bringing her home to Columbia soon.

I got a call from Ledy and they have been released/discharged from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston (mid-afternoon). Apparently all her tests came back favorably and she is off the oxygen (again). Jessica will have a follow up appointment with a local pediatric cardiologist in Newnan, GA on Monday since they (Ledy, Jessica, and Rachel) are staying with my mother in order to remain close to CHOA (just in case) for the next week or so. I am planning to return to Atlanta next weekend to pick them up, provided everything is still fine.