Someone looks happy to be home!!!

Hi everyone! Most of you know by now, but we are home! It feels great to be back in sunny Florida! Sorry we haven't updated before now, but we have been getting about 3 hours of sleep each night. Cam is doing great! He is recovery nicely from his surgery. He is just having a hard time adjusting to being home. He had to keep his legs wrapped up for 2 weeks and we just were able to unwrap them yesterday. He likes being free! He looked like a merman (not a maid!) We can't tell if he is having pain or just wants to be held all of the time. He is also used to seeing someone by his side at all hours of the day and night, so when he wakes up in his crib and doesn't see us, he lets us know! We are finished weaning him off of all the meds. He doesn't have much of an appetite yet. Hopefully it will come back soon. He still loves his swing! We got a jogging stroller and he loves to go on long walks!

We are so glad to have our Jim Dog back with us! Cam has noticed Jimmy! He laughs everytime Jim comes near him and especially when Jimmy sneezes!

I don't know if you guys have seen "Hopkins". It's a reality show about Johns Hopkins. We watched it each week in the hospital. Since we left, we can't seem to bring ourselves to watch it. We lived "Hopkins" and while it is an amazing hospital, it brings back all of those long days and night we spent there.

Chad has been doing his internship all week and Cam and I have been hanging out at home.

Thank you all for following our journey with us. We have felt the love from our family and friends during this difficult time. We have also met some incredible people throughout this whole ordeal. We know that God has big plans for our little man and we feel honored to be along for the ride. We started this blog when we left for Baltimore back in October 07 so we could keep in touch with everyone back in Florida while we were away. It's funny... we met so many great people in Baltimore and from all over, that we want to keep in touch with all of you that are far away now. Cam received the most amazing care up at Hopkins. The nurses, doctors, and the others are top notch! We are so grateful for the care he got up there and we know he will be just fine because he was there. We met people from so many other states and countries while we were there. We will try to update Cam's blog every so often so you can see how much he has grown! We will be back for another surgery by the end of the year so we will update from Hopkins again! We just don't want to think about that right now! Hope you all have a great weekend and we can't wait to see everyone again soon.

Love from Deerfield!!!

Julie, Chad, Camden and Jimmy

Cam is out of the hospital! It is the best feeling to have him back with us. We feel like we have a new baby again. We are all exhausted, but happy. Cam was discharged at 11:00 and by 12:30 he was in the car taking Nana to the airport! He had a funny expression at first in the car...like, "Wow, it's been a long time since I have been in here!" Actually, the windshield wipers in our Trailblazer quit working the other day, so Chad took it in to the dealer at 7 this morning and we had to rent a car for the day. We didn't want to take a chance driving without working wipers!

Cam slept for the majority of the day. Several volunteers provided an awesome dinner tonight at the Children's House and we got to eat dinner with Jack and his parents! Jack is having surgery tomorrow. The boys rolled around on the floor tonight while Chad watched the All-Star baseball game. We had to give Cam more meds tonight to keep with the weaning schedule. He has still been getting sick, but the docs don't seem concerned. We hope it stops soon. We plan on doing nothing tomorrow! When Cam sleeps, we are going to sleep! Thanks for the continued prayers for safe travel home.

Love,

Julie, Chad and Camden

Pack your bags, Cam!

We got official word that Cam will be getting out of the hospital tomorrow!!!!! Words can't even express how happy we are! It has been 46 days since his surgery here at Hopkins. We have received incredible care while Cam was here. Some days it seemed like the nurses and doctors were taking care of us as much as they were taking care of Cam! He has been so strong through all of this. We are so proud of him.

My mom is flying home tomorrow and we are planning on leaving on Friday. We will stop somewhere in the Carolinas Friday night and then in Orlando (we will get Jimmy!) Saturday night. We should be home by Sunday!!! Chad has flown home a few times and he said our house seems so big compared to the corner of Cam's hospital room that we have been living in! We are going to enjoy our last few weeks of summer!

The picture is Dr. Gearhart holding little man. He is Camden's surgeon. Dr. G. is truly a wonderful man and surgeon. He came in and scooped Cam right into his arms.

We did schedule Cam's next surgery for November 21. We don't even want to think about coming back up here so soon, but we should only be up for 2 weeks then. We seem to be making it a tradition to be in Baltimore for Thanksgiving.

Check back tomorrow to see pictures of Cam outside of the hosptial! What an answer to prayers!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Camden's Adventure Continues!!!

Cam's playing doctor!

Well, we thought we were cruising right along into the home stretch.....until Camden decided to practice his doctor skills. A few hours after the doctor removed 2 of his tubes, he decided to remove the last tube himself! We were in shock. He literally handed me his tube! I was like, "What is this?" We went into panic mode for a few minutes because we thought he was going to have to go back to the Operating Room to get it reinserted. This would have set us back a few days. Thankfully due to the doctors quick response they were able to reinsert the tube without a trip to the OR. One of the residents who was operated on Cam happened to be at the hospital so he came and did the procedure. This was a God thing because being a weekend it is hard to see a doctor you know. The tube was scheduled to come out today or tomorrow, but they needed to do an ultrasound first and then measure all sorts of things with the tube still in.

He also developed a little rash so we are trying to get rid of that. He has begun eating better than he did on Friday so we are happy about that.

On a happier note, a group came and set up this model train set. We took Cam down in the wagon to see it. The sound of the trains put him right to sleep! We met the host of Bindo yesterday. She was excited to meet Camden!

Please pray for a calm day today! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Julie, Chad Camden and Nana

We have had a few eventful days!!! As you can see from the other pictures, Cam is out of bed and we can hold him! It is the best feeling to hold him again! He is so heavy and long!!! The pins and fixator were removed on Thursday and two stints were removed today. He only has one more tube in his little body. Yesterday he was going through a little bit of withdrawal from all of the medications he has been on. They are slowing weaning him but he is showing some signs of withdrawal so they had to slow it down a little more. He has done ok for the past 12 hours so hopefully we can keep weaning tomorrow. The plan is to have an ultrasound of his kidneys Sunday or Morning, then remove his last tube and leave the hospital 24 hours later!!! I can't believe we are actually saying, "Leave the hospital!!!" We will stay at the Children's House for a few extra days and then hopefully we will be on our way home by the weekend!!!!

We had a few visitors yesterday! Our friends, Merryl and Austin Reynolds were up here for a some doctors appointments and they stopped by to see little man. I have known the Reynolds family for a long time and had the privilege to teach Chrissy and Austin. It was so nice to see friends from Florida! They have been so helpful to us through this whole ordeal.

Cam is keeping Daddy, Nana and me busy! He loves to read books and watch Veggie Tales. We are counting days the days til we get out of the hospital. We have had such a good experience here with the nurses, doctors and everyone else who works here. We thank God everyday for bringing us to this hospital for Cam's care.

We'll keep you posted on Cam's big exit from the hospital! It may take us three wagons to get out of here. One for Cam and 2 for all of his stuff!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

To The Playdeck!!!

God's Presence and Great News!

Hey everyone~

Cam got his xray this morning! It was orginally scheduled for Monday and yesterday we heard that they would do it on Friday. This morning the Ortho team came in and said they were taking the xray this morning!!! Everything on the xray looked good so the pins and fixator come out and off tomorrow morning at 6 !!!! This means we get to hold Cam! We are so excited! Chad is flying back tomorrow and he is going to try to take an earlier flight. All of the nurses can't wait to hold him too! They are going to be lined up outside of his room! I'm going to have to fight off Chad, Nana and all of the nurses!! Once the pins come out, they will wait a few days and then start removing the tubes. If all goes well, he could be out of the hospital by early next week!! Today is day 40. It's hard to believe we have been here this long. He has had a great day. But I can tell he is ready to move around. He has been flat on his back for 5 weeks and 5 days. Thanks for all of the prayers.. they have been heard and answered!

I finally went to see the Jesus Statue at the hospital. It is breathtaking. The story behind how Hopkins got its name is pretty cool too. A man named Johns Hopkins (Johns was his great-grandmother's madien name) became a successful business man and wanted to give back to the community. He wanted a hospital that would serve all people so he donated 7 million $ and started the hospital and university. This was back in the 1800's. This statue has remained in the hospital and it has been said that is why so many miracles take place here. God truly has blessed this hospital. There is a book that you can write a note in and leave a picture. We did that for Cam today.

Please pray for the little girl next to Cam. She was in a near-drowning accident. She is the most beautiful little girl. Her family is so strong.

I have enjoyed spending quality time with my mom and I know she has loved being here with Cam. We read him a book last night and he laughed through the whole thing! His spirit is so bright. I am so glad he didn't lose that sparkle while he was stuck in bed. If anything, he is even more animated than before! The picture is with 4 nurses who love Cam so much!

Hopefully tomorrow we can post some pictures of him sitting up or going for a wagon ride around the hospital! Keep the prayers coming!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Nana and Cam

Hey everyone. Cam is having a good day so far! He drank 10 oz of formula overnight! He is starting to get his chubby cheeks back and it is so good to see.

Our niece, Kylie, is missing her Nana so we put a picture up so she could see her. Nana misses Ky Ky. Kylie also misses her best friend, Baby Cam. He misses her too!

We received a package from Alisen and Rebekah and their boys, Johnny and Judah, with lots of movies, magazines and a soft book for Cam! Thanks you guys!

We keep seeing miracles up here. There was a little baby girl from Honduras who had a hole in her heart and she was going in for surgery this morning. The doctors came in last night and said the medicine is working so they didn't have to operate today! Cam is our everyday miracle with how well he is doing!

Please keep a few others in your prayers: The little girl who had a portion of her brain removed had to be readmitted to the hospital and please pray for Jill's mom (Grandma Smith). Chad teaches with Jill.

The scripture verse on our blanket reminds us that, "With God all things are possible"!

We'll keep you all updated!

Love,

Julie, Chad, Cam and Nana

Cam's had enough!

Hi everyone! This picture of Cam (well the blanket and his arms) shows us that he has had enough of this hospital!!! Just kidding. He is actually doing really well. He seems content and happy most of the time. When the nurses come to his bedside, he pulls the blanket or his shirt over his head! It is the funniest thing! Also, when he wants to go to sleep, he pulls the blanket over his head. He can sleep with the blanket over him at the hospital because he is hooked up to all sorts of machines, but when we get home, he is going to have to forget the blankets. I think it has something to do with the light and noise in the hospital!

Chad is on his way back home today. It is always hard when he leaves, but he will be back on Thursday. My mom is still up here so Cam is getting spoiled by Nana.

We had fun celebrating Chad's birthday in the hospital. The nurses helped us decorate the halls and Cam's room and then they came parading down the hall singing Happy Birthday! He said he felt like he was at the Olive Garden! We all ate yummy cake and then Chad and I went to the Orioles game for a birthday date! It was nice to get some fresh air, even though it rained on us a little. The Mays family gave us tickets to the game and the seats were awesome. We were on the 5th row right next to 1st base!

So many people have sent us nice packages. The Trentecoste family (Cathy was our labor and deilvery nurse at Hopkins) sent us a wonderful selection of fruit, The Schneider family sent us tons of goodies to eat and magazines to read (The National Enquirer was very entertaining!), Brandy, Brett and boys sent us this great a Game Time basket with great snacks and checkers!! The Mitchell Family (who we met at The Children's House) sent us this super soft blanket with a Bible verse on it. Each of you are so creative and thoughtful! Thank you so much! The many cards have been so uplifting! Each one is appreciated! We are so blessed by our friends and family. We couldn't get through this difficult time without all of your thoughts and prayers. We can't wait to see each of you soon!

As it stands now, Cam will have an xray on July 14 (next Monday) and then things will start rolling. I hope we are home by the end of July so we can enjoy a few weeks of Florida summer. It is kind of cool here for July. Last night I wore long sleeves and pants and was a bit chilly! I know I'm a wimp, but I love the Florida heat!!!

We miss you all!
Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana

Daddy's Birthday!

Daddy's Back!

Hey everyone! Cam had a great day! His daddy came back up to Baltimore and it brought the biggest smile to his face! Many doctors came by today and all of them said he is doing great. He is still "talking" up a storm and it is so cute to hear his little voice. One of the great nurses at Hopkins bought Cam a shirt for him to wear when Chad came back. It says "I got my muscles from my dad!" Chad got the biggest kick out of it! Yesterday Cam won Bingo and he got the cutest Winnie the Pooh hooded towel. Tomorrow is Chad's birthday. We have lots of surprises for him. Chad and I plan on going to the Orioles game and Nana will stay with Cam at the hospital. We heard we can see the fireworks from the hospital so we plan on watching them. We hope you all have a Happy 4th!

Lots of love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana

New tricks!

Well, who says you can't learn anything in the hospital? Cam is talking up a storm! He learned how to high five. His newest trick is he pulls the blanket over his head whenever a doctor or nurse comes by his bedside! It is really funny! We keep telling him, "You can't run, but you can hide!" He tested out his heart monitor lead on his tongue the other day. From his expression, it didn't taste too good!

He is eating much better now. We are trying to get him some protein so we asked for a meal pureed for dinner. I put the smallest bit of chicken on Cam's lips and he instantly had a gag reflex! We're sticking to sweet potatoes and fruit!

Right now Cam is scheduled to have his xrays on July 14 and then hopefully he will get out of the hospital a few days later. This is a little longer than we expected, but its ok.

We miss daddy so much! He is loving his internship, but I know he misses his little man.

When we see Cam's sweet smile or hear his adorable laugh, we are reassured that God is taking care of him. God gave Cam the perfect temperment to stay in bed for this long. I don't know many people who would be this happy in bed for so many weeks. His Nana loves singing to him and he loves to hear it.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers.
Love,

Julie, Chad, Camden and Nana