The McMillen Family

It was about this time last Saturday, when we pulled in our driveway!  We have officially been home a week and it has been wonderful!  What a beautiful site it was to see “The Mighty Mississippi” when flying in to Memphis.   Home, of course, was beautiful too.  We went to Boston in the Fall hoping to see nice fall foliage and the most beautiful leaves I saw were in my own yard!  We have a very nice tree in the front yard (That will have to be cut down because it is leaning towards our house.)  that has beautiful red leaves!  (I can’t find my camera or I would already have a picture on the blog for you to see.) All week long,  we have played the “this time last week” and “This time 2 weeks ago” game.  2 weeks ago Monday – meet the docs, learn the hospital, get a good night’s sleep Tuesday – Surgery, funny ICU story Wednesday – Surgery, answered prayers Thursday – Friday – Recovery and move to a room Saturday – Monday – Recover in the room A week ago – Tuesday – discharge

Knowing that it rained today, I’m sure that most of you would assume that this meant, we didn’t wash away with the rain.  It was a nice rainy day.  And since Justin is still recovering, we had the liberty of sleeping in late and lounging around today.  (Back to our college days when it was just “too messy” to go to class.)  But this is not what I mean by the title.  Since, it was a rainy day, we played HALO! For those of you who are not familiar, let me fill you in.  HALO is an XBOX game.  (We like to run and gun.)  Halo 3 came out a year or so ago, and we bought it because Justin was “raised” on this game.  This is one thing that we do together.  So, Yeah I would say that I am a wonderful wife because not all ladies would endure this wonderful time consuming combat.  When Justin and I were at MSU, he always tried to buy Xbox games that I would like to play with him (Bugs Bunny, Golf, Looney Tunes).  Now to brag on my husband, I get to watch the chick-flicks that I want see.   He has

  What a blessing from the Lord!  10/13 – Surgery 10/14 – 2nd surgery 10/20 – Dismissed from Hospital 10/23 – Follow Up Appointment 10/24 – Non Stop “Flight” to John’s Creek

Let me start with an apology.  I did plan to update last night after getting settled at the hotel, but I was completely exhausted.  I apologize for anyone who felt withdrawals from the blog.  I will try to redeem myself with this post, however, the Holiday Inn is mostly uneventful. On Monday, Justin had a CT scan from 3-4pm.  We expected to hear from it on Monday, but that did not happen.  Monday night around midnight (while Justin and I were staying up late as if it were a Friday night!) Justin decides to sneeze!  Painful as it was, it was also a little concerning. Justin asked me to see if he had “pulled” anything.  There was a little clear drainage, so I had the nurse come to look at it as well.  She called the on-call surgeon to come look at the incision.  (Which got us a little concerned).  He said, It looked fine!  He also instructed us what to look for to detect any issues.  After that episode, the surgeon asked if we were going home on Tuesday.  So we explained about waiting

All settled at the Holiday Inn. Justin is doing fine ( taking a quick nap). I will update tonight about the day.

Today has been a good day – I think it should be diary entry style. 7 am – Justin awakes and takes medicines.  (Last dose of prescription pain medicine 3am.  Now taking only Tylenol and Motrin!) 7:30 – Mrs. Anita calls for breakfast order 8am – Justin takes a walk in anticipation of breakfast 8:30 – Breakfast arrives – Sausage and biscuit as requested. Mid – morning – Cardiologist (Dr. K) arrives as Justin is being weighed.  This is the first time Dr. K has seen Justin vertical.  He is very happy.   (We told him Justin had been up and walking, but by the time Dr. K gets here each day, Justin is resting again.)  Justin comments - “I have a bone to pick with you.” **Let me explain before I finish the story.  After heart surgery (and probably other surgeries) you are given an Inhaling device that you inhale into to reach a certain goal.  This one has 3 tubes with a ball in each.  If you inhale hard enough you raise all 3 balls.  This is the goal.  It helps expand the lungs aft

Justin had a great day today – I feel like I should make a list of his accomplishments! p Sit in a chair and eat breakfast p Complain because it was a plain biscuit , without sausage p Let the nurse practitioner remove “electrical wires” and large bandage from stomach area without any drama p Walk “around the block” (or down the hall – whatever) p Take pain meds without nausea meds and not get sick p Eat an entire roast beef sandwich for lunch p Walk “around the block” again p Eat chicken nuggets for supper p Take a shower p Take a nap after taking the shower p Walk “around the block” for the 3rd time!! p Eat some choc pudding __ Rest – working on this Not only was Justin on a mission, we have seen the 3 year old boy in hallway (The one from the dr.’s appt on Monday with the balloon).  He was walking much faster than Justin and blowing bubbles as he walked.  It is amazing how kids forget their pain.  We also heard some nurses holler down the hall

That's right - SNOW!! It apparently is not a big deal in Boston, (Which we figured) but is uncommon for October. It is really funny though - Because what do we do in Mississippi when it is snowing? . . . That's right - we call everyone we know and ask - "Do you see the snow?" "Is it snowing at your house?" "Go look outside!" "Do you think it will stick?" "Will we get out of school?" The reaction here in Boston - Nurse walks in the room - "Oh , is it STILL snowing?" (with a frown). Apparently they like snow for the coziness of the Holidays, but snow this early sets them up for a long winter. In the meantime, the Mississippians are staring at the window with huge eyes and trying to find a better view! Seriously, the snow flakes are about an inch in diameter! We are talking HUGE! We've never seen snowflakes so big. (Of course it rained yesterday and this morning, so it's not sticking.) Oh - and Justin

Now that Justin is alert, I ask him what he wants me to blog about. He usually says, " just whatever". And then he says, "Its been a long day." So that is how I get my titles. Justin's short version of the blog itself. We all slept well last night! Justin woke up a few times is all. The nurse had to run a view things through his IV. He said he woke up one time because he tried to move his arm and felt resistance; turned out to be the nurse. Then the IV pump was beeping (it does this when it finishes the meds ) and he said, "Can somebody turn that off?" I went to get the nurse and she was on her way in. She is our nurse again tonight and is very sweet. She was on top of the IV all night as far as the beeping and things. She has been great! I'm sure things are more quiet at night, but she seems to really stay on top of things. Justin has done well with eating today (In my non-professional opinion). It is so great to be at the children's hospital

I was trying to see if Justin would feel like walking up the hall this evening and he said, "I think I should rest, I've had a really busy day!" He is doing so well! He is taking little to no medicine through his IV. He is able to get out of bed to move around a little. He is doing such an awesome job getting up and down in the bed. He can get up and down with the help of just one person. Yesterday, he was needing at least 2 people to help. He has begun to eat today, which is good. The oral pain medicine is a little rough on an empty stomach, so we tried to get him to eat when he felt like it. Mrs. Anita ordered him some chicken tenders, toast, and jello for lunch. He ate some of this and enjoyed having real food! This afternoon we wanted him to continue to get stuff on his stomach, so when he would wake up I would feed him some jell-o. Finally he asked, "Am I about done with that? Can we just put that to the side?" So, no more jell-o for now! Toni

Justin has been moved to a room this morning!  He is doing great!  All of the doctors and nurses are very excited about his progress.  Before leaving ICU, they removed most of his “stuff” (except for one IV).  This allow him to move around more freely, which is the next step.  Justin will be getting up and walking around this afternoon.  He is also just starting to eat again.  If you think about it, he hasn’t had anything since Monday night supper.  So, it will be like learning how to eat after the stomach virus.  We are praying this doesn’t make him sick.  They will also be giving pain medicine by mouth, so we are also praying that his pain continues to stay under control! He is making such great progress!  I think he is far ahead, especially with moving around, than he was this far out of last year with his surgery!  That is exciting!  Praising the Lord for this! Loving your comments, I read them to Justin as he is dozing in and out.  I can’t wait to read them to him when he is

I know that many of you are new to our blog, so welcome! Justin and I enjoy blogging about our lives, but I know that many of you have just joined us for surgery. So, please stay tuned for the rest of our lives as well! Justin is doing well. He has rested most of the day. He also sat up in a chair for an HOUR! He said his chest pain was fine, but he couldn't get his neck comfortable in that chair ( because he wanted to SLEEP!) He has been a great patient and has his normal humor. He also has comments that make little to no sense and probably won't remember most of this! Funny Comments from Justin today - Mrs. Anita was talking to Justin and finally said, "I think you're sleeping, so I'm going to leave you along. " to which Justin replied (With eyes closed) - "I can multitask!" Mom was cracking jokes by his bed and said, "I guess you don't think this is funny." And I said, "That's ok , right Justin, that is how we tal

Justin is off the ventilator and doing well. It came out faster today once they woke him up, because he most of the medicine had worn off throughout the night. He is dozing in and out right now. He is hot today, but no fever that I know of. So, we are constantly fanning. The nurse who just came in to adjust the bed said that it has a cooling feature, so that should help. He feels much better now that the ventilator is out. He is definitely about himself and commenting about things. Mrs. Anita, myself, and Justin all rested well last night. Today is going to be a busy day. They will take out most all tubes and stuff (I'm sure that is the correct "medical term"). Then I think he will have to sit in a chair and maybe walk, just depends on how he is progressing. Praising the Lord this morning for . . . 1. Family and friends who have continued to pray - this is what has gotten us through 2. Ventilator came out quickly and without issue. 3. Justin (although not in hi

Justin is out of surgery and doing well! He is fast asleep in ICU. They want him to sleep all night to help him recover. They will work on the ventilator coming off in the morning. Dr. Del Nido really wanted to give his body time to rest. The rest of us are better now. Going to get some rest tonight and look forward to the day tomorrow. We do understand that the recovery process is long, but we have been carried through it before. Most importantly - We do not want to neglect Thanking the LORD for bringing us through this. He has had HIS hand on us for quite sometime now. We have felt HIS love and feel HIS presence. I think we will all sleep better tonight. So, if you can tonight - Just say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for Justin, his health, the doctor and his wisdom, and for his saving power of salvation.

Justin has been recovering fine from his surgery. After surgery yesterday, Dr. del Nido told us that what he looked like inside was different from the pictures. The artery that is causing the issue because it is at risk of being pinched was running into the heart muscle. He called this a myocardial bridge. He removed this muscle to correct this issue. He told us that he was concerned about another place that could also cause him issues. So he had a CT scan done today to check to see if this was an issue. In fact it was, Dr. Del Nido wanted to fix this now and send us home completely fixed! Justin was of course disappointed, but also all of us wanted to get it fixed and be finished. Praises . . . 1. The Lord has carried us this far. (Definelty his footprints in the sand.) 2. The Lord worked out all the details to get us to Dr. Del Nido (who has been described by one employee here as their "Rockstar") 3. The Lord has granted us with grace and peace. 4. We know the rec

Justin is still doing fine. It took a while before he could come off of the ventilator because he was so groggy (not sure of the spelling) . The surgeon came in this evening and said to go ahead and take him off the ventilator. AFter they did this, he wanted to go to sleep. This was causing his oxygen levels to fluctuate a bit, so we had to try to keep him awake. I say all that so you will understand the rest of the blog. Since he is groggy, he is also talking very much like a drunk with some slurred speech here and there. To keep him awake the nurse wanted him to talk, so she asked how Justin and I met. How we met By:Justin Paraphrased from memory by: Abigail So, Abigail and I grew up together. Our families went to church together our whole lives. So one day I was in the youth boys class, 7-12th grade. I was in 9th grade. And Jason Horton, you don't know him, was sitting there beside me. Abigail had to come down there to take roll or something. And Jason said, "Hey

Just a quick update, I will try to add more later. Justin got out of surgery around 2pm. Then was moved to ICU. He will stay at least one night here, maybe longer. This is not a big deal. We were told to expect 2-3 days. They like to be cautious. We cannot use our cell phones at all in this area, not even in the waiting area. My parents will have their phones on at some times during the day. All is well right now. I do have email, but I hesitate to put it on my blog. You can get it from my parents or leave a post on the blog. Praises 1. Justin is out of surgery! 2. The surgeon, cardiologist, and nurses are all in contact with us and agree he is doing well. 3. The Lord has taken care of us until now and will continue to grant us with His love, grace, and peace.

So for the next few hours, please disregard the incorrect grammar, misspelled words, and incomplete thoughts or run-ons.  Laugh about them now, tell  me about them later.  :) Yesterday was a good day.  We were at the hospital at 7:00 to begin our day.  They told us to prepare to be there for 6-8hours.  Everyone worked very quickly to get us in and out.  Justin signed his life away, had a chest x-ray, and blood work.  Poor thing though, all of the other kids got balloons.  The dad sitting next to us with his 3 year old son (who also is having surgery this morning – please pray for them as well) said, “ You have to be a big boy to get a balloon.”  We met with the anesthesiologists who said their plan was to keep him comfortable and safe.  They said his case would be “boring” which I can understand, since they normally operate on little ones.  After testing and a few meetings, they told us to be back around 1 to see the surgeon.  So, unlike most, we were able to leave and go eat lunch

Yesterday, we spent some time seeing a few sights.  We went to the Harbor and walked around for a while.  The aquarium line was too long.  So we decided to walk to the USS Constitution.  It is the oldest ship still commissioned by the US Navy.  It is wooden, which is awesome!  After the long walk, we didn’t feel like climbing around inside of it, but we did walk up on the deck.  (I wish I had wood floors in my house that looked like the deck of that ship.)  So, here are a few pictures of our day!    Waiting for a cab outside the hotel. Looking out at the Harbor. (Seriously guys, we have water in MS) Beautiful archway in Columbus Park.   Justin is in his own little world as usual!  Jimmy and I are checking out football scores on the iPhone because “there’s an app for that!”   USS Constitution – pictures don’t do it justice. Last night, we went to eat at Legal Sea Foods – I will post that picture later from my phone.  My parents came in yesterday after

Well you will notice (assuming I get internet and get to post this blog) that it is in fact 12:17am.  If you know me at all, you know that I am not awake at this time by choice!  Also keep in mind that it is technically 1:17 where I am. Let me walk you through the day  . . . Mrs. Anita and Mr. Jimmy arrived in Ecru around 8am to pick us up.  The ride to the Memphis airport was quick and talkative.  We arrived at the airport around 9:30.   We unloaded all the bags at the curb and the men went to park the car.  Just trying to get a jump start on the day, I went to the ticket counter (where there was no line!) to see if I could get us checked in.  The man let me check all the bags and bumped us up to an earlier flight.  He was afraid that due to the weather, our 12:45 flight would be delayed.  When we got the gate we found out that the flight we were put on was also delayed.  The original flight was late getting to Charlotte, then flew to Memphis but could not land because of weather.

Let’s start with a quick update about Boston.  Justin and I will be flying out (along with his mom and Mr. Jimmy) on Friday – Oct 9- around lunch time.   We will arrive in Boston in time for supper and a good night’s rest!  Saturday and Sunday will be spent seeing the sights and   good eating!  Monday – the 12th – we will go to Boston children’s hospital for some routine tests, meeting with the doctors, and whatever else.  Then we will go back to the hotel for another good night’s rest and return bright and early on the 13th for surgery.  We are excited that the trip is finally here.  I will do my best to keep my blog updated as we travel through this part of our life journey. Now back to life right now!  This week God sent us 2 wonderful blessings!  Monday evening as Justin and I were returning home from a trip to Wal-Mart (My husband likes to look around!), we received a phone call from our former pastor, Bro. George Smith.  Bro. George and Mrs. Miriam played a part in both of ou