Reagan is doing great. She started pre-k and loves it. Her nurse from home attends with her in case there are any trach emergencies. It is such a joy to see her enjoy it so much. The school has been wonderful to work with and we are so thankful for that! I went with her the first week and then last week, I actually left her!!!!! I was a nervous wreck but she did great! My house sure did get cleaned that day! LOL She is getting to learn her ABC's and 123's instead of her sats and oxygen levels!

She does have some thick secretions so please pray that this clears up and doesn't turn into an infection! We are praying that she continues to do well and her body can fight off bugs going around at school.

We are praising the Lord for all that He has done in Reagan's life so far. Two and half years ago we were told she may not be with us anymore! Wow, what a miracle she is!

I will post some cute pictures soon.

Love The McBride's

Reagan is home and feeling much better. Praise the Lord for a short stay.

There is a possibility we may be checking out today! Pray that everything goes smooth!

Hospital

Reagan is in the hospital. It is May! This makes the third summer to be here. Please pray she gets better soon. We are not sure what she has. Her o2 sats are around 93 and she is usually at 98-100%. She is throwing up, diarrhea, and congested. They are doing blood work and tests to see what she may have. They are thinking that is may be viral and have taken her off of her antibiotics she was on before we came in. She is on IV fluids until tomorrow to watch and see if the throwing up spells stops. Thanks for the prayers.

Sweet Reagan Faith!

Reagan is doing good. I have to share a cute story! We were talking about Jesus and Heaven and wondering what He and Heaven would look like! How wonderful, funny and innocent the mind of a four year old!

Reagan: Mommy, will there be a Rosie's in Heaven?

Me: Rosie's Cantino, the mexican place?

Reagan: Yea.

Me: I don't know, maybe.

Reagan: How will we get there. There won't be cars in Heaven!

Me: Maybe we will have cars.

Reagan: Cars can't float!

Reagan: Mommy, your earrings look like gum. Can I play with them?

End of that conversation! Just had to share! This is so typical Reagan and I love it! Have a blessed week!

Wow!! Time flies when your having fun! We are so very blessed!! Reagan is doing great and we give God all the glory!!! Each day is such a blessing and I told her just the other day that she brings such joy to our lives. She really says something just so funny everyday that you can't help but be happy around her!!!

She if feeling great. Praise the Lord!

We are still in the process of trying to go to school. Things just haven't lined up yet! We can't just send Reagan. We have to send her vent, oxygen, nurse, Dr. orders, etc...Hopefully she will still be able to go a few times before school gets out. She is really looking forward to it. Last Tuesday, one of the days she was supposed to have started, she asks first thing if she was going to school today?. I told her soon! I have already talked to her preschool class and they can't wait to have Reagan in their room!! Thanks for your continued prayers.

The McBride's

Reagan is doing really well. She had a stomach bug on Monday and that was horrible but she has been feeling much better today! She will be going to school a couple of days a week starting next month. I know, I can't believe it! Our nurse from home will be going with her and I am sure I will be there doing something! She is looking forward to it. Allen and I - very nervous! Pray that she does not catch everything that goes around! This will be all new for us.

I will try to post pictures soon of Reagan holding her cousin Reece! My sister finally had our baby Reece! Reagan is so excited to have a baby cousin. She asked me about a month ago when baby Reece was going to hatch!!!!!!! Ha! She watches alot of Animal Planet! He is a cutie pie and the kids love him.

Please continue to pray for her continued health.
Thanks and God Bless!

Blessed

Reagan is doing good. We are truly Blessed. Here are some pic. from a wedding she and Brennen were in a few weeks ago. Reagan was the miniature bride.

Brennen and Bro. David, our pastor

Reagan and the bride, Brittany

Reagan is doing very good. There has not been anything to blog about lately, THANK GOD! She is staying busy with PT, OT, home school, and trips to Birmingham. Thanks for all the prayers!

Merry Christmas

God is good all the time! Thank you God for sending your son Jesus to be born on that special CHRISTmas day! With Him, all things are possible!

Reagan is doing well. She does however, have a broken pelvic bone! Second break in a month or so! Not sure what is going on. We have an appt. in January with the endocrinologist that prescribes her bone medicine so we will see if the dosage needs to be changed! She is a trooper as always! Doc just said to keep her comfortable and as usual, did not cast or anything! He said we would not even think about straighting surgery of her legs until we got her neck stabilized! Which, who knows about that. Only God!

We heard back from Dr. Brockmeyer and he does not want to do surgery right now. He pretty much said that it had not gotten much worse. I was praying that it had gotten much much better but we will take pretty much staying the same. He did say that two of her arteries in her neck, that i can not remember their name, have moved to the front of her neck. They are usually encased on the side. He said this would make it impossible to do surgery through the front. He would have to go in through the side. He wants her to be scanned again in 6 months to see if there are any changes. It sounds like this will be a lifelong process of scanning her every 6 months until just absolutely necessary to do surgery. We will continue to pray that this surgery does not have to ever happen! We would love to see our friends in Utah again, but just for a fun visit, not a major surgery!!! Thank you all for your prayers! Have a blessed Christmas!

McBride's

Reagan is doing pretty good considering she has a BROKEN COLLAR BONE!! We can't remember the last time she has had anything broken. The last time she went to this ortho was in 2007. We remember she had a pretty bad broken leg and we could barely touch her for 3 weeks! I guess that was the last one she has had until now! Bless her heart! She has not once complained! I admire her more everyday. If only I could be as strong as her. Allen says that he has prayed for God to give her an incredible high pain tolerance. HE sure answers prayers!!

We were doing trach care on Sunday and noticed a huge bump and of course, I panic! All of her other breaks we know by her telling us it hurts and we know not to touch it, but this one was different. The bump was and still is huge so we weren't really sure what it was. They took xrays and said to come back in a week. They do not do anything for fractured collar bones. He just wants to make sure it doesn't shift.

Pray for her on Friday. We are going for another CT of her neck to forward to Brockmeyer in Utah. We will have to wait and see what he thinks about another surgery on her neck. We are praying for a miracle and that is not now, or ever, a need for anymore neck surgery. We are asking God to straighten those bones in her neck and open up her spinal column. We know He can do it. Thanks for your prayers!

Love,
Jeri Ann

Weaning!!!!

Reagan is doing well. We had a vent check-up Wednesday and doc said we could start weaning a little. She is breathing well on her own, but she is mentally dependent on her vent. Her numbers look good until she gets mad and holds her breath and makes her pulse ox go off. She is good at that! We are starting with 20-30 min twice a day for a few weeks and then we will do an hour a couple times a day. Maybe she will tolerate the change. Our prayer is that she will eventually be off her vent 24/7. We know this will take time.

She is pretty much staying in now that the swine flu and everything else is going around like crazy! We are giving everyone that comes to see her a bath in germ-x when they walk in the door!! Ha! I have some of the cutest pic to download when I have more time. Hopefully this weekend! Have a blessed evening!

Jeri Ann

Hanging out with my Nana!(and my security washcloth!)


Acting silly with my big brother!

Princess Reagan!

Look at my teeth!

Not sure about Rosebud! Much bigger than my "My Little Pony"!

Reagan has been doing good. No new medical updates. We have not had to go to Birmingham one time this month! Woo Hoo! Are we on vacation? She has two scheduled in October so we will be back on the road again soon. In the meantime, just enjoying the pretty weather!

She is four now! Thank you all for your sweet messages and cards and presents! She really enjoyed opening up her cards! She feels like a big girl when she gets mail. Thanks again!

Have a blessed week!

Reagan is doing great! There are just not enough words to explain how blessed we feel to have her. She has such a sweet spirit! Everyday with her is such a blessing! She is feeling good and we are thanking God for her continued healing! We are asking for another miracle with her neck, so that she does not have to endure anymore surgeries! God is in control!

She will soon be celebrating her 4th birthday! I can't believe it! She is truly a miracle child and we know God has great plans for her! Please leave her a Happy Birthday message and I will read them to her.

Jeri Ann

Reagan is doing well. We went today to have her PICC line removed. She is finally finished with her antibiotics!! Hallelujah! All of her blood work looked good on Wednesday.
We are going Tuesday for a surgery consult to talk about reversing her ostomy. Scary thought. Please pray that when she does have this surgery that it will go much smoother than the first. Her pulmonologist was not very optimistic! He said it would be a job for them to reverse it. I guess we wait to see what the surgeon says and just pray and trust God!

Our family has a precious friend named Kayla Tays. She is 16 and has spina bifida. She has a trach and feeding tube. She is non-verbal, paralyzed and uses a vent to breathe. She had surgery today to remove kidney stones. She has such a sweet spirit! Her mother, Darlene, is such a precious Christian lady (works at Lifeway) and always texts me uplifting scriptures when I am just about to have my nervous breakdowns! She has health problems of her own-arthritis and degenerative disc disease. Lifting Kayla is not easy! Anyway, she is well deserving and in need of a home makeover that could help her do things easier when it comes to lifting and taking care of Kayla. Extreme Home Makeover is coming to our area and I would love to see them receive this blessing! Could you please take a few minutes to nominate her by writing a short description of their story? Email to CastingAlabama@gmail.com Darlene Tays, Killen, Alabama Maybe if they get an overwhelming response for the Tays' family they will want to pick them for this awesome experience! Thanks and have a blessed weekend!

Jeri Ann

Reagan is doing very good. We went for a checkup on Wednesday and got a good report. Her pocket of fluid in her belly have decreased significantly but are still visible on her CT so he wanted to keep her on the iv antibiotics for another 14 days. He was pleased at how well she was doing and even weaned her vent some. He went down on her pressure support and told us not to try to wean her off of the vent right now. He tried it in the office and she was having to work harder.

She is so funny and happy! She can light up your day!

We are praying about the decision to go to Utah and have more neck surgery. We spoke with Dr. Brockmeyer and he said that she would eventually need to have it done and whether or not we did it really soon or waited till she got a little better was up to us! Her CT scan didn't look much different to him than it did last year but he said the we would not want to wait too long or it would be too late to fix anything. He would go in through her jaw or on the side of her neck! Decisions decisions!!!!!!! No stress at all in our lives!!!!!!! Please join us in prayer for wisdom on what to do. We thought we made the best decision last year and it didn't end up so good so we are so afraid to mess anything up. Especially since she is doing so well!

We meet with the GI surgeon next month to discuss when to reverse the ostomy. Please pray that all goes well when they do put everything back together. It has not been as bad as I thought it would be. Just like changing a dirty diaper. Baths are a little different, but have been since last summer when she got her trache!

We have a lot going on and are very very busy, but we are so blessed! She teaches us so much everyday! We love her and Brennen so much!

The other day Brennen and I were making a card for a little girl who has cancer and I ask him what verse I should put on her card. He told me John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life. Thanks for the continued prayers and support.

The McBride's

Reagan is doing well. Thank you Jesus! These photos were taken a few days after surgery when the swelling had gone down some, believe it or not, and some of the ivs were gone Thanks for the continued prayers. I will post some of her smiling and fully clothed later.

We are home Praise God! She made it home Tuesday around 5:30 pm. Sorry I have not made time to update. We are still adjusting to being home! She is doing good and we are still waiting to hear from Dr. Brockmeyer in Utah to see if we are going to have to fly out for more neck surgery. I will update soon.

Praise God they do not feel like the infection is in her hardware! They were able to tell this from the CT scan they took today! Yeah!

The surgeons do not feel like they need to drain her belly again. Three or four times is enough ---what we thought too! So, the dr. is trying to work us up a schedule that we could go home on. He feels like she could be on antibiotics for a month or more! Right now, she is taking 4 or 5 at all times of the day! We have to arrange our walks around her IV antibiotics so I am not pushing her, the vent and the IV pole! He was going to see if we could do them every twelve hours instead of about every two hours! Crazy! I guess I will see what they have come up with tomorrow! Hopefully we will get to go home sooner than later. I told him that the 14th would be good. That is when we went home last year!! Not sure if it will happen that soon but it couldn't hurt to put that out there!

I wish everyone could see her right now. She is eating a big ol choc. chip cookie that her nurse Savannah gave her and humming while she is eating! The cutest thing! She comes alive at this time of the night! Just when everyone else is ready to call it a day, Reagan's personality comes out!!!! Oh well, now she is wanting a popsicle! Duty calls! Ha!

Nothing too new to report! White blood count is down to 12.5 actually, but she is not out of here yet! Her CRP and sedrate are still high meaning she still has some inflammation somewhere. Allen and I have been asking them for weeks to just CT her whole body the next time they take her down to scan the belly! They tell us no, no need for that right now! So yesterday, she goes for another CT of her BELLY. Guess what they tell me yesterday afternoon? We are going to CT her neck tomorrow! We are just the parents so what do we know, right? Can you sense the frustration?

Overall she is feeling and looking much better. I know she is getting tired of being here. We were looking out the window yesterday and we could see the cars leaving the parking deck. It was about the time people were getting off work so I mistakenly tell her that they were going home. She then says "when are we going home?" Broke my heart. I can't tell her when because I have no idea! I wish I knew! She is such a sweetie! I hope the next time I post I will be feeling much better! Today is just one of those days! I am praying for strength today! Thanks for the prayers.

Love,
Jeri Ann