Gratitude 7 Years Later

Posted on April 22, 2024 by brent

If you actually read through all five topics of last week’s Thursday Rundown, you know that I reserved the final topic for a particularly traumatic event that occurred early in Sloan’s life. I mentioned that the anniversary of Sloan’s pyloric stenosis surgery was approaching. That day is today.

On this date seven years ago, Sloan underwent corrective surgery for a very rare newborn condition that prevented food from passing through her small intestine (watch video). Because of Sloan’s pyloric stenosis disorder, which really started to manifest itself about three weeks into our daughter’s life, she would violently projectile vomit whenever we fed her formula. A few weeks later (on today’s date), she would receive the innovative surgery needed to begin her healing.

During Sloan’s bout with Pyloric Stenosis and for over a year afterwards, we kept it between immediate family. Sidney and I are so thankful for the support of our parents. This photo shows our moms and dads with Sloan at MUSC.

Sloan’s bout with pyloric stenosis was a lot to handle for new and inexperienced parents. Sidney and I struggled through the whole ordeal as we watched Sloan suffer and doctors misdiagnose her. Relatively new in our marriage and faced with such a stressful situation, we weren’t the best equipped to effortlessly sail through it. However, it was a crash course in effective marital communication and the importance of turning to God for his grace. Although we had our moments as stress and uncertainty overwhelmed us, Sloan’s episode prepared Sid and I for down the road when Beau spent time in the NICU. Thanks to the lessons learned from Sloan’s medical scare, my wife and I were ready to deal with Beau’s crisis.

This is Sloan being wheeled out of MUSC on a wagon a few days after her surgery.

We write a card of gratitude to our all-star surgeon every year at this time. For the first handful of anniversaries, Sid or I wrote the note to Dr. Robert Cina. Last year, Sloan herself took over the duties. When she wrote to Dr. Cina over the weekend, she let him know that she is a healthy 7-year-old who plays soccer and loves Taylor Swift.

On this seventh anniversary of Sloan’s surgery, we couldn’t be more grateful for our daughter’s health, Dr. Cina’s skill, and God’s grace. I am also very thankful for my wife and the strengthening of our trust and unity that ultimately resulted from this early test. Thanks be to God! Don’t Blink.

Fruit Medallions Thursday Rundown

Posted on April 18, 2024 by brent

Do you prefer root beer or cream soda? I really have no reason to ask that other than I needed something to begin this blog post. Now that we got that out of the way, I am pleased to present my latest Thursday Rundown. Here we go with tonight’s five topics…

St. Mary Video – At this past Saturday’s gala, the latest St. Mary Catholic School promotional video made its debut. After watching it on the big screen in the middle of a large audience, I was able to view it again in a more private manner when the video was published to social media earlier this week. Principal Stephen Hart discussed the school’s mission of “making saints” but he had some help from his students. One of these students happens to be Sloan (shocker, right? 😉). Well, let me tell you, when it comes to her performance, my brother summed it up perfectly: Sloan is going to Sloan. You can watch the video here.

A screenshot of Sloan in the 2014 St. Mary Catholic School promotional video. You should watch it!

Sweet Prize – Earlier this month I won a social media contest. I participated in a See’s Candies X promotion and notched the victory. Last Friday, UPS dropped off a large cardboard box at my door. See’s took great care to add ice packs and plenty of packing to secure my prize. They sent me a box of their signature chocolates and a bag of their fruit medallions. I was pleasantly surprised by the medallions. I figured they would be chewy but instead they were soft and so fresh. I don’t think I have ever tasted a better gummy candy. Thanks, See’s!

Beau holds the See’s gummies while Sloan holds the See’s chocolates.

National High Five Day – With today being National High Five Day, I couldn’t resist calling to mind the most legendary brother high five/handshake there is. My brother and I developed a special handshake when we were kids and it has stuck around for a few decades. It is intricate, goofy, and pretty fun. You can read about it and/or watch it.

My brother and I in 2003 right before we executed our handshake.

Waterdog Challenge – I don’t normally do eating challenges but when I do you better believe I complete them. Today is the ninth anniversary of my successful completion of the Waterdog Challenge. I visited a tiny beach ice cream shop in South Carolina to attempt a tall task: 7 scoops of ice cream, 5 toppings, 1 waffle plate….FIVE minutes. It was quite the experience as I gave it my all to win that t-shirt. When the time elapsed, my last piece of the waffle dish was in my mouth and I was declared a winner. My mouth was numb for the rest of the day but my pride was not. Here is the full account of the wacky challenge.

I once ate seven scoops of ice cream in five minutes.

Pyloric Stenosis Awareness – Next week, we will mark the seventh anniversary of Sloan’s successful corrective pyloric stenosis surgery. I have documented this traumatic event in Don’t Blink before (and with this video), but as a newborn Sloan could not keep her food down. Each time she ate something, she violently threw it up. In addition to his permanent spot in our nightly prayers, we send Sloan’s surgeon a note of thanks/update each April. Thanks be to God for Dr. Robert Cina and Sloan’s health!

This photo was taken on April 22, 2017. This was moments before Sloan went in for surgery at MUSC in Charleston, South Carolina. Both of our parents were there for support.

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Well, come on, root beer or cream soda? I like both but the latter is my jam. Thanks for reading and have an amazing weekend. Don’t Blink.

Our Fierce Fighter

Posted on April 25, 2018 by brent

From time to time in Don’t Blink, I will refer to Sloan as “brave” or “strong.” Although I do my fair share of proud dad gloating, those characteristics I just mentioned are rooted in indisputable fact. Last night, my wife gave public legitimacy to the courage of our daughter.

Last night, Sid wrote this Facebook post.

In my wife’s social media post, she eloquently described the feelings of helplessness and despair that consume a parent when caring for a critically sick child. She expressed it better than I could, making it silly for me to even attempt to do the same in this blog.

However, based on the discussion I had with Sid after she published her Facebook post, I feel like I can offer a brief epilogue to her beautiful words.

Sidney and I kept quiet during and after Sloan’s Pyloric Stenosis battle. We didn’t want to scare relatives and friends. We didn’t want to solicit a storm of social media sympathy. We didn’t want to relive and answer questions about a traumatic experience.

They say time heals everything. Although I might not go as far as to say everything, I do agree that it heals most. A year after Sloan’s surgery, we have come to grips with what happened. At this point, we are more amazed at the talent of the surgeons who made her better than distraught over the unlucky condition she was dealt.

Sidney felt it was time to say something. After I read what she wrote, she asked me what I thought about it. I told her she did a great job. She explained that her main purpose in letting others know about Sloan’s sickness was to shed light on Pyloric Stenosis and reach out to parents who might have a child with the same condition.

Sid and Sloan resting the night before we left for MUSC Charleston.

Here is where I come in…

Pyloric Stenosis is a rare condition in infants that blocks food from entering the small intestine. In fact, the condition is so rare that under 200,000 infants are diagnosed with it each year. Food can’t enter the small intestine because muscles thicken and become abnormally large. Because food is denied entrance to the small intestine, the body does the only thing it can…it sends the food back up. Sloan would vomit violently, discharging the formula (or any other liquid) we had given her shortly before. It doesn’t take a doctor to conclude that it is a bad sign when the body can’t digest food.

Luckily, the condition is treatable. Skilled doctors can cut away at the thickened muscles and create a pathway for the food to enter. In Sloan’s case, she was initially misdiagnosed, with doctors originally telling us she didn’t have Pyloric Stenosis. This of course added misery to our experience (especially Sloan’s) but once medical professionals were able to see the blockage, we took Sloan to MUSC in Charleston for surgery. More on this in just a minute.

Sid feeding Sloan her first bottle after surgery.

What Sid and I want to do is to let parents who have a child with Pyloric Stenosis know that things will be okay. Once your baby undergoes surgery, which we understand is very scary in and of itself, he/she will go from throwing up at all hours of the day/night to returning to a happy baby who digests food normally.

Watching your baby constantly throw up is awful. Seeing your baby dehydrated and hungry is painful. Observing your baby hooked up to an I.V. is disheartening. Sending your baby off to surgery is downright frightening. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

When we were going through this, our little family was blessed to have a couple who went through what we did. The husband offered me assurance and the wife offered Sidney assurance. Before Sidney rode in the ambulance with Sloan to Charleston, the wife gave Sid a pep talk, letting her know that relief would soon be in hand. It was comforting and it meant the world.

My mom holding Sloan in the MUSC hospital room.

It is our turn to take the role of the special couple that helped us. To anyone who reads this post today or years down the road who has a baby with Pyloric Stenosis or knows someone with a baby who has the condition: Please reach out. It doesn’t matter if you read my blog regularly or if you stumbled upon this post via a Google search…we would love to help you and pray for you.

This is Sloan being wheeled out of MUSC on a wagon after receiving a clean bill of health.

The person who has forever entered our prayer life on a nightly basis is Dr. Robert Cina of MUSC. We thank God constantly for his talent and skilled hands. He is the head surgeon who performed the successful surgery on Sloan, healing her completely. We are also eternally grateful to the entire MUSC pediatric staff for their care and compassion. Of course we will never be able to thank our parents enough for being with us every step of the way. Although the worst of Sloan’s Pyloric Stenosis episode only lasted for about a week, we certainly needed our support system.