JUNE 2009 - KAUAI/OAHU

WOW! So, our June this year was very eventful.. I don't even know where to start. I'm just going to treat this as a journal, so that Cy will always have this post to keep. I need to hurry and jot it down before I forget the details!! It may be a LOT of useless info for you and long and depressing at times, so feel free to run away now! haha.. Will probably be very random with pics as well..

From the beginning.. We had a trip planned with Jon & Tasha and the kids for May 30 - June 6th (1 week) in Kauai. SOUNDED like a good idea at the time! The week before our trip AND the week OF our trip, Cy had had fevers every 6 hours or so, so we took him into the pediatrician to make sure he was ok to travel. We took him in TWICE and both times they said it was just a "virus" that should clear up in no time. We even had him tested for the flu and it was negative both times, so we proceeded with our plans to go on our trip.

Pics of Cy in the bath the NIGHT before our trip.. He just laid there on his stomach when the water was gone! I should have known how bad of shape he was in..



We left on a Saturday and Cy was still feverish, so we had our Motrin (every 6 hours) and Tylenol (every 4 hours) on hand. That was the WORST flight EVER!! **Warning** if you fly to Lihue (Kauai) on Delta the plane SUCKS!! There is no air vents and the plane is OLD SKOOL!! No tv's, NOTHING!! Worst flight EVER, especially with a SICK and feverish child!! Cy was sweating the ENTIRE time from his fevers!! Poor thing! He was not doing good at all!! I was already a little worried about going on the trip, and him being in such bad shape on the flight was my confirmation.

Cy on plane.. He was so hot and sweaty that we had to take his pants off! :(

We got there and thought everything would be ok from that point on (after the horrible flight).. So we get our car and checked into our condo, which was really nice!! We were way excited!! Jon and Tasha and the kids wouldn't be there for awhile longer because their flight was delayed about 5 hours, so we were sad about that!! We were excited for them to get there so we could start our vacation!!

After we got settled and slept for a bit, Cy started having a hard time breathing and it scared us a little, so we decided to take him into the ER there on Kauai at about midnight just to be sure he was ok.. The hospital was called "Wilcox" in Lihue. We took him in and they did a chest X-Ray and found he had started a "walking pneumonia" in the upper lobe (we have 3 lobes in each lung) of his right lung. They said it should clear up with antibiotics (like most pneumonia's do, right?), so they intravenously gave him some strong antibiotics and then sent us home at about 8 a.m. that next morning with an oral prescription and said to check back in Monday with the Pediatrician.

That first night at the ER.. Cy was exhausted!!


Drive home from the ER.. Cy seemed to be doing OK..

**Most of these first pics were taken with my phone, so the resolution is AWESOME!! haha..**

We laid low for the next few days and made sure we were doing everything that was asked of us.. Giving Cy his medicine on time and keeping things low key for now.. Putting him in the bathroom with a hot shower running, so that the steam could help him cough out the infection.. No beach, no activities, nothing.. We did it all and then Monday rolls around and we see the Pediatrician. They didn't do another X-ray, but did give him a breathing treatment and said that he should still be ok with the antibiotics, so she sent us on our way and gave us her personal cell number to call in case we have any questions. We went back to our hotel and chilled til Tuesday. Tuesday we decided to go on a drive and venture out a bit, and Cy seemed to be doing fine, so we met up with Jon & Tasha and the kids (my mom was also there with us at that point) for lunch. It was so fun to finally spend some time with them!! We were hoping to hit the beach the last few days of our trip, if Cy got better..

Cy & Daddy at Lighthouse..
Cy & daddy at waterfalls..
Nana & Mya at lunch..
Loni & Mya Loni at lunch...
Daddy & Cy at lunch...

We got home that night and Cy was having more trouble breathing, but it was worse than it had been Saturday night. We called the 24-hour nurse hotline and the pediatrician.. The pediatrician said he shouldn't be having such a hard time breathing and told us to take him back to the ER. We were trying to get around taking him back, in case he didn't need it, but after all was said and done, we had to go with our INTUITIONS and GUT FEELING (even after the nurse on the phone said he should be fine) which was to take him back to the ER!! I'm telling you, NOTHING beats your GUT feeling as a parent.. Nobody can tell you different, if you have that feeling (that I believe more times than not is the spirit guiding you with your decision) GO WITH IT, regardless of what anyone else says!!

Just thinking back to that night is putting me in tears right now!! I have tried blocking those first few weeks out of my head since Cy is on the up now, but remembering back to that night is bringing back those hopeless and helpless feelings that I had and I'm sitting here bawling my eyes out!! We took Cy into the ER and he was really struggling!! They did another chest X-Ray and his pneumonia had spread to his ENTIRE LUNG!! His entire right lung was FILLED with fluid and infection!! He was only breathing on 1 lung, and you could tell because he was really struggling to breathe!! It was HORRIBLE!! It was the worst feeling in the world to see your child struggling like that and not being able to do anything for him! As a mom, you feel the need to be SUPERWOMAN and take care of your child's every need, well I couldn't be that at this point and it was the worst feeling in the world!! I couldn't be his superwoman and kiss him and make everything ok!! They called in the pediatrician on call that night and he said NO WAITING send him to Oahu ASAP!! There is a Children's Hospital on Oahu called "Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children" and they said there at Wilcox that they couldn't do any more for Cy and that he needed more urgent care, so they called the "AirMed Hawaii" company and setup an AIR Ambulance to get us to Kapi'olani as soon as possible! You can't imagine the thoughts going through my head at that point!! Here I am, holding my child that is looking so helplessly at me, struggling to breathe, and we had to wait for an air ambulance to get him to where he needed to be so that he could get the best care possible!! They were telling us that HOPEFULLY one of us would fit on the plane with Cy, but that both of us wouldn't fit, so Collin and I talked about it and decided that I would go, since Cy was clinging on to me and wouldn't let go.. I was so worried!! I was telling Collin that I don't know if I could do it!! I didn't think I was emotionally strong enough to go with him alone!! Collin had to remind me that I am not alone, and that the Lord will help us get through this.. I guess I didn't have enough faith!! I felt so helpless!! I didn't want anything to happen to Cy, and I especially didn't want anything to happen while we were there alone!! I was praying in my head NON-STOP for help!! I was praying for comfort so that I could be emotionally stable enough for my son!! My brother Jon had went back to the hotel to grab me a bag of some clothes since it was midnight and Collin wouldn't be able to catch a flight til the next morning. That was such a horrible feeling, going on a plane by myself, with my sick son, not knowing which way it was going to go!! All I could do at that point was have FAITH that everything was going to be ok, but it was SO HARD!! It was so hard to not think the WORST.. It was good having Jon there though! He is such a good brother and Uncle to Cy! Cy loves his Uncle Jon SO MUCH! Collin and Jon gave Cy a blessing before we left, which I KNOW helped him that night!! They also gave me a blessing of comfort before getting on the plane to Oahu. I KNOW that helped me as well!! I'm SO GRATEFUL for the power of the priesthood, and I KNOW that my faith and testimony of the power of the priesthood has grown a million times from this experience, and I KNOW that with the Lord's help, anything is possible! This part of my story about that night is from Collin's own story he is writing:
"Seeing my wife and son leave in the ambulance was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, I told myself to be strong so they could know that I knew everything would be ok. They strapped Cy's little car seat to a stretcher and buckled him in, he was so tough he didn't even cry. The last thing I saw was Cy on the stretcher in his car seat looking at me and I could tell he was scared but he was being tough, that helped comfort me.
Once I got into the car I called my mom and I lost it, I sobbed for at least 45 minutes. I had no control over what would happen next. I hoped my wife and son would get to Oahu safely. I hoped that they could diagnose the illness properly and take the proper measures to assure his well-being.
I went back to the resort and tried my best to sleep. I was going to catch a flight the next day to Oahu to be with my wife and son. Everything was fine until about 4 am when I got a text from my wife pleading for me to hurry and that she was so worried about Cy and that she needed me to be there with them because she couldn't do it alone. Obviously my heart sank again and I got the sickest feeling ever."

Cy in the ambulance to the plane.. Such a good boy! You could tell he was a little scared, but he was still very calm..

Plane that took us to Oahu..

Cy with his car seat strapped to the stretcher getting on the plane..

Cy trying to give me a smile on the plane..

Getting off the plane.. Cy is knocked out!

Cy in the ambulance from the plane to the hospital..

So, the "life flight" over to Oahu was quick and Cy actually slept through it.. He must have been exhausted from struggling to breathe and all the commotion that had been going on. It made the flight a little easier for me seeing him sleeping. He woke right when we landed and looked worried. He hadn't even cried yet, at this point, but you could tell he was scared! I'm sure he didn't have a clue what was going on and he didn't know how to express his feelings at this point! He couldn't even TALK!! He couldn't say anything because he couldn't catch a breathe long enough to say a WORD! It was so sad!! We had an ambulance take us from the plane to the hospital and checked in at about 2 a.m. (Wednesday morning). A few hours later I was holding Cy as we were sitting in our hospital room waiting for the doctors to come assess him when he looked up at me and in broken words (because he couldn't breathe) said, "H-H-HELP M-M-ME M-M-O-O-MMY" That was it!! I had officially lost it!! I am in TEARS just thinking about it!! I finally was bawling and I told him "I can't help you, CY!! I don't know what to do!! I'm so sorry son.. I can't help you!!" - I officially lost it at that point!! I texted Collin and told him to get there ASAP because I couldn't do it anymore!! I couldn't sit here helpless and ALONE while Cy was in so much pain!! I knew our condo didn't have very good service, so I tried calling Collin and my mom and couldn't get through to either of them.. It would have been about 8 a.m. Utah time so I called Connie (my mother-in-law) to find comfort!! I needed to talk to someone! I felt so alone.. I guess my distress caused more stress on Connie as well. I called her and told her I couldn't do it anymore!! I was in TEARS and I couldn't even talk.. That probably didn't help her at all, being a thousand miles away, and feeling so helpless where she was, she couldn't do anything for us but PRAY.. She had a hard time talking to me so she had to give the phone to George (my father-in-law) and I could just hear her sobbing in the background.. I felt horrible for putting her in this situation, when she was already so scared, but I needed a familiar voice to reason with me and remind me that everything was going to be ok! George was that voice at that point. George is great, he doesn't loose it, he stays very calm and reassured me that everything would be ok. I was grateful for his voice of reason at that time, because I had calmed down by the time the doctors were there and told me that Cy would more than likely need to have surgery THAT DAY! They said that he would need a chest tube put in to try to drain some of the fluids in his lungs, since the antibiotics weren't getting to the infection quick enough. He needed some of that fluid out so that he could breathe better and help his lungs expand more. I broke the news to Collin when he had service and got my pleading text and called me back right away! He was hopeful that it was a good thing for Cy to have surgery, hoping that it would help him for now. I needed Collin to get there asap, but neither one of us had the internet to book him a flight!! Luckily I have one of the best friends EVER, Celeste, and she was so helpful that morning!! She got online right away and booked the soonest flight she could for Collin to hurry and get to Cy and I. Collin got in around 8 that morning and his good friend from his mission, Tumu, drove from Laie (about 40 mins from the airport) and picked him up to bring him to the hospital. I was so grateful for these 2 that morning! I needed Collin there SO BADLY!! I was so happy to see him when he finally got to the hospital! It had only been 8 hours since we had seen him, but it felt like FOREVER!!

Pics after checked in.. They had hooked Cy up to all different things, IV's, Oxygen, Heart monitor, etc.. Poor little guy!



The doctors met with us that morning and explained the surgery and what it would consist of. We gave the green light to go with it, hoping it would be one step closer to Cy's recovery, so they scheduled his surgery for 3:00 that afternoon. We prayed and tried to prep Cy that morning for what was to come.. He wouldn't remember any of it, but we would! I'm sure we were prepping ourselves more than anything! We let our friends and family know the latest idea of surgery and they all assured us that Cy would be in their prayers!! 3:00 rolls around and we take Cy to the procedure room where the surgeon, Dr. Sidney Johnson spoke to us explaining the nature of the surgery, and reassured us that it wouldn't be more than a few hours long. He also let us know that Cy would be under heavy anesthesia and wouldn't remember any of it. Collin was holding Cy when they injected him with the anesthesia and it really wasn't more than 20 seconds and he was OUT! Collin then handed Cy over to the team and we walked away. I felt a wave of comfort come over me once we walked away. That was the first time that I KNEW Cy was going to be ok! That was a very comforting feeling.. I was grateful for it at that moment when I needed it most, not knowing Cy's fate. I don't remember eating at this point since the day before, so Collin and I went to the cafeteria to try to choke down some nutrition before we get the call that Cy is done with surgery. We were sitting there eating and talking and agreeing that we both got the feeling that Cy would be ok! I haven't seen Collin in that light before, and I loved him more than EVER!! I loved him for being strong and sensitive at the same time! I loved him for being a worthy priesthood holder so that he could bless myself and our SON in our times of need! I loved him for constantly reassuring me that everything would be ok! I loved him for LOVING me and COMFORTING me when he was also in need of comfort! My younger sisters call him a "limited edition" because he is so special and so rare, they hope to find someone like him someday, but they say he is a "limited edition" haha..

We were almost done eating when Sii (Sii and Celeste are some of our VERY BEST FRIENDS) texted Collin and was asking what we were up to.. Collin told him that we were just eating and waiting for Cy to get out of surgery. Soon after that, someone called Collins phone and let us know he was done and just waking up, so we headed straight to the "recovery room" and as we were walking out of the cafeteria and down the hall, we see Sii & Celeste walking towards us!! I'm getting chills just thinking about it!! It was the BEST surprise all day!! It was so nice to see them! I just hugged Celeste and cried!!! I was so overwhelmed to see them! I was so happy to have her there at this time as Cy was getting out of surgery! They are so sweet and thoughtful!! Sii works for Delta, so I guess they got on a flight that morning and had to leave that night, but it was so nice to have them there with us for a few hours when Cy got out of surgery. We all walked down to the recovery room together, but they only let a few in at a time, so Collin and I went in first to be with Cy when he woke up from the drugs. Cy seemed to be doing great! He woke up just fine, with no crying or anything.. He asked us for juice and also was asking for pizza!! He must have been so hungry and thirsty, because he wasn't able to eat or drink anything all morning before the surgery!! Collin went out and sent Celeste in so that she could see Cy, and he was so cute to her! He said, "Hi Celeste! Where Afu at?" haha.. I'm wondering what was going through her mind at that moment.. She got teary eyed.. I'm sure from imagining her own child lying there. We tend to do that as parents.. We imagine what it would be like to go through the trials with our children that we see other parents go through! It was seriously so good to have them there! Celeste and I went out so that Collin and Sii could see Cy for a bit before they had to get back on a plane to Utah! Once Cy was awake, they had moved him to a room in the ICU for the night. Cy got lucky, because the ICU is mostly separated by curtains, but Cy somehow got his own room there! Once we were in our ICU room and settled, Sii and Celeste left to catch their flight back! I was so grateful to have them there for those few hours! We really are so grateful for our friends and family and their different ways of supporting us through this trial! That night we also had a visit from Tumu (Collin's mission companion that lives in Laie) and his wife, Ada. They are so sweet! They brought us a bunch of food! Of course he brought Collin some polynesian food and Li Hing Mui candy!! Both are his favorite! Tumu must have known Cy's favorites also, because he brought him bananas, funyuns, paki cake (you can only get it at Sams store in Laie and it's a family FAVORITE), and bunch of other snacks! They were so sweet to drive all that way again to come see us! That night my Uncle Sione (my dad's brother that lives in Kailua) and his daughter Mele also came to see Cy! It was so good to see so many familiar faces that night after Cy's surgery!

**Graphic pictures of chest tube - enter with caution**




Cy FINALLY got to eat after his surgery...



I finally got to hold him! That was the BEST feeling EVER!! I seriously didn't wanna put him back in his bed! :(


He kept asking for his BLUE.. haha..



George had booked us a hotel about 5 mins away at the Ala Moana DoubleTree with his hotel points! I am SO GRATEFUL for that! I really don't know what we would have done without it! We had a place to shower and sleep for a few hours here and there! That night after Cy's surgery Collin sent me back to the hotel to sleep, since I had been going on 48 hours of no sleep and we had another baby we needed to worry about! lol... It was hard to be there at the hotel alone with my thoughts.. It took awhile to fall asleep and I kept waking up in tears because I wanted Cy to be right there next to me! Needless to say, it was a restless night, but I was grateful to get SOME shut eye! I was ready to go that next morning at about 7 a.m.. I missed my boys and I couldn't wait to get back to the hospital to see them! We were taking a cab back and forth at this point.. We hadn't thought about a rental car yet, we didn't know how long we would be there! I was honestly thinking we would probably be able to go back home to Utah that weekend when we were originally scheduled to go back... Little did I know!! haha.. When I got back to the hospital it was so good to see Cy!! He hadn't changed much, but he was on oxygen and seemed to be breathing a TINY BIT better, but every little bit helped at this point! We were very lucky that we got out of the ICU that next day! They said it's usually a few days in the ICU after surgery before returning to the main floor and a real room! Cy is a trooper, that's why!! Let's see.. It was Thursday at this point.. WOW, I can't believe so much has happened already in 2 days! It felt like 2 MONTHS!! Cy was visited regularly by nurses, doctors, infectious disease specialist, the surgeon and Residents during his stay there.. The doctor asked us that day when we were originally scheduled to go back? We told her Saturday and she gave us the "look" and then said.. "YYYYAAA... I would call and cancel your flight and let them know that you will reschedule at a later time." We were sure we were stuck at that point! They wouldn't give us a time frame, no matter how many times we asked.. They said that it would depend on how quickly Cy can recover from this, and that he would need to be on continued antibiotics both orally and intravenously for quite some time. We had heard "3 weeks" thrown around by a resident, but we couldn't believe that we would actually be there for that long!! Nothing mattered at this point but our sons health, so we just accepted the fact that we would be there for a bit longer, and decided to take it on a day to day basis. We weren't in a rush to get anywhere and jeopardize Cy's health!! They wouldn't allow us to get on a plane, in fear that Cy's lungs would collapse, so we accepted that and let our friends and family know that we wouldn't be back for awhile!!

My mom flew over from Kauai that day with the rest of our stuff! It was SO GOOD to see her!! There really is nothing more comforting than a hug from your mom! She could only stay til Saturday, but it was still nice to have her there for a few days. Collin would go back to the hotel for a bit during the day to sleep and shower, while my mom and I would go there at night. Cy was very happy to see his nana! He kept asking her "where papa?" and "can I go to your house?"

My mom left on Saturday morning and then the surgeon came in that day to pull Cy's chest tube because it wasn't doing much more draining. I held Cy while he pulled the tube out and noticed that there was a lot more draining when he pulled the tube, which made sense when he told me that it must have been clogged, and that's why it wasn't doing much draining! It was so sad, because he pulled the tube out and Cy just sat in my arms crying!! Every time he would inhale and then let out a scream more puss would come out of his side, and it was hard for me to not watch it! I thought I would vomit at any moment, but never did.. (I think I will look into nursing school!) Once it stopped pouring out the Dr. put "dressing" over it - medical term used for the cloth and tape to seal up the "site" (opening where the surgery was performed). Dr. Johnson had discussed with us about possibly putting the tube back in since it had been clogged, but he wanted to wait a bit to see if the infection cleared up on its own, and the infectious disease specialist, Dr. Melish didn't want to consider another surgery on Cy's little body just yet. She was confident that the antibiotics were starting to do their job.. It was interesting how different the opinions were of the various specialists that saw Cy. One of the nurses had told me that Cy's case was so severe that they had an entire group session on his case for their "monthly meeting" with all the nurses, and dr's and specialists at the hospital. They went over all the facts up to that point with x-rays and reports, and had a discussion on opinions of what could be done at this point, what should have been done before, etc.. Very interesting! I guess his case was very rare.

They also put a "PICC LINE" in Cy that day, which is a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (glorified IV). Which went in his right arm just above his elbow and ended just below his collar bone (inside his body). The length was about 24 cm. They did this so that Cy wouldn't need to be pricked so many times with new IV's, because I guess IV's are only good for about 3 days before they risk getting infected, but PICC lines can last months, and he would need continued antibiotics intravenously for another few weeks or so. They could also DRAW blood from the line, which was nice so that they wouldn't have to prick him for that either, since they were drawing blood a few times a week! They had told us it's minor surgery, but that he would be put out AGAIN and that it would only take about an hour!! 2 hours had gone by and we hadn't heard back from them yet, so we were getting nervous!! We decided to call to see how it was going, since it had been an hour longer than they quoted and they said that it was having problems going in (of course).. They said that it kept coiling when they would get it in, but that they were going to try 1 more time, and if they couldn't get it in that they would try the other arm!! Luckily it went in that last time they tried.. ugh.. what else could go wrong with my poor son?

You can't really see where it went in his arm, but this is a picture right before they pulled it.
This is what the picc looked like that they had put in Cy's arm..

My mom left on Saturday, and Connie came on Sunday, so that was nice!! Connie came on Sunday and we had a rental car at that point, so that was nice.. We ended up getting one, since it was cheaper than taking a cab back and forth from the hotel to the hospital. It was SO GOOD to see Connie!! Her hugs were also as good as mom's!! It was comforting to have her there for Collin. He needed his mommy, because he had been so strong for Cy and I through all of this! Cy was also so happy to see his "nama" - she had brought him some new Blues Clues movies (his favorite) and pictures of everyone at home waving to him. She is so thoughtful and creative! She had pictures of everyone at the house and then she also had pics of "his" garden, the chickens, his basketball hoop and toys, the tramp, etc.. He loved looking at them! He would say, "ooohhh.. Look at my garden" or "bouncy bouncy!!" or "I want a popsicle" haha.. He was so excited to see some familiarity in those pics!! Connie would go to the hotel to sleep at night and then come to be with Cy during the day while Collin and I took the night shifts and went back to the hotel for some shower and shut eye for a bit during the day. It was a lot easier being at the hotel with Collin than it was alone!! It was a nice break, but I always felt like I needed to hurry and get back to the hospital to be with Cy! I was, however, very grateful for the break that Connie gave us! She is so sweet! I don't worry about Cy with her! I know that she cares for him as her own, and I appreciate that so much! Not much had changed while Connie was there. Cy continued to be monitered and pumped with antibiotics on a daily basis.. They also had him on Iron at this point because his hemoglobin had dropped to a 7.5!! An 11 or 12 is normal for his age, so his was very low. They also had him on a multivitamin, because his appetite had decreased since surgery. He was also on "lactobasislis".. spelling? It was a drug to restore the GOOD bacteria in his body, because his antibiotics were so strong they were killing ALL the bacteria in his body, even the good ones, so he had about 6 "loose stools" a day and it was tearing up his little bottom! Connie left on Thursday, and we were sad to see her go, but happy to have her those 5 days we did! I felt bad, because Connie had NEVER been to Hawaii before, and her first trip had to be stuck in a hospital! We kept telling her to go explore a little and she refused! She called it a "business trip" haha.. She said it was all business.. I think she might have walked to the beach ONE morning to take a pic for George, because she promised him she would at least see the beach once while she was there, so she took a pic of her feet in the ocean! haha.. she's so funny! Other than that, she really was back and forth from the hospital and hotel, just like us.. What a trooper! She is such an amazing gramma to Cy! No wonder he usually wants to be with her over me! ;) Cy walked for the 1st time after surgery with Connie.. We called her one afternoon to see how he was doing, and she said they were getting ready to take him on a walk!! We were so excited for that! Connie is great! She is always thinking FORWARD!!

Cy walking for the first time in about 10 days.. It was as if he was 1 again, barely learning to walk!
Cy and his "nama" - Cy loves his gramma!!
One of Cy's favorite things to do is wear gramma's glasses, so naturally he had to wear them while he could!! He also wanted to wear her necklace as a "bracelet" haha.. Gramma is such a good sport! She says YES to anything Cy asks!


Cy's PICC line went bad on Friday, which is very rare, because it had only been in a week!! They are suppose to last months!! It wasn't a surprise, since Cy seemed to be the "abnormal case".. haha.. Anyways, they had to pull the PICC line and put in an IV which later that day got a blood clot and had to have the IV team come try to get it out so that they wouldn't have to prick him again!!! I was just hysterical at this point!! I was so sick and tired of Cy being in such pain for such dumb things!! Saturday they decided to put in another PICC line, because he would still need intravenous antibiotics for awhile!! That PICC went in his left arm, and they said it had gone so much more smoothly than his right one had! It only took 30 mins this time!! I felt so bad though, because that was 3 times of anesthesia that Cy had gone through at this point.

We got really lucky, because Connie left on Thursday and my dad flew out on Friday!! It was just as good to see my dad!! He is such a HUGE comfort for me! He has always been such a gentle giant! He is strong but sensitive as well, which reminds me of Collin, and that's why I married him.. because he reminds me a lot of my dad! :) You can always feel the spirit when you are around my dad.. He is such a sweetheart! He is nice to anyone and everyone! I always feel so safe with my dad around. Cy was so happy to see his papa!! Now that my dad was there, he would ask him "where nana?" haha.. My dad got there and insisted on taking the night shifts so that Collin and I could sleep at the hotel at nights. We took him up on it every OTHER night, because it seemed like Cy would sleep horribly the nights we weren't there, so my dad would be up all night with him! I usually sleep next to Cy on his bed when we sleep there, and Collin sleeps on the pull out chair. Poor thing.. It's a chair that pulls out into a very small bed! But, it seems like when Cy would wake up and see me sleeping next to him he would go back to sleep, but my dad said that he would wake up and cry for us when we weren't there at nights! :(

Papa helped Cy go on his daily walks..


This is where I slept at night when Collin and I stayed at the hospital..
And this is where Collin slept.. Can you imgaine a 6'4" man sleeping on here? He must LOVE his son!!

Papa helping Cy with his Physical Therapy.. It was hard for him to walk up and down the stairs! He lost a lot of his strength from not using his legs for almost 2 weeks!!
At this point, we had been blessed with so many visitors of my dad's side of the family that lives out there!! It was so nice to see them, because a lot of them I hadn't seen in such a long time. My uncle Met (my dad's oldest brother) came by with his wife Debby and brought Cy a football!! My cousin Brian and his wife Jen came by to see us and brought some snacks for Cy. My cousin Vic and his wife Nikka and 2 kids, Ace and Lia came by to see us and brought snacks and more paki cake!! :) Our favorite!! haha.. They also live in Laie. My Aunty Eva (my dad's sister) and her husband Teki came by to see us on Sunday and brought polynesian food and KFC!! YUMMY!! My Uncle Sione came back and brought my Aunty Lori with him. She is a nurse, so it was nice to be able to ask her some questions, and her opinion on things. My friend Nani's brother Kimo lives there in Laie, so he came to see us one night and took Collin and I to dinner! He is such a nice guy! That was the first time I had met him and it felt like we had known him FOREVER! He comes from such an amazing family, it wasn't a surprise that he was so great!!

It was Saturday, and at this point we were going into our 3rd week there when they took more blood tests and said that Cy's hemoglobin had dropped to 6.8!! They were considering a blood transfusion! My dad had asked everyone in Utah and Hawaii to have a 24 hour fast for Cy from Saturday at 1:00 Hawaii time, 5:00 Utah time til Sunday at that same time. We had so many people fasting and praying for us! I could really FEEL the love and support from so many so far away!! Sunday came around and my dad had packed church clothes and decided to go to church at the chapel down the street from the hospital at 9:00 that morning. He figured there's gotta be a 9:00 sacrament everywhere, right? Well, he was right, and he was excited to find out that the bishop was his family friend growing up in Tonga!! The bishop there, Bishop Mataele, is an amazing man!! He said that he had known my grandfather Tuiasoa in Tonga and really looked up to him! Bishop Mataele came to see us in the hospital later on that day and brought some treats and other things that really helped us out at that time! I felt so grateful to have so much support from a man that I have never met before!! He is such a sweet man, and you could really feel his spirit and GENUINE love when you are around him!! The family had broke their fast that Sunday with a prayer and Monday came around and they did another blood test before giving Cy a blood transfusion, and his hemoglobin had gone back up to 7.5!! They cancelled the blood transfusion, and I was SO HAPPY about that!! There is so much power in fasting and prayer!! Collin said that was the easiest 24 hour fast he has ever done!! Mind over matter, right? It's easier when you have a reason to be fasting. That was really good news on Monday!! We were happy about that.. At this point there was progress, but really SLOW progress, but we would take ANY progress at this point!!

Bishop Mataele, his granddaughter TeihiLangi & Cy..
Bishop Mataele, Collin, Cy and Bishop's son Andre..


Cy had started working with the Physical Therapists that week, because he was in a bed for 2 straight weeks without ever getting up!! He had to regain his strength and re-learn how to do simple stuff such as bending down to pick things up, climing, or ever walking up and down stairs!! It was so sad.. He seemed like he was barely 1 again!

Cy with his Physical Therapist, Debbie. She was great!
Cy working with bubbles.. They wanted him to REACH for them because he was afraid to lift his arms because of the surgery on his right side.

Cy picking up the "heavy" ball.. Heavy for him, at the time.


This was a THERAPY DOG there at the hospital.. His name was "Tucker"!! He was such an AMAZING dog!! He was so good with the kids! HE was so calm and so comforting! Cy really liked Tucker and they gave him a Tucker stuffed animal so that Cy would always remember him!!



The rest of that week was kind of a blur, because Friday came around and Cy had gone 24 hours without a fever, so they gave us the option to discharge from the hospital, but required that we stay on the island for at least another 10 days! We were ALL OVER that!!

I took this picture with my phone ON THE HOUR that Cy had gone 24 hours without a fever!! I knew there was light at the end of the tunnel...

Some last minute pics..

We were so happy to be able to leave the hospital, we had to stop while on our walkto take a happy picture!
We seriously thought we were going to have to shave Cy's head!! He had a rats nest SO BAD from lying in bed for about 2 weeks!! Luckily, we worked through it slowly and got the tangles out!
Cy doing one of his last breathing treatments at the hospital (he had 4 a day)..
We got Cy an elmo balloon in the gift shop downstairs!! He was quite happy about that!!
We took Cy with us on that last day to eat in the cafeteria.. He had his favorite, PIZZA!!


It seemed to all happen so quickly.. They had us pack up and sent us with outpatient instructions. It was great timing, because my dad had to get back to Utah before Sunday so that he could get back to fulfilling his bishop duties that Sunday. He had missed almost 2 weeks at this point! We were SO GRATEFUL to have him there for that week! He helped out a LOT and sent us out a few nights to relax while he stayed with Cy! We were sad to see my dad go, but it was really good timing, because we were able to take Cy back to the hotel with us!! That was the BEST feeling EVER!! It was so NICE to have Cy outside of the hospital with us after 3 weeks of him being hospitalized!! Cy was so funny.. He didn't know what to do with himself! haha.. They wheeled Cy and I outside while Collin got the car and he was ECSTATIC! I had never seen him so excited to get in his car seat! haha.. He got in and was ordering the rest of us to hurry and get in the car, and then when Collin started driving he was telling Collin "GO FASTER" haha.. He wanted to get as far away from that place as quickly as possible!

Waiting for Collin to bring the car and pick us up!!

At this point, we have had some financial support from some members in Collin's extended family while we were in Hawaii, and we honestly couldn't have done it without them!! It has been such a blessing to have them contribute at the time they did, because it was in much need at that point, and I will be forever grateful for them and for their support in that way!!

Our outpatient instructions were to get a bunch of different perscriptions filled right away so that we had them at the hotel for Cy. They took him off the Lenazolid intravenously and put him on an oral Zyvox (which we found out from the pharmacist was about $500 a bottle, and Cy's perscription required 2 bottles for 10 days.. Thank goodness our insurance covered most of that one!!) I guess that antibiotic is the 2nd highest there is!! There is only 1 antibiotic that is stronger than that one, and Cy was on it!! SO CRAZY.. We also had to fill his iron, multiviatamin and albuterol (which required a nebulizer). He would go into the hospital each morning to get his Rocephin which was still administered intravenously, but the clinic was only open Mon-Fri so we had to have a "homecare" nurse come on Sat to our hotel to give him his antibiotics through his PICC and she showed me how to do it so that I could do it on Sunday!! It was a bit scary, but she walked me through it Saturday so that I could do it Sunday, since the clinic was closed over the weekend! We had to give his other medicines and breathing treatment 3 x day, but it was worth it to be out of the hospital! Cy was such a trooper!! He had taken his medicine and breathing treatments without a fuss at this point. I felt so bad, because I started wondering if he was thinking "this is how life is now" and just accepted it! He had no clue, I'm sure he was thinking, "I got on this plane and now my life has completely changed, and I guess this is how life is going to be from now on"... We were told by many nurses and doctors that Cy was one of the best 2 year old patients they had ever had!! We were quite proud of him, he actually held up a lot better than Collin and did some days, which made me a little embarrassed, because I wasn't the one having to go through all the pain and suffering that his little body was going through!

Monday comes around (going on our 4th week there) and we get Cy's chest X-rays and then meet with the surgeon. Dr. Johnson had said that we should be able to get out of there by the end of that week, so we were very hopeful!! We had met with the pediatrician / infectious disease specialist on Tuesday (Dr. Melish) and she wanted to keep CY on the island for a bit longer and asked that we see her again on Friday. We had tried to take Cy out on drives and some other things during the week since he had been couped up in a hospital for 3 weeks! My cousin Vic and his wife Nikka and their kids Ace and Lia invited us to come with them 1 day to the Polynesian Cultural Center, so we took them up on it! It was a lot of fun, but Cy slept most of the day away.. I don't think he was use to so much stimulation! We were very grateful to have some sort of "vacation" even if it was for 1 night!

I LOVE these pics of Cy, because he seems so happy and this was the first time I started to have hope that we would get our little man back to normal, eventually..

Lia, Loni, Ace, Collin & Cy.. (Ace and Lia are my cousin Vic's kids)..







We were running out of funds at this point and didn't know how much longer we would be there, so we decided to check out of our hotel on Thursday and go to Kailua to stay with my cousin Pua. We hadn't gone there sooner because it was about a 30 min drive from the hospital and we wanted to be close to the hospital in case anything were to happen with Cy. I was pretty comfortable with where he was at at this point, so we took her up on her offer! We were so grateful that she had offered her place to us, since we might have been there a lot longer than planned!! That Thursday night Pua took us to dinner at a place called, "Haleiwa Joe's" which was a seafood restaurant. It was REALLY GOOD food, and BEAUTIFUL!! There was a botanic garden in the back that you could see from your seat!! It was really nice!! Pua's kids were just ADORABLE with Cy!! They were so sweet with him.. Their names are Elijah, Kekoa and Tanalei.

Me with my cousin Pua..

My cousin Mele & Laurel...
Da boys.. Elijah, Kekoa, Cy and Collin..
Me, Princess Tanalei, Kekoa, Elijah, Collin and Cy..
Friday came around and we went to see Dr. Melish, so we took Cy in that morning to get his daily intravenous antibiotics. We were suppose to see Dr. Melish after our appointment, but I guess she was the ER on call pediatrician for that day and couldn't see us, so she asked that we come back on Saturday. We accepted that and went back to Kailua where my lifelong friend Timena had her baby BOY (after 5 girls) so I went to the hospital there to see her new baby. I assumed we would be able to leave that next day, so I called Delta to book our flight, and they said it would be cheaper for us to leave that NIGHT, so I was READY!! I called the hospital and told them that we need to leave that night and that we felt good about it (since the surgeon gave us his green light to get on a plane) and that we would need to come back in to get Cy's PICC pulled asap! They said that Dr. Melish really wanted to see us, so they asked that we come in at 3:30 and she would have a break to meet with us and pull Cy's PICC before we left! I was so excited for a number of reasons.. A - Cy was not going to need intravenous antibiotics anymore and B - we would be home in less than 24 hours!!! We headed back to the hospital, and Dr. Melish met with us and said Cy should be fine flying, but that we need to continue his oral antibiotics and see a number of people upon our arrival to Utah.. Our pediatrican, a pediatric pulmonary specialist, Radiologist, etc.. We said, "ok" and she pulled his PICC line out and sent us on our way! WooHoo!! There was DEFENITELY a LIGHT at the end of the tunnel!! We went back to Pua's and gathered our stuff, said our goodbye's and headed to the airport! Laurel had flown in from Samoa a few days earlier, so she was with us at this point. It was good having Laurel there! She was a comfort for Cy! She sat in back with him, and he loved it! We said GOODBYE to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children and headed to the airport!!



Collin and I were a little nervous about the plane ride, but knew everything would be ok! It was a redeye, so luckily we had leg room to lay Cy down with blankets and pillows, and he slept for about 4 of the 6 hours!! Collin and I got NO SLEEP, only because we were constantly checking Cy's breathing and making sure he didn't have a fever! It was a great flight with Cy sleeping so soundly!!

We couldn't have been happier to be on a plane.. And ready for takeoff!!


It felt SO GOOD to land in SLC!! I have never been more excited to be back home to Utah than I had when we had landed that morning!! Collin said he wanted to get off the plane and kiss the ground like they do in that one movie!! haha.. Connie was on her way to pick us up, but when we came down the escalators towards baggage claim my mom and sisters surprised us!! None of us could hold back the tears in that BEAUTIFUL reunion!! There were so many emotions flying around!! I KNOW that Lachelle has been anxiously awaiting our return! She had been so upset through all of this, as I'm sure everyone has, but Lachelle hasn't hid it! She hasn't held back at all!! We really couldn't stop hugging and crying!! I think more than anything, we were SO HAPPY to be back WITH CY!! We were happy to return HIM home SAFELY! Lachelle had about 20 balloons for us! haha.. Mostly for Cy, but she had a "Happy Birthday" one for Collin and a "Happy Anniversary" one for us, since we spent Collin's birthday, our Anniversary AND Father's Day in the hospital! We took our stuff outside and Connie was there waiting for us! It was SO GOOD to see her!! Once again, more crying!! haha.. We were just SO HAPPY to be home, and to see some of our loved ones there waiting for us!!











I was sad that I didn't take more videos, but this was the only video I had taken of Cy in the hospital.. As you can see, he had just broken a fever!! He would sweat about 6 times a day! So sad.. If you look close you can see the dressing over where the surgery was in his side, and the "PICC" is in his right arm..



I just want to thank everyone for all their LOVE, SUPPORT and PRAYERS for us during this difficult time!! I know there are so many that were praying for us, and we will never be able to thank everyone individually!! I'm sure there are so many that have prayed for Cy that we aren't even aware of.. Thank you so much for having the faith in Cy getting better! We have learned so much from this experience, and hope to take the positive from it.. I know that my testimony of the gospel, faith in our Lord, and the power of the Priesthood has grown a million times throughout all this!! I hope and pray I can never forget the feeling I have now!! We love you all SO MUCH!! Thanks for allowing us to share our experience with you..