Nelson's Heart

06/18/2024

Looking back at all the pictures, post and words of encouragement during Nelson's surgery a few years ago. How lucky Nelson is to have so many praying for him that day. He and Carly are still doing well! We all celebrated Father's Day with the family yesterday.

06/17/2022

Three years ago today was a long day for many of us. Many things have changed since that day. Nelson is doing well and getting married in two months (almost to the day). Every year when the memories pop up I still get overwhelmed by the amount of support and prayers.

06/17/2021

Two years post op and Nelson is doing great. He continues to do the things he enjoys that would have not been possible without Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. I will wear my shirt today as a reminder.

06/17/2020

One year post valve replacement! It has been quite the year, we celebrated Nelson's 21st birthday in quarantine, he has spent more time in the mountains and on the river, went to a few Alabama games (you know those lights), visited the beach and spent lots of time with family. Because of COVID 19 we had to push back is regular six month CT Scan and follow up, that will come this Tuesday.

02/22/2020

Today is Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. https://www.valvediseaseday.org/about-us/

National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day on February 22nd—during American Heart Month—is an annual day dedicated to increasing recognition of the specific risks and symptoms of heart valve disease, improve detection and treatment, and ultimately save lives. With education and advocacy, we can ...

02/05/2020

If you purchased a shirt we would like to ask you to wear it on February 22 for Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. If cannot wear or do not have one you can still wear blue! https://www.valvediseaseday.org/about-us/

National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day on February 22nd—during American Heart Month—is an annual day dedicated to increasing recognition of the specific risks and symptoms of heart valve disease, improve detection and treatment, and ultimately save lives. With education and advocacy, we can ...

12/28/2019

Update on my buddy Keegan!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers. Please continue to cover him in declarations of healing. It is evident that the Lord’s hand is on him. Please pray for peace for his family. Also pray that the Lord will be glorified through this scary situation and that His divine power and faithfulness will be a witness to everyone that hears of Keegan’s story. Tomorrow will be a big day so please remember the family.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16:33‬
-Nelson

Updates from Keegan’s dad, Cecil, from throughout the day today (Friday):

4:30 PM Another positive update!

I just sat here with the nurse as he attempted to wake Keegan up. He responded very well with no signs of seizures or tremors. He even opened his eyes for a few seconds! The nurse said it looks like he will wake up without any issue, but they will most likely keep him comfortable tonight, then wake him up good tomorrow and remove the breathing tube.

2:45 PM update. They have been dialing back his dosage of sedative all day. He started this morning at the maximum dosage allowed by the nurses, which was 80Mg. They are dropping him slowly at about 5Mg/hour. So far we are down to 55Mg and we haven’t had any signs of seizures or even tremors. That is great news! His NICU nurse, who is absolutely fabulous, says everyone is different but some people can become alert on dosages around 40Mg and some people have to be off of the drug completely to come back around. I’m hoping he’s awake tonight before I’m forced to leave, but if not I hope in the morning when I get back. So far things are trending in a very upward direction. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support, prayers, shares, good wishes, etc. So far, I’ve basically handled this situation like a sobbing baby. Today has been better. In part to some signs of improvement and in part to every single one of you.

11:00 AM This morning has been quite the roller coaster. The first few doctors that came in really had me devastated. Then the neurologist came in and cleared up a lot of the misinformation I had been given. After looking at his machine that had been constantly recording Keegan’s brain activity, he confidently says that he had NOT had a seizure during the night. He said he believed what had been happening is he’s been having body tremors and the acting physicians have assumed it was seizures because on the outside they look to be the same. So they’ve been putting him back on the sedation thinking he was having seizures when it was only tremors. So we are now back on the plan of trying to wake him up sometime this afternoon or tonight. After talking extensively to the neurologist I feel like a million pounds has lifted off of my shoulders.

I ask you please for the continued support and prayers. They are working! I can’t thank everyone enough! I love you all. I hope the next update is a very positive one.

“I can not wait to see this goober’s eyes open.”-Ceil

12/27/2019

Alright prayer warriors, this post is not about my heart, but it is about someone very close to my heart! This guy is one of my brothers and he is very very sick and the doctors have not figured out exactly what is going on yet. He went to the hospital on Christmas Day by ambulance after having a seizure. He ended up in ICU, sedated and on a breathing tube so they can do tests and try to figure out what is wrong. His white counts are up very high and he has a 105+ fever. He could really use all of our help with prayers!!! Declare healing over his body (because we KNOW He still performs miracles), protection against sickness for his family, and for the doctors to have the knowledge of how to help him so that he may overcome this and not have long term repercussions. He was one of my biggest supporters going through my heart surgery and he has been a good friend of mine for a long time.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””
‭‭John‬ ‭16:33‬

11/29/2019

Hope that everyone has had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. We are thankful our boy was able to be with us and healthy.

10/27/2019

Nelson visited his cardiology team at Vanderbilt on Tuesday. There is no change in the dissection! They checked his kidney function due to the restricted blood flow, that was good as well! We go back in six months for another check up. In the mean time, Nelson has been enjoying himself watching the Crimson Tide this year. Pictured here with his cousin's from South Carolina.

09/25/2019

Amazing that I still see people wearing their shirts, I even get text of random sightings about town. Nelson is still doing well. We have an appointment in October with his cardiologist to follow up on the dissection.

08/27/2019

Nelson is still doing well! Please continue to pray for Nelson as we follow the tear in the aorta. I didn't have a cute picture to post this morning so I thought we'd show off Tucker waving for us.