Friday, March 5, 2010—Kehau saw her cardiologist today.  She had another echocardiogram.  Everything looks fabulous, so much so that the doctor took her off her blood pressure medication.  Now, she isn’t on any medication, just like a normal baby.  Good job, Kehau.  Keep it up.

We’re heading off to the Friends of Kehau Sullivan “Aloha Jam” concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu.  If you are on-island, come on over.  It’s going to be AWESOME!

Thursday, March 4, 2010—We’re preparing to attend a benefit for Kehau at the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu.  This entire event was organized by our friend Joni-Lee James from Australia, the most amazing woman you’ll ever meet.  It should be an incredible evening.  The best local musicians in the islands are going to perform.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010—Kehau had her first appointment with her cardiologist this morning, and everything looks wonderful.  She still can’t have a bath, but her blood levels are perfect, and her echocardiogram shows that her heart is working just the way it should.  We are so excited and pleased.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010—Kehau, Daddy and Mommy are scheduled to come in at 1:30PM.  We are so excited!

Monday, February 22, 2010—Kehau went in for another round of x-rays and echocardiograms.  Daddy and mommy met with Dr. Lamberti’s nurse and she told them they could take Kehau home.  Tickets are bought, and they are packing.

Friday, February 19, 2010—Ama left for Hawaii.

Thursday, February 18, 2010—Kehau went in for another echocardiogram and a series of x-rays.  The doctors thought they saw a clod in her pulmonary artery.  Thank goodness, after all of the pictures, they decided it was a fold in the artery that they think will stretch out as her pulmonary artery grows.  Whew!  Pancho came in tonight, and Kehau recognized him right away.  She has an appointment to see Dr. Lamberti on Monday morning.  We’re crossing fingers they’ll say that she is PERFECT and can come home.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010—THEY DISCHARGED KEHAU TODAY—She is back at the Ronald McDonald House with us.  We are so excited.  Pancho is coming up on Thursday, and Ama is going home to take care of Kirra and Kanekoa on Friday morning.  Things are moving quickly now.

Monday, Friday 15, 2010—IMU—We spent the day in the IMU with Kehau.  She is doing so much better.  She only had one chest tube, the pacemaker lines, two IVs and her SAT monitor on.  They are planning on taking everything out this afternoon except for the IV on her right hand.  One step closer.

Sunday, February 14, 2010—IMU—Kehau was moved to the IMU, secondary care unit this afternoon.  She is really fussy, and in pain.  We requested stronger medication because she just can’t seem to relax and sleep.  She’s been up and crying all day and all night.  Haunani got to sleep next to Kehau’s bed tonight.

Saturday, February 13, 2010—PICU—Haunani nursed Kehau today.  All Kehau wanted to do was look at her mom.  It made even the nurses tear up.

Friday, February 12, 2010—PICU—Today, they took her off the ventilator.  She has a little nose tube that she doesn’t like very much, but her oxygen saturation levels are at 100%.  This evening, they fed Kehau pedialyte and a bottle of breast milk.  She’s not very hungry, even though it’s been five days since she had anything solid to eat.  This afternoon, they removed two of her three chest tubes and her ART lead.  The massive rack of fluids and beeping gauges is getting smaller by the day, and every time they take something away, she is one step closer to coming home.

Thursday, February 11, 2010—PICU—They closed her chest today.  Her scar will be longer than the one she got when she was just a day old, but that is such small potatoes compared to Dr. Lamberti’s prognosis.  We are so happy.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010—PICU—Kehau is still in the Pediatric ICU (PICU).  She is heavily sedated, so we just sit next to her bed and hold her little hands.  They didn’t close her chest because they wanted the swelling to go down first.  They plan to do that tomorrow afternoon.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010—OPERATION—We spent the morning spending time with Kehau.  We went on a long walk through the hospital gardens.  Kehau’s favorite was the Buggy Garden.  She loved the sculptures and butterfly shades.  At 1:00 PM, they took her into the operating room.  It was a 5-hour operation.  We waited in the ICU waiting room until they wheeled her in.  We watched the procession from the waiting room windows.  She looked so small on the gurney. Five doctors and nurses brought her in, all of them holding on to some type of rack with fluids or machines and tubes that all connected to our little Kehau.  Dr. Lamberti met us in the waiting room and said the words that make your knees buckle.  “She is doing great,” he said.  “I was able to repair her pulmonary artery.  If all goes well, she won’t need another operation for up to 15 years.”  It was the most emotional moment ever.  Thank you, Dr. Lamberti.  You are a magician.

Monday, February 8, 2010—We got a call this morning from Dr. Lamberti’s office.  They have scheduled Kehau’s open-heart surgery for tomorrow afternoon.  We went over to meet with Debbie, Dr. Lamberti’s nurse practitioner.  She went over all of the things that could go wrong with the operation, everything from complete recovery to death.  It was the most frightening thing we’ve ever experienced.

Sunday, February 7, 2010—Super Bowl Sunday—The Ronald McDonald staff prepared a great spread of appetizers in the cafeteria and set up a very large screen to watch the game.  We stayed in our room with Kehau and watched it on the TV.  She getting better.

Saturday, February 6, 2010—Another “stay in” day.  Kehau was fussy all morning, and finally took a good nap.

Friday, February 5, 2010—We stayed in our room at the Ronald Mcdonald House all day, trying to heal Kehau’s cold.  We also didn’t want to expose her to any other viruses out there.  We bought a humidifier to help keep the room humid so the dry air wouldn’t make her cough worse.

Thursday, February 4, 2010—We saw the doctors this morning.  They scheduled a sedated echocardiogram, but since Kehau had a cold, they didn’t want to put her under.  Her oxygen saturation levels have been dropping, so they decided to do an echocardiogram while she was sleeping.  It took 3 hours.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010—RADY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL— Kehau was evaluated today.  Her surgeon, Dr. Lamberti decided to postpone her operation until Monday or Tuesday. They x-rayed her chest to make sure she didn’t have pneumonia.  Her chest was clear.  So, we just wait until her cough goes away.

Monday, February 1, 2010—SAN DIEGO—Kehau, her mom Haunani, and her Ama flew from Honolulu to San Diego on Hawaiian Airlines and arrived at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the Rady Children’s Hospital at 10:00 PM.  It was an incredibly long day, and at the end we discovered that Kehau caught a cold. This meant that we’d have to wait for a week for her cold to get better.  The doctors wouldn’t allow her to undergo surgery and sedation if she was coughing.

Thursday, January 14, 2010—CARDIOLOGIST—Kehau had an appointment with her cardiologist, Dr. Sim this morning. He checked out the stent in her pulmonary artery that was put in place the day after she was born. He says it’s working great, and that she could probably go another couple of months. But, Dr. John Lamberti, her cardiovascular surgeon from Rady’s Childrens Hospital in San Diego will be in Honolulu next week, and we’ll see what he says. Dr. Sim administered an ultrasound to check out Kehau’s heart, and he says everything looks good. So, all in all, we had a great cardiologist appointment, and things are looking good. We’ll be leaving for San Diego on Monday, February 1st. More updates and photos to come.