Tomorrow

This photo is of my cousin, Reagan. In her letter to Santa she elected to not ask for a video game, or an iPod, or something else digital and exciting. She instead asked the jolly old elf to fix Holden's heart. +


Reagan's wish comes on the heels of the unfortunate news that Holden would need another operation to help correct another issue in his heart. That surgery will be taking place tomorrow morning.

When my mom texted me that picture of Reagan I was 4 deep in line at Tijuana Flats. As manly as a I believe myself to be, I couldn't hold it in. As I tearfully gave my order, I just looked at the high schooler behind the register and said, "Tijuana black bean and chicken, and pardon me, I'm just a huge fan of the Flats."

The little man is doing very well right now, that is part of the reason for the quick turnaround between diagnosis and surgery. No sense in waiting for his health to decline to fix what they know they need to fix.

Reagan giving her Christmas wish to Holden is just one example of the MANY great displays of support that our family, friends, and even complete strangers have done for us. We don't think we can ever thank you all enough for the outpouring of support you've given us. Holden has bounced back so quickly from all his operations, we are sure that the same will happen here, no matter how unexpected and delicate it is.

When Holden comes home it will be the greatest Christmas/Hanukkah gift ever. (Putting that Nintendo I found under the tree in 1989 to shame).

Show your support tomorrow, wear a shirt, post his video, do whatever you wish. And most importantly...TEAM TIN MAN UNITE! GO HOLDEN!

-Trey, Nicole, and Holden

Halloween, Thanksgiving and All Sorts of Other Shenanigans

We're sorry we haven't updated this lately. Holden has gone super mobile. The days of simply placing the kid in one spot with the direct knowledge that he'll remain in that one spot are long gone. When you're not chasing the kid these days, you're trying to out think his 14 month old mind..."where, pray tell, is this kid going next?"

It's an impossible science, so I've developed a diagram to describe the situation.
 

We've had a busy few months though! Where do I start? (I'll warn you, this is broken down all nerdy like)

Happy Birthday Holden!

It’s hard to believe how fast a year goes. As a young child, we always looked forward to the joy that came with our own birthday. So much so, that the distance between the two dates often felt like a year on Jupiter rather than on the good ol’ home planet. As parents, we've quickly transitioned to looking forward Holden's milestones in the same manner. Today was one that seemed to come so quickly though.

Exactly one year ago, at 7:46 in the morning Nicole and I were blessed with the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. Born at what we’ve described several times as the “Flynn-friendly” size of 4 lbs 13 oz, Holden Joseph Flynn came packaged with a lot of unanswered questions, and a lot of promise.

Miracle Miles 2012

On Saturday September 22nd we had 117 runners, walkers, and crawlers invade Downtown Orlando. 5k, 15k, Kids run, it didn't matter, we were so abundant that race officials told me they always saw a member of Team Tin Man on their radar.

From what I was told by a couple friends, there were no zombies behind them to cause the crowd of people in front of them to run so fast. But everyone gave it a go and as a result, some of you were sore, beaten, battered on Sunday. That's what 5 or 15 Canadian miles will do to our bodies. In the end, everyone can agree, it was all worth it.

On top of all of our race participants, we had an unbelievable amount of donors. In all, 45 friends and family members from around the country donated to the the team. The outpouring was un-freaking-real. Our grand total was $16,229. Best by almost $13,000. The overall total raised for the NICU was $54,848.

First Family Vacation

They see me rollin'

With Holden's surgeries behind us, we've finally been afforded a chance to just relax.There is no more worrying when the next operation will be. No more worrying about weekly appointments at the cardiologist. We no longer have to toss the kid on a scale every morning. No more intricate daily feeding logs. All behind us.

We took advantage of it. A few weeks ago, we packed up and headed to the east coast for five days of fun and sun in beautiful Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was our first vacation, a "family milestone" if you will. I quickly shot back to images of my own family vacations as kids. Complete chaos. We'd spend a week or so aimlessly driving around the Blue Ridge Mountains, stopping to eat at the Western Sizzlin and challenging fate on small mountain side dirt roads. They were so much fun.

One Year...

One year has passed since we learned our son was going to be born with a congenital heart defect. One year has passed since the doctor broke the news to two new, unsuspecting, naive parents. One year has passed since we laid in our bed, speechless, staring at the ceiling for hours, because we didn't know how to react. One year has passed since there were more questions than there were answers. One year has passed since we cried at the thought of our child needing surgery in the first few months of his life.

Today, we sit here at the hospital, Holden fresh off his third operation, doing as well as any kid could in his position. Back then it seemed like the end of the world. That seems so distant now. We couldn't be blessed with a better kid.

The Glenn Procedure

Holden, you're having surgery again. Don't tell your Mom.

Tomorrow marks anther milestone in Holden's heart journey. After a few weeks of NASA launch-like delays, the little man is finally set for his next surgery, the infamous "Glenn Procedure".

All in all, the Glenn is an operation that will tie off a few things to restrict blood flow to some of the lower areas of his body. (We really could launch into the intricacies of the Glenn, but we don't think you'd really would care to hear us attempt semi-intelligent doctor speak.) The goal is simple, assist Holden in his ongoing quest to gain weight. Today, sitting at a stout 13 lbs 6 oz, Holden is a far cry from that peanutty 4 lbs 13 oz baby that blessed us last fall, but is still a tad undersized, even for a Flynn.

We've been told that the effects will be seen almost immediately, and his overworked heart will scale it back a few beats, allowing his lungs to benefit. The doctor says that it will leave him looking blue for a couple days. We, like you probably are right now, began blasting images of this through our minds as that news was relayed to us.--->

I apologize for this corny, awful joke.

As we said in the Tin Man short, we know, no matter how intense these operations get, Holden is going to get through this. We stand by that statement. And while the anxiety and fear that comes with knowing our son is going under the knife will never subside, the negativity has. And always will.

Holden will be home in time for Father's Day. He'll pick right back up to where is he now. He'll return to sitting on his own. He'll continue to progressively drag his body across the floor like a snail (the experts claim this leads to crawling). And more importantly, he'll continue to forgo any other physical learning and demand his mom or dad hold his legs so that he might stand. (Someone forgot to tell Holden that standing was a few steps down the line, but he prefers the Franklin D. Roosevelt treatment.)

Funny story. The nurse at preadmission testing was trying to get Holden from a standing and into a seated position for his various tests. He insisted on standing, even though I tried to explain to him, that it's a progression for kids his age. Plank. Roll. Sit. Crawl. Stand. He remained standing for the anesthesiologist. And later, when we met with Dr. DeCampli, he stood and bounced. I said, "Can you believe this kid has a heart issue? He's been like this all day..."

It was only to stop him from crying at the hospital today,
but Holden choosing to stare down the pig who built
his house of bricks is a total metaphor. Right?

Thank you all for your support. Please keep Holden in your thoughts and prayers as the little man flexes his way through another operation.

Thank you!

Trey, Nicole, and Holden
(We will be updating Holden's status on Facebook and Twitter throughout the day. Please feel free to follow along)

Also, let me take this chance to remind you, we've got the Miracle Miles in a little over three months! Mark your calendars for September 22, 2012. Team Tin Man will dominate once again. TEAM TIN MAN UNITE!