The Garritys

Whitman Walking (video)

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 22:47:39 -0800

Last week, Whitman took his first steps. Before I was able to grab the video camera, he did an impressive 8 to 10 step number. Then, when the pressure was on, he held back and demonstrated this humble 2 to 3 step version.

These Aren’t The Cakes You Are Looking For

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:47:49 -0800

Trevor turned 8 today. Can you believe it? For his birthday, we organized a Laser Tag tournament with his friends. The night before his birthday, I worked my friend Karren Wilde of Karren’s Specialty Cakes to create a unique cake for Trevor’s birthday. Karren is a professional cake designer and does amazing work. She is self taught and just being able to watch her work was a real treat. She humored me even more and let me help shape the head on the figure and do all of the painting. It was so much fun. Trevor loves Lego Star Wars so this was the perfect design.

Now back to Trevor’s birthday.... before we packed up and headed out to the Laser Tag arena for the 2:00 pm party, Trevor, David, Whitman, Alisha and I had a family celebration at home. Trevor enjoyed a triple cheeseburger from Burgerville (his request every birthday) and opened presents. David gave him a Star Wars Lego set. His Grandpa and Grandma Ethington gave him a nice electric toothbrush (or a “fancy toothbrush” as Trevor and David call it when the watch me brush my teeth). And his Grandma and Grandpa Garrity gave him a Target gift card. When he found out it was like a credit card and it had money on it, Trevor’s face donned a huge grin. Then we asked Trevor to walk outside and he was greeted with a chromed out new bike. He was pretty excited, even tried riding it only to fall and stub his toe. As we tried to calm him down and get packed up into the car, our neighbors, the Sperl’s, surprised Trevor with a mini party. Constantine and Barbara baked him a cake with lots of cinnamon while Simone, Samuel, and Annalana gave him three Lego Bionicles. It was sweet and Trevor was happy again. He has had a goal to acquire the entire Bionicles set and this gave him a head start.

We headed out to Laser Tag and picked up the cake along the way. Alisha had to hold the cake in her lap in the passenger seat so it would’t tip over. While we were driving and waiting at a red light, the car next to us honked and motioned to roll down our window. Alisha did and the girl asked if she was holding a cake. She nodded and they were amazed. They congratulated us on the amazing cake.

Jackson, Ryan, Paul, and David party.

“Happy Birthday to You”

Trevor eats one of the arms from the cake. The black frosting coats his tongue.

Laser Tag was a blast. Trevor had nine friends show up and a few dads joined us in the festivities. Alisha was a little hesitant to play, wondering if she should wait for us outside the arena at the party tables. I encouraged her to join in. Playing was tons of fun and the whole ride home, Alisha kept talking about her high Laser Tag scores. We tried to take more pictures (and video) but managing 9 boys at a Laser Tag arena is no easy task and so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

Diagnosis for David

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 16:58:58 -0800

In October, David received an emergency blood transfusion. His body didn’t have enough red blood cells. The transfusion worked and his body was restored. Unfortunately, we had to wait three months until this donor blood worked itself through his body before he could be tested to find out the cause.

A few weeks ago, David was tested and we met with the doctor last week for the diagnosis. All signs point to a condition called hereditary spherocytosis. Here’s how it works...

In a healthy body, the red blood cells are donut shaped (without the hole missing). As the red blood cells pass through the spleen, the spleen removes the outer layer of the cell. Then the blood cell goes for another round in the body, carrying oxygen to the cells that need it. With each pass through the spleen another layer is removed until the cell has a thin enough outer membrane that the cell become spherical shaped. When the spleen detects a spherical shaped blood cell, it destroys it, knowing that it is old.

In David’s body, the blood cells start out spherical shaped. So every time they pass through the spleen, the spleen thinks they are old and destroys them. David’s body then makes new ones. His body is constantly making blood cells as fast as it is destroying them. This puts his body into overdrive. This explains why David is often exhausted, wakes up sweaty, and is irritable. Imagine donating blood constantly. That’s how it would feel like.

The best cure for this disorder is to remove the spleen. Once the spleen is removed, the body won’t proactively destroy new red blood cells. The old blood cells will eventually die out on their own. However, this procedure is risky as the spleen serves other functions like building antibodies during vaccinations. So before we do anything crazy and remove his spleen, we will wait until he has received all of his vaccinations and all signs are positive. The long term risk is that his body will have a more difficult time fighting off new viruses or infections. This is manageable but does put him at more of a risk than someone that still has a functioning spleen.

In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on him to make sure that his severe anemic condition doesn’t return. If it does, he may need another transfusion. Sickness and a weakened body can accelerate this possibility. Also, we have stopped giving him iron drops. Now that this condition is likely the cause, more iron could lead to damage. We were happy to stop the daily iron drops because they were severely staining his teeth, making them gray/yellow. It would be nice to have his bright smile restored. We need to give him folic acid which will help his body increase red blood cell production.

This condition is usually hereditary so Alisha and I will be tested. 25% of the time it can just occur through genetic mutation. Once someone has it though, even if it wasn’t hereditary, they have a 50% chance of passing it along.

This is not 100% conclusive but explains his current condition and his jaundice when he was a newborn. Overall, we are pretty happy knowing what was causing David’s health issues through the years. It is nice to finally get an answer. We were prepared for a much worse prognosis, and this condition is fairly livable.

The photo above is from his school photos taken this fall. Thanks to all of you for the thoughts and prayers.

Hallway Shotgun (video)

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:44:49 -0800

David has an unusual technique for descending the stairs. He sits down, sticks out his left leg, bends his right knee and then lets gravity do the trick. How do you descend the stairs?

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Death Star

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 18:19:26 -0800

This year, both boys really wanted the Lego Death Star. Because we were late on sending our letters to Santa and the Lego Death Star has so many pieces, Trevor decided to ask Santa for it next year. When the boys woke up Christmas morning and looked at their presents, they were a little confused. Santa brought them gifts but none of the ones they had asked for. They were happy, but still wondered what was going on. Then, Davy caught a glimpse of something hidden behind a chair. It was the Lego Death Star! The boys couldn’t believe it. Trevor and I spent two days putting together all 3800 pieces. We thought it would take a whole month, but we were dedicated. The boys have been playing with it almost every day since Christmas. Nothing brings in the Christmas spirit like a “Death Star”.

David’s reaction is priceless.

Sorting through all 3,800 pieces. It took two days for Trevor and I to put it together.

The finished Death Star. It is very fun for the boys as each room is a mini interactive playset from the Star Wars movies.