Movie Review Part 2

When we last left off, I told you about "Merry Christmas Drake and Josh," "Bedtime Stories," "Cars 2" and "HSM3." This time I am going to tell you about the "Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. This one is for you, Chelsey. I like the movie. It is the greatest movie ever. It is about a football player named Micheal Oher. He befriends SJ at first but soons find out that they have a lot in common and Mchael Oher becomes a part of the family. I highly recommend it.

Next I am here to tell you about TOY STORY 3. It's about Woody and Buzz and they have to escape the day camp while Andy's going off to college. He throws away his toys and accidentally sends them to a daycare. They have to escape and Buzz just knows what to do. Before I end I would just like to say I'd like to see it .

POP TABS

I have started a project collecting pop tabs. I have been collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. Our school interviewed Mom and I about the recycling project for the tabs and decided we wanted our school to do it. So Friday I came home with a bunch of tabs and we will be doing this for the rest of the school year. It's a really fun project, so let me in conclusion say this: "Pop the top, make the drop."

(This is Mom now.) We've been collecting these pop tabs for about two years. When I found out that the Ronald McDonald House recyles these, I decided that it is one small way that we could pay back a great organization. Our personal donations were small, kind of like the widow's mite, but it feels very good to be part of something like this. The pop tabs are pure aluminum so they bring in more money than the cans do and they are less bulky. Ammon decided to ask his class if they would like to particpate. We got a few small bags and then about a month later his teacher, Mrs. Stoker, asked if we would care if the whole school got invovled. We were really excited! Within two weeks, they collected the two 3 gallon tubs shown above. We hope that this continues for the rest of Ammon's school life in any school where he goes. It is a great way for him to learn to speak up and explain to others what it's all about and it's good for him to be part of something really good.

my new rearranged blog

my blog rearangement is cool thanks for the design and the songs gillian

I'm a Grown Man Now!

Tonight was a fun night with Ammon. He told me he knows where we get our humor from -- the humerus bone. He really thought that was where it came from. I thought that was pretty clever.

It was time for his shower and a hair cut so we got all that done and then...... he got to shave for the first time. His face has looked like a fine little web ready to catch the dew on a summer's morn. We bought him an electric razor on Saturday. It would be pretty dangerous for him to use a regular razor. He loved it!! After he was done, we spiked his hair all fancy and then he came out to show his dad and said, "I'm a grown man now!

Brothers I guess he's trying to catch up to all of you.

Ammon wanted to get nice and "spiffy" because tomorrow morning he and I are going to be interviewed and taped at his school. They want to get everybody in the school involved in Ammon's fund-raising project of collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. We have been doing that for about two years at our house. We decided to see if his class wanted to do it and some have been sending them to us to add to the collection. The school now wants it to be a school-wide project so we get to be interviewed to tell them why we do it and they want us to tell them about the Ronald McDonald House. We are more than happy to get everybody involved. It should be fun.

Now Ammon will look very handsome - he said he wanted to look good for all the ladies (meaning even the girls at school, not just the adult women). Ah, this is getting scary!!

my Memories

These last few years had been horrible with hospital trips and doctor visits but I am well now so I would like to make a quick post. I remember when I was a little kid and when my mom would cuddle with me and the time my sisters would take me to movies. I wish that would still happen and I remember David and he taught me some Dutch. This house brings back memories and that is all I have to say goodbye.

Tour of Ronald McDonald House

Today I had a tour of Ronald Mcdonald house. It was fun . We took some pop tabs in to them .

We didn't go in this house but it belongs to them . mom says its really pretty.

Then we went and saw doctor D'Astous. I got a clean bill of health. My back is good and my hips are fine.

Job Shadow Day

Ammon was able to come to work with me (Mom) today for his school's "Job Shadow Day", which occurs on Groundhog every year for 7th graders in our school district. I was just about as happy to have him come as he was to come!

Here he is in the front lobby of our building.

I took him all over to meet various people I work with, including Central Stores and Central Receiving. He saw where they keep all the candy for the vending machines, where they cut meat and where they store all frozen and refrigerated goods. He got to see some big semi-trucks come and unload. When he saw Central Stores warehouse and saw all the food (and cereal for the missionaries at the MTC), he exclaimed, "Holy Moly!" It's a lot of food!

Here Ammon is meeting one of the men that works in Central Receiving. His name is John Boulter. He lives right behind Devin Minson so they found something in common right off the bat.

Ammon is sitting at my desk here - I think he was just finishing up a huge piece of Dove chocolate that Kelly gave him.

This man, Chris Justice, works in marketing for Dining Services. He also volunteers for the Festival of Trees and took some photos of Ammon's tree for us. He supplied four of the football pictures that are hanging on Ammon's bedroom wall. David might remember this man because when David was in the MTC, Chris was the manager of the MTC cafeteria. He gave the phone to David for a minute after he got me on the line so I got to briefly (very briefly) say hello to David when he was at the MTC. We like Chris - he was just made a new bishop of a BYU ward two weeks ago.

I finally let Ammon have his BYU quilt - It looks awesome on his bed but it's so heavy Ammon wouldn't be able to roll over even if he could roll over!

Another buyer in the Purchasing Dep't is a man named Paul Buckner. He is a very nice man with a strong southern accent. His wife is one of Ammon's aides. Her name is Marnie. They have a son, Robbie, that is a defensive cornerback for the BYU football team. Marnie told Paul that Ammon would be coming to campus so Paul & Robbie arranged to come and meet Ammon in person. It was such a nice thing for them to do. It was a fun visit for all of us.

Ammon also met Leone Douma and I explained that she was the person that met David when he was on his mission because she and her family went to Belgium to visit their family members that live there. As we left, Ammon said goodbye in Dutch to her which caused her to laugh. I can't spell the words so I won't put them on, but he knows what they are. He made you proud, David!

I believe it was a fun day for Ammon!

Talent Night

The YM of the ward sponsored a talent night again this year. Last year they called it a lip sync contest (which Ammon won), but this year they held a talent night. It was one of the funnest nights we've been to in a long time. Some girls performed, but they weren't very well prepared. This was the night for the guys to shine and shine they did!

Ammno did a lip sync to the song, "Fireflies" by Owl City. He got a standing ovation when he was done. He wasn't the least bit afraid and knew every word. It was awesome!

This young man (13), Nathan Jones, played the best drum solo I've ever heard in my ilfetime outside of a professional drummer. It blew me out of the water. We were all screaming and clapping for him. Amazing performance!

These boys are in Ammon's teacher's quorum. Brig Webb and Johnny Weakly played a great song. Johnny was on the keyboards, Brig played guitar and sang. Great job!! A man in our ward is teaching them and he is doing a wonderful job with these boys.

This boy, Zach Lundberg had two girls come up and mess up two Rubics cubes. While they were doing that, he told some facts about Rubics cubes and then proceeded to solve both of them under 3 minutes. He solved them in 2 minutes 20 seconds. We didn't believe he could do it.

Other acts in the talent show included a boy doing a routine with his weapons - he's has a black belt in Karate. He was really talented and it was fun to watch. Another 14 year old played the electric guitar and that, too, blew us away. One played a piano solo he made up (like Adam used to do) and it was very nice. Two boys (seniors) did a dance to the song, "Move it, Move it!" that was clever and fun to watch. I believe the ward will now do this as an annual event. It was such a great way to show off the talents of these kids.

Here's a picture of Kaitlin, Ammon and Dad playing Wii. Don't bowl with Dad - he killed us! Don't golf with Ammon - he's got a sweet swing. Don't play baseball with Kaitlin - she's got a mean swing. Don't box with Mom - she's plain mean.

Ammon can sometimes beat me in bowling - but then everybody can beat me in all the games! It's still fun.

thank you

I would like to thank santa for giving me a wii and raving rabbids and to Tim for the choclate and to kaitlin for the watch and to brother Hayes for giving me the wicked cd and to gillian for the picture frame and it was A GREAT CRISTMAS

my life

I want to reflect on my life these past years from 1995 to now so here it goes. I remember when my mom found out she was going to give birth to me . and I remember when mom and I played hide and seek together oh good times and I also remember my hospital experience that was scary. I hope this year will be good.

i love lance and john

I like Lance and John they're coming up here for the Christmas party after church. That will be fun. I haven't seen them since I started school. bye.

A Busy Week

When you sit in the same room at Shriner's for 3 1/2 hours, you get bored - photo above is the ceiling of the wheelchair room at the hospital. Shriner's has cool architecture.

Drinking his chocolate at the Garden Restaurant.

When Ammon saw the flag, he turned around and saluted it. Cute.

Last week was very busy for Ammon. As you all know, he was able to go to the Festival of Trees and was interviewed by KSL Channel 5. After that event, we took Gillian out to breakfast for her 21st birthday. Ammon drank chocolate milk and had a few bites of pancake (which he claims to like). We took Devin Minson, one of Ammon's friends, with us so he could participate in being a "star." After the breakfast we went over to Jen's house and hung out there for a couple of hours. Devin, Ammon and Kaitlin played some Wii games and had fun. We had an appointment at Shriners at 3:00 p.m. to have Ammon's wheelchair seat adjusted so we didn't want to make two trips up to SLC.

I had a free gift card that we used for lunch. Jim and I took Ammon up to the Garden Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for lunch. He had chocolate milk again. We were able to get some good photos.

He sits up 100% better in the new seat he got at Shriner's. I wish he had had it done before his KSL interview but that's ok. All in all, Ammon had a fantastic week!!

The Fireside

The fireside was great - the best day of my life. It had lots of people there. It was great! bye

Update on the Fireside

Just a quick update on the fireside next Sunday night. It should be a great evening. I have been asked to talk about Ammon and tell what has happened to him in his lifetime (it will have to be a very quick re-cap) so people will understand why he like he is and so they can see what challenges he has and how they can help him and others with disabilities. Matt Bauman will also speak. He is a middle linebacker for the BYU football team. He is a member of Gillian's bishopric. I got to meet him today and was very impressed with him. There will be a couple of surprises for Ammon that night. Brother Merrill, a member of our bishopric will conclude the meeting. Primary children will be singing "I'll Walk with You" and we will have lots and lots of goodies to eat - a lot of chocolate.

This is an open fireside for anyone that would like to attend. It will be held in our chapel. The tree they are taking up for the Festival of Trees will be on display as will the fantastic quilt they have made and that the BYU Football team has signed (all 140 players and coaches). This has truly been a ward event with so many people involved it's mind boggling. We invite all to come for a fun evening.

Trach-Out Party is On!

We have decided to combine Ammon's Trach-Out Party with a fireside Elk Ridge 2nd ward is having on Nov. 29, 2009 at 6:30 in honor of Ammon. The YW decided that they needed to cheer up Ammon when he was in the hospital so they made a plan to decorate a tree in Ammon's honor for the Festival of Trees. They are decorating it in blue and white because Ammon loves BYU. So the tree will be a BYU tree. The whole ward decided to get in the action. A fabulous (!) quilt has been made with a BYU theme. The football team is going to sign squares on the quilt and then the quilt will go with the tree. I was so excited when I saw the quilt last night. Everybody in the ward has had a hand with this project.

They will "unveil" the tree on the 29th at a fireside held at the church (in the chapel). They have asked me to speak and talk about Ammon. I'm still trying to figure out how to do it but talk about disabilties in general and how we can all help those who have disabilities. Apparently Matt Bauman, from the football team, has volunteered to speak as well. He will bring whatever teammates he can dredge up. After the fireside we will have treats - chocolate.

If any of you that plan to come could bring something with chocolate in it to help with the treats, I would love it! We will serve the Hershey candy, I will make Black Bottoms and will maybe get another cake from Costco. That's still all to be determined. I hope those that live nearby will be able to come. This is an exciting project and we're excited for Ammon to be part of this.

starting school again

monday I start school again friday i came just so dad could teach my teacher how to feed and cath me I love my teachers bye

HALLOWEEN SPOOK

Which face is spookier? This one or....... This one?

Ammon fell out of his wheelchair last week and face planted it in the middle of the street. Ouch... It's nearly healed right now, but we've had Halloween here for over a week. Spooky.

New Teacher in Town

Today I was ordained a teacher by Dad. It was fun and I got to be sustained. Is that cool or what! Yeah so bye.

Pic Line is Gone!

This is not for weak stomachs or the weak hearted!

Ammon got his stitches out today and got the pic line removed! He was very emotional during the ordeal because he was afraid of the tape pulling the hair on his arm and didn't like to have the sensation of the stitches coming out of his head. He was brave in the end, but he was sure afraid to do this before Dr. Valdez got started.

Dr. Valdez was very gentle and explained everything he was doing. When Ammon would cringe, Dr. Valdez would back off and give Ammon a minute to breathe a little easier. When it was done Ammon was so happy as he realized the pic line was gone that he grabbed Dr. Valdez and gave him a big hug and said, "I love you, Dr. Valdez!"

Orange hair will have to remain until Sunday when he will finally get a good soapy shower.

Pic line is gone!! Tape is gone. I put a little dressing over the area just for tonight to make sure the site remains clean.

Ammon has been very tired acting today. You can see it in his eyes tonight. He is now in bed - he doesn't have to wait for the long IV injections to be complete by 11 p.m.

Dr. Valdez doesn't want Ammon to go back to school until after he has had the H1N1 vaccination but his office doesn't even get the stuff until the middle of November which means Ammon probably won't be able to go back to school until after Thanksgiving. Two half years missed! Wow. That's a big chunk out of his life just trying to recover and be well. At least he's on the mend.

The Wizard of Oz Movie

The Wizard of Oz is the greatest movie! It's funny and it's got lots of special features and it's spectacular. I love it. It's the greatest movie ever.

Joke of the day - What is it that goes 99-plank? A centipede with a wooden leg.

FINALLY HOME!!

Ammon came home last night about 5:00 p.m. We are so excited to have him back home!
Nurses came up late last night to show Jim and I how to administer the IV antibiotics through his pic line. It's not difficult to do but we do have to be really careful. I don't think he will be going to school until the antibiotic is complete on the 23rd of this month. He will have to have stitches removed as well so we'll keep him home and keep him as healthy as possible before he tackles the sick world out there.

Our friend, Keri Minson and her sister-in-law, Michelle, went to visit Ammon yesterday. Keri is letting her blonde hair go back to it's natural color which is darker than we've seen it. Ammon wasn't sure he liked it so dark and kept commenting about it. Keri then said, "Well, at least it isn't orange like yours." Ammon didn't know exactly why she said that. His head is really orange from the iodine they covered it with during surgery - and we can't wash it out for a while. Keri and I laughed about Ammon's concern so I had Ammon go into his bathroom and look in the mirror so he could see why his hair is orange - there is also a large shaved area on the top right of his scalp with a long line of stitches in it and stitches behind his ear. I wasn't sure how Ammon would respond. He sat in front of the mirror and looked at it and then said, "That's awesome! I look like a pumpkin!" I laughed and said, "I was thinking more like Frankenstein for Halloween."
I forgot that orange is his favorite color.

On a sadder note, Kaitlin has been sick for a few days with a cold. She finally went to school yesterday after feeling a lot better. She went to dance after school and I guess she just pushed her body over the edge because she couldn't breathe at the end of dance. We sent her down to the doctor and he called me at home after he saw her saying, "She has pneumonia. Do you still have your nebulizer? Get her going tonight." She sounds awful - she crashed very quickly. So she is banned from Ammon's room and he is banned from the living room where we have her so we can hear her if she needs help. I sure hope she gets well soon! There's a lot of sickness in our ward and at her school.

All In Favor Say Eye

All in favor of letting Ammon have surgery tomorrow to insert his new shunt say "Eye." Actually, his left eye is nearly normal this morning. We were pretty excited to see him back to normal. The neurosurgeons came in this morning and said that the problem was what they suspected - too much CSF in the ventricles because they weren't draining it quickly enough. Now they know a little better the size of the shunt they need to use when the put in a new one. So, surgery is still on schedule for tomorrow morning. If things go well, he could possibly come home by Wednesday. He is sooo excited to get that drain out of his head because it pulls on his hair. Being able to get into his wheelchair was a big step for him. He has played on the computer, watched a DVD, gone for a walk and generally is happier in his chair than in the bed. I don't blame him one little bit.

Because I couldn't take him to church with me, we had some Elders from a U of U branch come up here. They blessed and passed the sacrament to Ammon and, because they found out Ammon is still a deacon, they let him pass the sacrament to me. Two young women from the branch came and gave him a lesson about forgiveness. The teacher asked him if he ever found it difficult to forgive somebody. Ammon thought for a minute and then shook his head. He said something quite profound. He said, "No, I can just let it go. I leave it up to them to work it out." I learned a lot right then. I don't think Ammon has ever had reason to forgive someone and I don't think anyone has ever had reason to forgive him. What a legacy to leave in this world.

It has been a nice, hopeful day filled with the Spirit of peace.

Update on Weird Eyes

Ammon wanted to say hi to everybody. In the top photo you don't notice the problem with the eyes too greatly, but in the bottom photo, you can see that his left eye doesn't move beyond mid-line when he's trying to look to the right.

We haven't heard anything official about the MRI yet but the neurosurgeon fellow came in and said it looks like the syrnix (top of brain stem, I think) is inflammed possibly caused by too much cerebral spinal in the ventricles of the brain. Dr. Reva-Cambra, the neurosurgeon that is scheduled to do the surgery on Monday morning has been in to see Ammon. The neurologists also came in and did an assessment of Ammon. They are only surmising at this point until the radiologist has the report finished. The doctors decided that they probably weren't draining enough fluid from the ventricles and so he thinks that is creating pressure on this area of Ammon's optic nerves. They are now draining out a lot more to see if this alleviates some of the pressure.

Ammon has had a much better day today. He has been able to sit in his wheelchair for a couple of hours. We have played games, watched a movie, looked at books, visited with his school teacher, Wendy Stoker and with Marci Ellett as well. They have both cheered him up immensely. He will get back in his wheelchair in an hour or so. He loves (!) being in that chair. It's good mental therapy.

I was just told that PCMC has implemented a new rule starting on Monday. No child under the age of 14 is allowed in the hospital (except the patients, of course). They are trying to keep the kids safe from germs here and keep the patients safe from germs brought in by little ones. They are also only allowing two visitors at a time in the rooms. Good thing we did the birthday party when we did! This has already been implemented at UVRMC. I can't imagine this place without thousands of little siblings roaming all over.

Into the Woods

Ammon is still in the woods - pretty deeply at the moment. I hadn't seen him since Monday night, much to my sadness. Jim has been staying with Ammon all week except one night. It's my turn now during the weekend. Jim called me this morning after he got home (he had a doctor's appointment and had to come home for that) and said that he was very concerned because Ammon was sleeping a lot and it seemed like he was literally depressed. I figured my job this weekend would be to make Ammon happy. When I got here, however, I was scared out of my wits because Ammon's left eye won't track with the right eye. His smile is lopsided as well. It doesn't look like a stroke, but there's something definitely not normal or right. I talked to the nurse and she got the Neurosurgeon to look at Ammon. They took him down for a CT scan looking for a possible abscess or infection in the brain. The CT scan didn't show anything alarming so they will do an MRI tomorrow morning, looking for possible deposits of blood around the area that controls the eyes. Ammon is very tired all the time and is very lethargic. This comes at a bad time - he was scheduled for surgery Monday morning to re-insert the shunt. It might still happen, but we're not sure now.

We will have to wait for tomorrow to see if any new developments have arisen.

WOW!

Wow! What an outpouring of love and care came Ammon's way on his birthday! Thank you to everybody that participated. Ammon has read all the comments but once he is up and able to get to his own computer, he will read and re-read these comments. It will be a highlight of his day every time he reads them. We would have him do his own posts, but it's kind of difficult right now because he has to be lying down due to the EVD in his head most of the time.

Our entire family was deeply touched by this experience! I will post a few pictures tonight of the happenings of his birthday. We were few in number at the party (one family in the hospital having a new baby and two others keeping their little ones home either due to colds or the fear of colds, which is smart), but we had a good time anyway. Ammon received a lot of nice gifts but I think he liked the visits as much as anything. He loves people and loves visits and phone calls.

It was great to be able to serve cake to all the nurses on the floor and to other doctors and visitors that came along. It was a very nice celebration.

Ammon became a new uncle for the 21st time last night in the middle of the party. His new niece is named Grace Carol Clark. They will be able to celebrate their birthdays together forever. It was a great way to end a great day.

Thanks again, everyone! You made our day.

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY

I am posting this just a few hours before Ammon turns 14. By the time he reads this tomorrow it will be his birthday. We are celebrating with a little party in his hospital room, 2031 about 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Everybody is invited! He is VERY excited to see everybody and to get his presents (the greedy little dude!).

We are sure glad you came to our family, Ammon. You have shown us courage, love, kindness, and infinite goodness. You have a most tender spirit and that softens all of us. We are all better people because of you. We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Back in My Room & Feeling Good

Morphine makes Ammon feel pretty good -- :) Actually, Ammon doesn't like pain meds and won't ever ask for any but because his heart rate is a little up, they are giving him a light dose of morphine to help him out. He slept in the ICU (cool, quiet room all by himself last night) and I slept in his regular room. I went back in to see him this morning at 6:00 a.m. and he was bright-eyed and busy-tailed. He was happy and talking up a storm. He was relieved and seemed to feel pretty good. He talked non-stop until I had to leave the PICU at 7:00 a.m. He has now been moved back into his regular room. All the doctors have been in to see him this morning and are very pleased and relieved that he did so well with the surgery.

Ammon is now asleep, relaxed and on his way to recovery. There have never been any "bugs" in his head where the shunt was so we may be able to get a new shunt within a couple of weeks. Only time with antibiotics will tell. It will take a while to get all the infection cleared up but we all feel very optimistic. And Ammon is super excited to have his birthday in a regular room.

SUCCESS!

The surgery was finished about 10:30 p.m. and it was what they suspected: a hole in the bladder at the bottom back part where the augmented tissue had been added several years ago. The mass of stuff they could see ended up being all the mucus mess that had come out of the bladder and so it was so thick it wouldn't drain. Dr. Cartwright said Ammon did exceptionally well but they will still put him in the PICU overnight just to make sure he does well. I don't think they will extubate him tonight, either, so that will upset Ammon. However, things have been cleaned out and now he can really heal. He has a couple of tubes hanging out of his abdominal wall, the EVD hanging out of his head, a pic line, an art line and now another IV. He's a pin cushion!

They don't think this was connected to the trach surgery - it was maybe exacerbated by the distension of the bowels, but as far as they know, these were separate issues. We all feel better about his full recovery now. He will still have to be in the hospital for another three weeks because it takes that long to be sure he is free of infection before they insert a new shunt. I do believe we will be able to have his birthday party here in the room (2031) on Monday as planned. You are all invited!

Dad is now on his way home. I hope he can get home without an accident because it's late. I will be with Ammon until I know he is comfortable and sleeping. He is still in the recovery room and they haven't called me yet to go see him. Then I will come back in this room and sleep (thank heavens).

Things are looking up!

Waiting

Ammon went into surgery tonight about 7:30 p.m. The doctor said it would be a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum might go into the morning. Other doctors came in to see how Jim and I felt about going ahead with such a tough surgery and offered us an out - they just wanted us to know that we didn't HAVE to do this. We knew that but decided to go ahead and give Ammon one more chance for better things.

We got a call about a half hour ago from the OR saying Ammon is doing very well but they still don't know what the problem is. We hope he finds what the problem is very quickly. There is something that is quite large near his bladder. Whatever it is communicates with the bladder but they have not been able to drain anything out of it. They do not know what they are going to find. We hope they figure it out quickly. It's been a sobering evening with lots of tears. For some reason, I feel fairly peaceful. I don't know what that means, but I'm letting the feeling move me a long.

I'll post more as we know.

Mom

I Love that Music!

Nice visit from Jess Tuesday night.

Music Therapist singing for Ammon, which really raised his spirits.

This is a scene that really touched me. We made the decision (with Ammon's agreement) to insert a pic line into a deep vein and get rid of the IV he had. He is on three very powerful antibiotics and one, in particular, tends to blow the veins so rather than having Ammon become a pin cushion again, we decided it might be best to do one IV (pic line) that would last through the three weeks we will be there. At first they were going to insert the line when he was sedated while they tried to extract the foreign fluid but when they decided not to do that, everyone was a little worried about sedating Ammon at all. They decided to insert this line without sedation. The line runs from his bicep up behind his collar bone and drops down near the heart. They did numb the site but that's all the help he was going to get.

When they decided against sedation, they rallied some help to keep Ammon distracted. The music therapist came in again to sing to him and a member of the Child Life came (man holding his hand in the photo). They all surrounded his bed and began to talk to him and entertain him. The music therapist sang songs about heroes and bravery and courage, inserting Ammon's name in all the songs. I couldn't stay in the room - my emotions were so close to the surface that I didn't want Ammon to think I was crying because I was sad or scared. I was touched to my soul at the goodness of these people that care so much about sick children and care so much about Ammon. What I didn't realize was that they made a deal with Ammon - if he was brave his mom would have to give him something. Ammon said, "Mom, I want a M-O-V-I-E." So I bought him one yesterday.

Ammon didn't flinch one bit during the procedure. He said afterward, "Oh, I love my pic line!"

The surgery that was supposed to happen at 7 a.m. this morning was postponed. This afternoon they inserted a tube to drain that mystery fluid but now that it is draining, it appears that it may be urine which means there is a leak in the bladder. If that is finally confrimed, then the surgery will have to happen. I hope they are able to wait until next Tuesday so Ammon can have a birthday celebration on Monday. You really can't celebrate much in the PICU. Maybe we'll know a little more tomorrow.

I thought Jim might post something because he has been there with Ammon for the past two days. He knows a lot more than I do. Ammon's spirits seem to be better today. He is really only interested when I'm coming up so I will bring up his new movie, "The Wizard of Oz". That's a pretty good sign!