before and after ( WOW)

Sorry it has taken me so long to post so much has happened,where to start

Well I made Jett a Doctors appointment for Wed May 5Th for his second to last Doctors apt.

the Monday before the apt I sent him to school as normal and a few hours latter I received a call from my mom saying that Jetts teacher was trying to get a hold of me and I needed to call asap so I did and soon found out that Jetts mouth peace that was wired to his mouth was riped out in the crazies way. He was laying on his back on the rug and a girl stepped over his head and her shoe lace got caught on the bar and riped it out! both him and his teacher were so scared that he had just ruined everything. his teacher put on a really brave face and calmed him down, she has been such a blessing this year with all we have been though she has made it so much easier:) when I got him home and called the doctor who said he would see him on wed and that he thought everything would be OK all Jett could think of was food what to eat Subway that's what he wanted so that's what he had:) he loved every bit.

We went to the Doctor on wed and he said everything looked great and he didn't need to see us until October (woo hoo) we made it. I never thought I would say this but it did go bye pretty fast!

He might look different but the other day he let me know he is still the same Marven

He woke up and it had snowed again in MAY.

He said mom I think we need to find away to get anti depressants to mother nature because she must be bi polar or depressed. He then came up with the idea of throwing chocolate in the sky.

he said that might work cuz it always does with you mom ( wow he will make a great husband some day if he already know what makes everything better:) haha

Love you all and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Nicole

Yes!!!

It's gone!!!

This is what they replaced it with.

Jett puts it on at night while he sleeps its not quite what I thought of when I thought of head gear but it will do I guess.

He doesn't seem to mind it to much and it comes off in the morning:)

I've got a pickle! I've got a pickle!! hay hay hay hay!!!

As you can tell the boys decied to have a little fun with Jetts halo before it was removed:)

Say GOOD-BYE! to my blue friend, say hello to a hair cut!!

We are so excited to get rid of the halo that has been screwed into Jett's head for the past

8 weeks!!

We are a little scared that his horns might come out:)

For all of you that know Jett you know he has a bit of a devilish side.

He's quite the prankster.

In fact he has loved to play with people that stare at his blue friend. He will either stare back pretend to have a seizure or just pull a weird face.

That's one of the things we love about him, he doesn't care what others think.

He knows he is awesome and that's all that matters!!

There is one down fall when we went to the doc 3 weeks ago he informed us that the mouth piece and what I call his elephant tusks ( the pieces of metal that come out of his mouth) will stay for another 8 weeks and he will have head gear that will attach to it at night.

This was a big surprise and disappointment to all of us!!

So to all of you parents that are reading this before your child's surgery now you know what to plan for.

After the halo is off it's another 8 weeks of head gear.

I don't know why but our Doctor didn't tell us this prior to the procedure.
He was probably afraid we would take off running if he told us it would be a 16 week ordeal.

It sure would have been better for Jett to know a little better what to prepare for...

Our plans for summer keep getting bigger and better with the anticipation of

FREEDOM!

New Profile after 4 Weeks!

We are now finished turning the screws!!!! ya :)

Our next Doc appointment is on the 3rd of March, hopefully only 3 more weeks after that.

Which means he might have this contraption taken off on the 24th of March.

We are praying!

Jett wants it off before his 10th birthday and that is on the 29th of March!

***

So far everything is going as planned.

Jett is still eating pretty good thanks to the baby grinder and his straws!!

His teacher has been great to work with.

She really wants Jett back in the classroom so we all thought really hard about how we could make it work, so now he will start going half a day 4 days a week.

We will drop him off after lunch and pick him up 5 minutes before they get out so that we beat the crowed halls.

I think this will be so good for him to get out of the house and see all of his friends.

We have noticed that he needs a lot more sleep and time to rest he crys out a lot at night so going to school after lunch will give him the time he needs to sleep in a bit.

We met with Doctor Morales on February 10th

while we were in Salt Lake Scott was able to get some Jazz tickets.

They all had a great time even though Jazz lost to the Lakers.

Jett's friend Drew was the only one with them that was happy about that.

-O- well you win some you lose some.

Lots to do!!

As you can probably tell I am playing catch up.

Its been a busy week!!

We have been noticing how much Jetts profile is changing.

It's amazing in just two weeks how different he looks!!!

Our biggest challenge is keeping Jett busy and his tummy full!!

We spend most of our time thinking of what to do or what to eat.

We just picked up a bunch of school work so hopefully it will keep him busy for a bit longer?

The baby grinder is still working great he was even able to eat his sisters

famous cinnamon rolls!

I think he ate 2 or 3 !!! Ya:)

***

Jett has said how bored he is too many times so I put him to work!!

ha ha :)

Mylee got her exercise barking at the vacuum

so it entertained them both for a couple of minutes.

Meet Gimpa and Slurp!!!

My Family all said that they would do anything to take some of Jetts pain...

Well my sister got a sick kid for a couple of days and the others were real naughty!

So when she said she had more than enough,

my dad decided to take some on, (not really) what he or any of us had in mind.

He cut all the way though the bone on his pointer finger with his dull band saw

and cut into the tendon on the middle finger.

Thanks to Doctor Nakken, he was able to reattach and sew the tendons back together.

Only time will tell how much movement he will get back.

I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

Jett is doing so good I think he can do the rest all on his own!!

So no more hospital trips!!

( K)

GRATITUDE!!!

Jett's 3rd grade teacher made this quilt for him and had all his friends sign it!!!

He is so blessed to have such a great teacher and friends!

Thank you so much he loves the quilt and it's even Redman colors!! ya

Going to Salt Lake to see the doctor Jett wanted to watch a movie but of

course the head phones wouldn't fit the same.

Good thing nothing stops a determined kid.

One day at a time!

Yay we have a Winner!!

As you can imagine food is kinda blah if it has to go though a syringe so I was thinking (I know it doesn't happen much)lol When my kids were baby's I had a grinder that made it so they could eat what we were eating with out chewing!!! So tonight we tried it and he loved it we had fajitas and so did he!!! yay
For all you moms going though this it worked. It has been one week and he can open his mouth just enough to put the spoon in up side down and wipe the food on his tongue. We are still using a syringe to drink.

Jett is a crazy sleeper!!!!

He is to only sleep on his back but as you can see he is on side laying right on 3 screws. Scott woke up the other night and he was sleeping face down in the pillow. Scott freaked out and couldn't sleep for the rest of the night Jett couldn't understand why his dad keep waking him up till he woke up with a jaw ache!! (I think his auntie Au made those pillows way to cozy) Thanks Au we love you!!

Dinner time :0

Dinner time is a hard thing when you can't chew!

We have tried to blend spaghetti O's and Ramon noddles. It just makes weird soup that Jett says "just doesn't taste right" so after trying lots of different things we went back to go old mash potato and gravy!

It can get kinda messy when you get a air bubble and it blows up in your face!!

all over you and Dad:)

On the ceiling!


and yes he even cleaned it up:)
It made for a very messy and funny dinner time.
There's never a dull moment around here!!!

Nap time

Today Jett was feeling really good!

You know when you have a sick kid and they stay home from school you give them pain meds and all of the sudden they are bouncing off the walls. So you try to decide which is better not feeling good and laying around, or feeling better and not holding still? Don't get me wrong I am so glad he is feeling so good:) He just forgets he has a huge metal thing on his head that hurts when he is not on drugs:)

There's no place like home!!

Jett is sooo happy to be home even if he has to sleep at the end of Mom and Dad's bed!!

Its been a long day we came home to dinner from wonderful friends and tons of wonderful gifts to keep him busy and comfortable. (Thank you )

Jett is also clean he was able to wash his hair and does he ever smell good.

I am so grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers in our behalf, I know that it because of them he is doing so well.

Thanks!!

Coming HOME!

HOORAY!!

Jett's been released

almost exactly 48 hours since

his check in time.
...

I know he doesn't look happy, but

I talked to him and he can't wait to

come home.

I'd like to say it's because he missed me...

but it's the XBOX that is his #1 love!

He's still going to have to endure

a bunch of "yucky" kisses from

his Auntie!

BREAKING NEWS!

Nicole sent me this text just moments ago...

She said "we escaped our room!"

***

I'm thinking this halo could be a new trend,

Jett makes it look pretty cool.

48 Hour Update...

Nicole is pretty busy keeping Jett happy

so she asked me to give a quick update.

Last night Jett's heart had some irregular

beats, so they ran some tests but couldn't find

a specific cause. The nurses and doctors are

keeping a close eye on him and he will probably

come home with a 24 hour heart monitor.

His pain has been a little more tolerable today and

the swelling has pretty much hit max capacity.

This morning he was so excited to get a little taste

of some warm cream of wheat and orange juice. -YUM-

He was also happy to have a quick bath.

Jett is so anxious to come home.

If everything goes as planned they will put

on the front attachment to his halo in the morning,

and he should be released shortly after...

...

Nicole wanted me to express how grateful she is to

have so much support from friends and family.

We are all so thankful for modern medicine, but

especially for our Heavenly Fathers

TENDER MERCIES!

Jett your strength AMAZES us all! Love your Auntie...

Today's HAPPY Moment...

No matter how it gets in the mouth

a strawberry shake still tastes AMAZING!

Jett kept a lot more food down today.

His pain levels have been a little harder to

manage, but partly because he is so tough

and waits to tell us he's in pain untill it's

almost unbearable.

I'm starting to figure out the time line a

little better so we can just keep him

as comfortable as possible.

One day down, only a few to go!

Jett had a hard night, he wasn't able to keep anything down.

He slept from 10 pm to 3 am with the help of

morphine, after that he woke up every 10 to 20 min.

This morning he was able to keep a little yogurt down

with the help of an anti-nausea medication, Zophran.

He is sleeping and thankfully snoring now!

Which makes me so grateful for the effects of

Morphine and Tylenol w/codeine. (much better:)

Thank you for all of your comments and prayers we can feel

the strength you're sending our way!

It truly makes a difference...

Much Love, Nicole

OUT OF SURGERY!!!

Jett was in surgery for almost 2 hours.

Luckily he has his own room for now; which

makes the hospital stay a little easier.

The goal now is to keep him out of pain and

get his body to calm down enough to keep something

in his tummy.

He can only have IV morphine every 6 - 8 hours,

but when he can keep food down he'll be able to

have some other pain medication intermittently.

Jett is so happy that his HALO is blue!

(Yes it is screwed to his head)

Just before he comes home there will be another

part attached that will connect from the front part of

the halo to his mouth. It will stabilize the movement and

keep his top jaw in place while his body heals

the bone.

You can't imagine how horrible it is to see

your child in this much pain until you

experience it.

Please pray for Scott, Nicole, and Jett.

Love you Jett, Antie Au....

Things to do before he can't chew!

Because Jett won't be able to chew anything

for at least 6 weeks he made a list of all the

things he wanted to eat before surgery.

This is desert Sunday night;

he won't be able to eat anything after 12:00 am .

His final request is for me to wake him up at 11:45 for one last

fruit snack.

Now that's priority's for you!

One week before surgery!

This is Jett also known as Marven.

He's extremely messy for a 9 year old, after cleaning him up after meals like I would a toddler the name Messy Marven stuck. Now we laugh at him and have even considered getting him a bib!
He is the youngest of 3 children and couldn't be more loved and tortured by his siblings.

Jett is scheduled for Lefort External Distraction... which is big words for correcting his dramatic under bite surgically. Here are some before pictures so we can document his transformation.

Preparing for this surgery has been an emotional roller coaster. I've thought several times this would be easier if I could talk to another Mom who has been though this. Doctors often tell you what they want you to hear, but don't understand the emotions a Mother feels as they care for their child in pain. I hope this will be a comfort for another family in a similar situation.