scottp dot net - Scott Pilkinton

I’m working on a new project that I’m pretty excited about called Xpresslearn. The URL is http://www.xpresslearn.com Below is the latest published articles on the site:

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Well, all the men of the house are now yellow belts. Actually, we have been for a few weeks now - it’s just taken a while to get the photos downloaded. Here are the pictures - Cheri will be ready to get her’s on the next testing cycle. She put her training on hold, for obvious reasons.

Jacob:

Joseph:

and Dad…

Hannah has become more of a ‘busy body’ than she was before the surgery. It is amazing how active she has been after just going through open heart surgery. Today she seemed mad more than usual - we suspect that she is feeling some pain/soreness. We have to constantly stay in the bonus room with her and make sure she doesn’t climb or do anything to stretch. We are so glad to see her get right back to playing!

We are still at the hospital. Today is the last day of the antibiotic Hannah is getting through an IV. Tomorrow is still the projected day we are going home. The thing the doctors are looking at is her eating. She was what we would call a border line eater anyway. So, for someone who doesn’t know ‘normal’ for her is probably going to get concerned when she is only taking that much in. Hannah has been eating somewhat less that she usually does - which was expected because of the surgery. However, since she was borderline in the first place - it has caused her to go back on IV fluids. Our hope is that her intake is good today and that she continues to improve her eating.

Today has been a great day for Hannah. This morning when she woke up, we saw some of her personality for the first time since her surgery!

Yesterday was kind of tough; she was moved from the Pediatric ICU to another floor. You could tell she was in a lot of pain and she whined a good bit. We were able to keep her feeling reasonably well with the pain medication.

Right before she got moved, there was an IV in her neck that had to be taken out - Of course, I couldn’t be present when that started to take place. Cheri felt like she was going to pass out, we didn’t realize the needle was stitched to her neck so that it wouldn’t move. So it took a few minutes to get the stitches out for needle removal. The whole time Hannah had to be kept from moving - which was obviously a challenge.

Great news is that the worst should be behind us… Hannah got her chest tube removed today. Most of the fluid draining from her heart had quit, which allowed them to remove it. She does not have to use the morphine for pain anymore - it is able to be controlled using Tylenol w/Codeine.

Cheri is somewhat concerned that the doctor has already mentioned going home sometime tomorrow afternoon. Cheri’s concern is being able to care for her properly after leaving the hospital so soon.

When you have to move Hannah around in the hospital bed, she whines because she is in pain - especially when shifted around. Everyone has assured her that Hannah won’t be going home though until we are comfortable. So, hopefully the rest of the day will be good and we will have a clear understanding tomorrow on what is best for Hannah, regarding her remaining hospital stay.

Again, thank you for your continuing prayers - they certainly have been evident through the whole thing!

Today, Hannah went in for an open-heart procedure to close the ASD she had. Everything went extremely well and the recovery process is also going well. She went into the operating room at 8:00 a.m. this morning and was finished around 12:00. The surgeon came out and told us that now the hole is gone, he can already see progress in her heart size going back down to normal. An ASD will cause the heart to enlarge, which can cause other problems in the future.

We went in to see her for the first time about an hour ago. She is basically still under the remains of general anesthesia - but is expected to awake later on this evening. She has a breathing tube, several IV points that serve different purposes, a catheter, and a drain for her heart.

Mom and Dad did really well through the entire process. All the prayers were surely felt! I know that to God taking care of Hannah and this procedure takes no effort on his part - but he really showed out today! I am so thankful to have that peace which only he can provide. Knowing he is in complete control is so comforting and whatever comes our way - God will be there to help us.

Please continue to keep Hannah in your prayers as she begins this recovery process. We are praying specifically that she will not develop any infections from the procedure. She is expected to be in the hospital anywhere from 4 - 8 days. Cheri will be at the hospital with Hannah the entire time she is here.

This past holiday weekend I was off Friday and the following Monday for Labor day. On Thursday, Cheri said to me “We need to take a trip to the mountains this weekend”. My first reaction was wow - too short notice! All these things started going through my head, we can’t afford it, it hasn’t been planned, etc. However, I was quickly convinced that it was a good idea and would be a good way to get in some relaxation before things get hectic.

I went online and found the condo that we had stayed in before (the kids and I can’t get enough of the pool table!). The condo’s are called GolfView and is located beside a golf course which is all on the same road as DollyWood.

There is something about when you find a favorite place to stay at a favorite destination to travel. It’s almost like an extension of your home - which definitely adds to the comfort of the vacation.

We did have a great time! We enjoyed the room, got out and went into the mountains, walked a trail up to Clingmans Dome, played some putt putt… All the things you do on a trip to Gatlinburg!

On a sad note (for my wife) we discovered that Boyd’s Bear Factory in Piegon Forge is closing in October of this year. One of the employees told us they are going back to a complete distribution sales model, which means suppling other retailers to sell their product for them.

btw, if your looking for a different miniature golf experience - there is a Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm course in Sevierville. It was great and the kids loved it!

We went to the hospital this morning for Hannah's heart surgery. She was scheduled to have an ASD closure performed using a Catheter-based procedure. Generally, this is the 'preferred' method for closing the hole in the heart simply because it is less evasive.

The procedure basically consists of taking a tube and inserting into a vein in the leg. The tube is run up to the heart where the procedure takes place. It's amazing this type of heart surgery can even be performed via a small incision around your groin area.

One of the tools that Doctors use to see what is going on is inserting a tube down your esophagus and performing an ultrasound on the heart. This view allows you a very good look at the back of the heart, where it is difficult to see from a standard chest ultrasound.

This morning, the ultrasound was as far as we got. The pictures showed that the hole was a little larger than expected (approx. 2/3rds of an inch). However, the halt came when the discovery was made that there was not enough tissue around the hole for the device to attach to. This is a very important requirement before the device can be used. If the device is not fully attached to tissue surrounding the entire whole, there would be risk of complications in the future. In one sense, it was good that we were able to get identified the missing tissue before the catheter-based method was used. At the same time, it was very disappointing to hear Hannah was not a candidate for the device.

This basically brings us to plan B which is open heart surgery and obviously will be more involved. There will be another surgeon who will perform the open heart procedure, probably in the next several weeks. Our cardiologist has recommended that we do this before the cold season hits which with it comes along RSV season. Our target is hopefully sometime in September - we should here from the scheduling department in the next couple of days.

Hannah will be three years old in less than 2 weeks.  I have wanted to start sharing information and experiences regarding Hannah for some time now, I just kept telling myself I needed more time to get started.

We recently completed an All About Me letter for Hannah.  I thought it would be a great starting point for sharing information about Hannah and special needs information in general…

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ALL ABOUT ME LETTER 

My Name is:  Hannah Pilkinton

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This weekend I finished the Ruger 10/22 that I was working on. Taken off the Wal-Mart website, here is a picture of the stock rifle:

The Standard Carbine as shown above can be picked up at your local Wal-Mart for $166.00, which I think is very reasonable for this rifle. They are very fun to shoot and have a TON of aftermarket accessories available for them. My rifle was picked up for less than $150 in a good used condition. By the time the project was complete, the only original parts were the receiver and trigger housing - everything else was replaced.

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