Gage Update

I wish we had better news to give you. First, thank you all for your prayers in our behalf. We need them. Gage has worsened since yesterday. His right lung is fuller of fluid and getting "stiffer". This is making his left lung compensate and over inflate. They are still trying to stabilize his blood pressures and fluid volumes. He is on a couple IV meds to help his perfusion better. He is in the start of ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). The doctor tells us that it is 3-7 days they get sicker, 3-7 days they stabilize and then it takes 3-7 days for them to pull out of it. So we are in the beginning of our 3-7 days of getting sicker.

They started an arterial line to be able to monitor his blood pressures better and get a constant and consistent reading of them. They are thinking of switching to a different kind of ventilator to help oxygenate his lungs better. They have to have this ventilator at such high pressures to keep him oxygenated that they worry about damaging his lungs. Well, that is about all we know right now. We will keep you updated. Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts.

Our Little Gage!

Wednesday afternoon, 1/28/09, our little Gage got a low grade fever and was having a hard time breathing. We took him to out ER in Baker, and they admitted him to the hospital with pneumonia. He struggled through the night, but held his own on oxygen. As the day progressed, he was getting pooped. Our hospital decided to life flight him to Boise. We never imagined in a million years we would find ourselves again in the St Luke's PICU. At least not with someone other than Sierra!

When we got to Boise they put him on high flow oxygen which he tolerated well for a little while. As the night progressed, he started fighting for his breath again and began petering out again. So, this morning at 8:00 AM we found ourselves with another child being placed on a ventilator. He is stable now. He has gotten a blood transfusion and they have hung some other meds to help with his perfusion better. He is tough and we hope he continues fighting. Please pray for our little Gage. We will update as we can.

Gage on the ventilator.

Gage and Mom being life flighted to Boise.



Gage on oxygen in Baker.

Quick update!

A quick little update on our family. Sierra had a Dr.'s appointment in Boise on Thursday. Much to our dismay, she had fluid around her heart again. She had fluid before, but her last biopsy the fluid had reabsorbed. She is acting great and California didn't seem too concerned with it. We will be going back to Cali on March 3rd for her next biopsy. Sierra will have a biopsy the same day as Ben and Shawn will be there somewhere getting treatments. We should all be able to meet up again. I am really excited!

Other than the fluid, we really can't complain. Sierra in playing YMCA basketball and having fun doing that. She also started ski lessons this last Friday and absolutely loves it. She came back from skiing and said, " I didn't fall on my face once." Very ecstatic. Can't wait to go again. Lindsey is loving getting dressed up by her sisters and takes the pampering to extremes sometimes.

Hunter is Hunter and Gage is starting to roll over. I am going to put shackles on his ankles and see if that slows the growing process at all.(J/K)! Megan is loving school and is always up to conquer the challenges her teachers give her. She participated in the popular "dance camp" this last Friday. She was fun to watch, much more into it than most of the kids dancing. All is well from a happy and HEALTHY Bingham clan!

Megan shaking it up at dance camp.

Gage rolling over. He was on his back.

Lindsey being pampered. Sierra took the picture.

Coach Bingham pretty intense watching his team of girls set up "Picks" and giving high fives.

Sierra has a little of her Mom in her. She has to have her tongue out when she is concentrating very hard.

Sierra ready for her first day of skiing.

Technical Difficulties

We apologize for the delay in updating. Our computer was on the blitz and is on the mend. We got it back yesterday and all is well, so we are up and running.

We had a great Christmas! The girls got their American dolls they were wanting and Hunter got his tools. As usual we did our Christmas eve tubing. There was a big storm that came through that night making tubing not as fun as usual. However, Jason was bound and determined that it was going to happen. He made a goal of going down at least 3 times. He accomplished 4.

During the Christmas break Jason helped the girls make a fort with all the new snow on New Years. I was busily reading the "Twilight" series books. Which are very awesome for anyone that hasn't read them.

We were excited to get your package Justin and Emily. The girls loved their hats and Hunter his snake. Thank you for the beautiful bowl. I almost don't want to use it, it is so pretty. We sure miss you guys.

Last night I was getting Gage and Hunter ready for bed and realized how huge Hunter is compared to Gage. We were noticing that Hunter's head is the size of Gage's torso. We are truly blessed to have had such a great holiday and spend it together. Hope all is well with everyone!

Hunter and Gage together. Notice the size of Hunter's head to Gage's torso.

The girls new right away how to pose with those sassy hats from Justin and Emily.

Building the infamous snow fort.

Lindsey's #5 birthday.

Hunter with his tool set Christmas morning.

The Girl's first glance at their American dolls.

All those that ventured out for the tubing party Christmas Eve. Notice the horizontal direction the snow is falling.