A lengthy unclescoob update and a big thanks...

I dont post much, but read everyday. This hits home with me. My families thoughts and prayers will be with you. Have faith in the hospital and doctors and all will be ok. My son was born with a congenitial heart disease, had open heart surgery at 3 months old. Two weeks in ICU, I never left his side. You wouldnt know it by seeing him now at 3 years old, but they tell us he will have to go back under the knife around his teen years. Seeing what the doctors and nursers did for us though gives me all the confidence I need.
I put this up on the web as a reminder how lucky I am to have him with me.
http://www.dominicfiore.com/hospital.html
Stay Strong
Tbone

 

My families thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

 

Hang in there, scoob. You and your family are in my thoughts, as well.

 

I have been in a two week battle with my 19 year old baby girl. Thanks for reminding me what is really important,


My best goes out to you and your family

 

We're all rootin' for you and your family Scoob! I think everything is gonna be OK...

Mike

 

Hope your daughter can go home with you guys soon! great post - loved reading it!

 

It WILL all work out. Our thoughts are with you, your wife and new baby.

"I thought I needed a boy to play cars with me but I don't. Check out Brandy and Denise here. They give me hope and probably know more than I do. I like all kinds, HAMB approved and HAMB hated. I don't care. If it's got wheels, wings, or fins, I dig it."

Hope and an open mind, you are all set to raise your two girls.

 

Everything will work out.


Travis

 

Hang in there Scoob. I am here for you. Call me if you need to talk.

 

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The car people have always been close to the medical people. This keeps hot rodding in everybody's blood, so to speak. Here's proof:

Navarro Engineering’s experience isn't limited to the track - Mr. Navarro has been involved in many specialty products over the years, including the development of a heart-lung machine used for thirteen years at the Kaiser Hospital in Hollywood.

And another:

[/font] Dodrill, a surgeon at Wayne State University’s Harper Hospital in Detroit, partnered with General Motors on an innovation that looked like an old Cadillac V-12 engine. But the six cylinders on each side of the “engine” were separate chambers for pumping blood.

“To develop this revolutionary machine, many GM engineers and researchers volunteered their time to support this great medical advancement,” says Joel Bender, M.D., General Motors’ corporate medical director.

We are all with you and keep you and yours in our prayers.

 

Glad to hear your hangin in there brother. Lemme know if there is anything me an Steph can do to help.

Drew

 

Let me add the thoughts and prayers from the old geezer from Oklahoma.

Totally agree with you on counting your blessings. Our grandson had four eye surgeries his first year and a half on the planet. Not serious, unless it's YOUR grandson. All it takes is spending a day in the waiting room at Childrens Hospital In OKC to count your blessings, over and over again.

Sounds like your little girl is gonna be fine. Oh, by the way, they never QUIT being your little girls. I have twin daughters that are 30 and another daughter who is 24. Still worry 'bout 'em.

You have quite a ride in store for you. Wait till they get to be teens. I have found that if you have the wife reloading for you you can just about shoot the punks off the porch fast enough! lol

A word has been put in to the man upstairs for you. Oh, and sometimes "just being there", is enough.

George

 

Scoob, my heart tugs with your current situation, your baby daughter's health and wife. You may have been in a sleep deprived state, but your words were some of the clearest and most sincere that I have seen in a long time. You are correct that life can throw you curve balls. Keep strong for your wife and both daughters. We all will be here for you, do not be afraid to ask, people want to help.

 

Hang in there, I have two daughters of my own. Having children really lets you know what's really important in this crazy world.

Sean

 

Best wishes & prayers. I think you're right that everything's going to be ok.

I know someone this happened to and they were wrecked also, it all came out fine and she's super strong & healthy.

I have a 10yo I can imagine how you must feel...



Good luck

 

Add my prayers to the list. Hang in there!

 

Another HAMBer sending the warm fuzzys your way.
Thanks for taking the time to share the stories and good luck thru it all.
~ Rob

 

These little miracles can be so heart touching. Your post really caught my eye since I have a 18 month old daughter and a fresh bun in the oven now. I feel your pain but it will be alright in the end. The one that came you this miracle of a baby is watching and has only the best doctors watching her for you. My step sister had twins about 6 weeks ago pre-mature and had breathings problem themself. Took 4 weeks before they could come home. I hope your does not take as long. Hang in there Scooby I see sunny days ahead for you.

 

Unclescooby,

Hang in there. I'm sure she'll be fine. Especially if the doctors are saying she will be.

I'm pulling for you and your family.

TINGLER

 

God bless you and your family. I have twin boys in the NICU right now too, so I know what you're going through. They were born on July 5th and waiting for that first chance to even touch them was torture. They've got a while before they can come home, but I know they're coming home. I've met so many people who aren't as lucky as my wife and I and it really puts a perspective on things. Good luck and I hope you get everyone home soon.

 

I just got a chance to read this and all of the responses, PM's, and e-mails. Aislyn is doing great all things considered and is making progress at a MUCH faster rate than the Doctor's said she would. We finally got to hold her yesterday and they think we might get to feed her within a week. I still don't have any real pictures to post up because of all the tubes, wires, and stuff that obscure her face from view at the moment but she looks good underneath it all. Shamrock is also doing good now that she has gotten to hold her baby and get some real sleep and food. I'm also glad to say that the ICU has been able to release 4 of the 16 babies we have been there with NO new ones added. Of the remaining 11 other babies, 8 of them are twins! All have good prognosis. We got a monster storm last night and maybe a tornado. They made us move out into the hallways. We lost some of the oxygen for a few minutes but everyone is fine and it just made for some excitement.

Anyway, I hope that my post came out right. I wasn't looking for pity or anything, although I certainly do appreciate the prayers and well-wishes. I was just trying to state what these cars and this forum really do for me and probably for some of you. Sometimes they are what they are...bad ass machines that get you excited. Sometimes the hobby is much more. I do appreciate to the person, every single one of you that I have had the pleasure of meeting so far. There are still so many that I'd like to meet in person and hope to do that. I was sitting in the ICU this morning reading my new R&C magazine and saw Denise and her Dad in there and needing our votes (which you will get) and the doctor came up and asked me if I was into old cars. He's perceptive. He told me he and his son have been restoring an old Chevelle for the last couple years and it should be done soon. I thought that was pretty cool so I expressed to him the importantance of getting Aislyn's lungs up to par so that she could paint my cars when I get old. I think he understood.

My little epiphany was good for me though in the regards that I sort of figured out what I've been doing and why. I kind of hated my last car and I thought I lost a bunch of money when I sold it but I didn't. I just paid that car for the therapy I needed at the time. It was good to know there was some control and that something could be fixed during the time my Mother couldn't be repaired.

About a year before my Mom died she told me that she wanted an old car. We found a really nice 1960 Thunderbird convertible out in North Carolina. It's black with red interior and a white top. A super nice car but not too perfect to drive and enjoy. She and my stepfather drove that thing home from NC to Indy smiling all the way. Up until she couldn't leave the house in the last two months, that car was their escape. They cruised all the time...even if it was just to dinner, it became a two hour drive.

My stepdad used to drag race in the sixties and for whatever reason got totally burned out on old cars for the next 35 years until this t-bird came along...I'd guess because it was so much more than just a car to them. This year, he has started restoring the car to make it totally perfect. I've been trying to talk him out of it for months. He's got a nice $20k car right now and he's going to spend $15k to make it a $27k car. I told him he should keep it the way it is and enjoy it and if he really needs a show car he should go buy one that's already done. Then it occurred to me this week that he is doing what I've been doing. He will never take that car to a show. He doesn't care about that. And he doesn't care about how much it's going to cost to fix this car or what it is worth when he is done. And really, it's not even the car he is fixing right now. He's getting therapy too. The car is just going to benefit from that and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

This is a guy who spent 40 years working for the government. He's a mechanical god. He worked on everything from the Stealth fighter to the space shuttle. He was a problem solver. His job was to find ways to build things that no one else could. It's made him difficult to work with and to live with for the years I've known him. He worked at a level so much beyond the rest of the family he interacted with that I think it frustrated him. He had no patience and there was nothing he couldn't fix. Then my mom got sick. For the next 13 years, he learned patience and learned that that he couldn't fix everything no matter how hard he tried or wanted it. He become the greatest of heros to me during that time. Never an ounce of self pity while he watched helplessly as my mother slipped away. He catered to her every need with no regard for himself and did more than anyone could have imagined for her. Now this is his time. That car is not a T-bird to him. It's not just metal, and it's not transportation. It has nothing to do with the lines of the car or a memory from his childhood. It was an escape that he and my mother enjoyed and now it's therapy once again. When things settle down, he is bringing that car to my garage and we are going to pull the engine and detail it. I'm not going to question anything he wants to do. I'm just going to enjoy the time I get to spend with a hero while he gets what he needs. It's got nothing to do with the car.

I think that's all I was really trying to say.

Thanks again to everyone for the support and friendship.

 

Ron, you hit it on the head, this hobby is really therapy for coping with every day life.

Life does have it's ups and downs.
It is the hard times and the doubtful moments that makes us stronger.

At times, we place a big importance on material things, such as cars.
But, in reality, things are just releases for stress(although, they cause stress, sometimes) and it is the people in our lives that have importance.

My cars and my involvement with them have allowed me to meet some really great people.

I would not trade a King's ransom for the people I have met and call friends.

Thanks for your post to remind all of us of the value of the HAMB and the cars.
Thanks for sharing the concerns of a father and mother.
God Bless you, Shamrok and the daughters.

Jim

 

glad to hear everyone is doing fine. She WILL pull through this.

This story hits so close to home. My wife and I tried for years to have a little one. We had all but given up and she became pregnant.at 6 months our son said enough and tried to come out early my wife was bed ridden and had to take steroids so our sons lungs and other organs would develop. he was born a month early and was healthy.

My wife on the other hand could'nt stop bleeding and for a few days I thought We were going to loose her. then a few months later my son was diagosed with a form of sleep apneia (sp). he had his tonsels and adnoids removed due to 90% blockage of his nasel passages.

That was 6 years ago. he is now a soon to be green belt in martial arts karate and can break boards with his bare knuckles. he is one 3 ft nothing bad ass.

sorry to highjack this thread but like I said it just brought back a flood of memories....

 

glad to hear she's doing better unclescooby! my thoughts & prayers are with your family.

 

I got into this late, but what a story on one's perspectives.
All things are relative, that's for sure.

Get some rest, stay close to the girls and may God guide the hands of their caregivers.

 

My boy had Gastroschisis, six months in neonatology, 9 operations, 2 infections (I thought nfection meant, you know, infection, when they're babies it means near-death eperience) anyway, I lived at the hospital.
He's 4 now, ( http://users.pandora.be/basil/fishingtrip/index.html ), he's the coolest kid on the block, and I had more insights on life those six months then most people in a lifetime. I don't think I've been unhappy once in the last four years.

 

GOD bless you scoob and your family . After reading this I have a whole new outlook on life again. I have been blessed with a beautiful girl at the ripe old age 52 and have been going through that can you give me a brake for a little while so daddy can play on the computer or watch some stupid show I have seen a thousand times, WELL that is going to stop. I am going to try to make more time to enjoy the time with her and do the things she likes to do !!! Thanks again for waking me up. We will say a special prayer for your daughter and your family !
Danny

 

I am SUPREMELY HAPPY AND PROUD to report that Aislyn's oxygen assist was removed this morning at 6AM and she is now breathing 100% on her own. They say we could be taking her home within a week.
Thanks again to all of you for the kind words and prayers that are working. Thanks also to the many of you who have or are currently going through similar situations. You all have my prayers and support. Even the little things mean everything when your little ones mean everything.

I'm hoping to get back my cars soon for no other reason than just because I dig em. I'll be dragging Shamrock, Ava, and now Aislyn to lots of shows and events in the future. They might kick and scream, but dammit, it's quality family time together! If they forget to thank you, I'm doing it for them right now. Thanks HAMB and HAMB'ers.

 

Congrats! The best part about having a baby is taking it home.

 

That's awesome Scoob!