Zachary's 5th Birthday

Zachary celebrated his 5th birthday on Sept 26th. We had a Ultimate Match Fishing party with a fishing pond and casting contest. Check out the banner that his dad made for him. Each kid had their very own fishing nickname with Zachary "BIG FISH" Helton being crowned the Champion of the 5th season.

Notice the weather outside, it poured the rain all day, but it didn't stop the kids from having a ball. The kids had competions to catch the most fish and a casting contest which consisted of hitting a plate or cup out in the drive way.

Check out his cake.. His mamaw always creates him a cool custom cake. This one is complete with a boat, fishing man and of course bass..

The birthday boy is sporting his 'Ranger boats' sweatshirt. He said he was cold, but I think he just wanted to show off.

Zoe had fun too. Next year, she plans to catch more fish than any of the boys....

Johnny Appleseed Day

Trip 3 to ACH - Sept 18th

We just returned from a quick trip to Arkansas. We left on the 17th, Zoe was a great traveler as usual. Zoe's procedure was at 12:35 on Friday the 18th. It only took about 40 minutes from us passing her off to the nurse, Diane and getting to speak with Dr. Buckmiller. They were all impressed with her progress. The medication is working very well. Her airway looked good. They didn't have to use a breathing tube this time. The Dr was so pleased with her progress and how well she done with the procedure that she released us to go home. We left AR about 4:30 and drove home to sleep in our beds. It was nice to be home all day Sat. We are scheduled to go back in December. Our only concern right now is that she is now growing at the rate that they would like. We are going to start with more of the rice cereal and formula supplements. We are to work with our pediatrician to potentially get her some type of supplements to add to her bottles for extra calories.

We thank God for the continuous progress that she is making and for the safe travelling.

I will post some pictures of our trip soon.

First Day of School

Can you believe it Zachary is going to Kindergarten??? My baby is growing up on me. The first two weeks of school were a staggered schedule of only one day per week. Zachary's day was Friday. He loved it! One the first day, the class went on a "Bear Hunt" to familiarize them to the school. Along their journey they found the cafeteria, the gym and the library. They finally ended up in the principal's office where they found the "Bear", the school mascot, Bricky Bear.
He is now in his second full week. He is loving it. He is making some new friends along with getting to play with some old friends on the playground during recess.

Phenomenal

'Phenomenal' was how Dr. Ray described Zoe's progress. Dr. Ray is Zoe's ENT at East TN Childrens Hospital here in Knoxville. Dr. Ray had not seen Zoe since just before our first trip to Arkansas. He said that it was like looking at a different child. He couldn't believe of how good it looked and that it wasn't causing her problems at this point in the hemangioma's growth phase.

The propranolol protocol is proving to work very well for Zoe and we hope that her progress will help other children to get the same treatment early in the growth phase. The side effects are much less than the typical treatment of steroids or vincristine chemotherapy.

See for yourself the improvements:

We thank God daily for the many blessings that he has given us.

July in Review

Celebrating the 4th in KY.

Baseball on the 4th.

July 11th. Sleeping in on the weekend.
July 15th

July 20th. Zoe is 3 mths old.

July 29th

July 30th
Zoe went for her weight check today.
She was 11 lb .2 oz and 21.4 inches long.

Trip 2 to ACH - June 29th

Just 4 weeks later, we were heading back to Arkansas for our next visit to ACH. We were very anxious to find out how she is responding to the medication. During this visit, Zoe had the same procedure as last time, the MLB with possible laser treatment or steriod injection in her airway and a pulse dye laser treatment to her face. Once her regular procedure is done, she had an MRI/MRA of her head, neck and chest to check for PHACES syndrome. The MRI was normal and didn't show any signs of PHACES, another prayer answered.

Zoe is ready for her next road trip. We are very blessed that she is a good traveler. Sleeps most of the way, only to wakes up to eat and be changed.

Zoe entertains us and herself as we wait for her surgery. She is really starting to smile a lot.

Now it is time for a nap.

The wait was longer this time because she was having both the MLB and the MRI. The two teams had to coordinate their times in order to leave her under anethesia the least amount of time as possible.

Finally after waiting for 2 hours for the procedure, they take her back. It is the hardest thing to hand over your baby over to a stranger to take them back to surgery. They let us carry her up to the last minute then either one of them carries her or she lies on a big hospital bed. So sad, but very thankful that God has given them the desire and expertise to do such a wonderful and amazing job. Her procedure with Dr. Buckmiller only takes about 45 minutes. Dr. Buckmiller was very pleased and amazed herself at the improvements in Zoe's condition. The medication has made great improvements in her airway. At our previous visit, the pictures of her trachea showed that the H had grown around all 4 sides and was a very bright red color, now the color is down to a light pink. Also, her airway had gotten just a bit larger.

Zoe and Stuart just after her procedure.

All the dots on her face is from the laser treatment. The laser lightens the redness and helps prevent ulcers.

Father's Day

Trip 1 to ACH - June 1st

During our stay at East TN Children's, Zoe was seen by many great doctors and nurses. The ENT that done her procedure referred her to one of his partners that deals with hemangiomas, Dr. Ray. He educated us more on her condition and the different treatment options. He referred us to Dr. Lisa Buckmiller at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) in Little Rock, AR. She specializes in treating hemangioma and other vascular anomalies. Dr. R had been a resident under Dr. BM in Arkansas and is new to our area.

Zoe is ready for her first road trip.

Within 2 weeks, we were in Little Rock with an appt to see Dr. BM. She seen Zoe in the clinic the first day and done surgery the next. The surgery consisted of a MLB (microlaryngoscopy and bronchoscopy) with possible laser treatment or steriod injection in her airway and a pulse dye laser treatment on the exteroir. Dr. BM found that the hemangioma had grown significantly in just the two weeks from her previous procedure. She started Zoe on a new treatment protocol of taking Propranolol to help control the growth of her hemangioma. Propranolol is a beta-blocker medication typically used for high blood pressure.

Zoe at ACH after her first pulse dye laser treatment.





Link to the Vascular Anomalies Center at ACH http://www.birthmarks.org/

Zoe's Hemangioma

Zoe was born on April 20th with what we thought was a bruise on her right side of her head including her ear. The docs said that is was due to the way she was lying on my pelvic bone. Other than that she was a perfectly healthy little girl. So well that we were able to come home just barely 24 hours after she was born. On Day 4, we went to her first visit to the pediatrician. The bruise was still there along with some redness on her right cheek and chin. Both areas looked as if they were a bit chapped with skin peeling off them. Doc told us to treat it with Aquaphor. Her jaundice level was high and weight was low, so we got to go back the next day for a weight check and another jaundice test.

On day 5, the redness wasn't any better, actually a little worse. At first glance, the doc thought she was a forceps baby, not the case. Then after a closer look, the doc concludes that this is a port wine stain or a hemangioma and starts to educate us on the next steps. Zoe will need a CT Scan first, then an MRI a bit later. They referred us to a dermatologist and a genetics doctor.

At 4 weeks old, Zoe started to show signs of breathing difficulty. I first called the doctor thinking she was congested. They advise me to use a humidifier and saline drops. A few days went by and her breathing was getting worse. I called for an appt to see the doc. He examined her and tested for RSV, which was negative. Then sends us straight to Children's Hospital for a CT Scan and a 23-hour admittance. Her pediatrician arranged for the ENT to be ready for our arrival to examine Zoe before her CT Scan. He examines her, she gets her scan then we settle in for the night. They start her on a high dose of steroids to try to help her breathing. The next day we learn that instead of a port wine stain, Zoe actually has a hemangioma. The hemangioma was not only on the exterior of her face, but also in her airway causing her breathing difficulties. The steroids started improving her condition pretty quick and kept her stable for the weekend before surgery. On Monday, Zoe is 5 weeks old. She had surgery to remove the hemangioma from her airway with a laser. She spent the night in PICU and recovered very well. After a couple more days in the hospital we got to come home on the 20th, at exactly 1 mth old.

Here are some pictures of Zoe's hemangioma at 2 weeks old.

Zoe's Arrival

Zoe Grace was born on April 20, 2009 at 1:12 pm.
She was 7lb 10 1/2 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

Zachary meets Zoe.

Proud brother finally gets to hold her all on his own.
Don't worry Daddy is close by.

Just 24 hours after she was born, we are going home.

Getting Started...

Here it is my first blog. I am starting this blog to share the adventures of my children, Zachary and Zoe, hence the "Two Zees in a Pod" name. Thanks to my friend Stephanie for coming up with that one. Zoe has inspired me to start this blog to share with everyone her progress through her battle with a hemangioma on her face and in her airway. I felt that this would be the best way to keep everyone up to date with each treatment and success story. I am finding it difficult to remember who I have told what, so I am hoping this will help me out.