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(Francisco Ramos Full Story

Little Francisco Ramos, in Ms. Milbrath's homeroom at Farney Elementary, is being a BIG fighter right now. We are all praying that the medication prescribed by the Texas Children's Hospital Cardiologists will help his loving heart heal and Francisco will not need a heart transplant in the future. Francisco, age 6, is in my daughter's class at Farney and he is also one of our neighbors.

With permission from his mother, Eileen, I have set up a "Care Page" for Francisco so we can all be updated on his progress. It's such a useful tool as you can post positive messages on it's message board for Francisco to read on a daily basis at the hospital. (He has a laptop in his hospital room. Hooray!) Please read the most recent update below from Eileen. Then, follow the link below to register for www.carepages.com. It's fast, easy and free. Take a few minutes to type in a post to Francisco. It will surely bring a big smile to that sweet boy's face. Once registered, you'll be notified through E-mail when Francisco's website has been updated. To get to Francisco's web page type in FranciscoRamos (with no space).

We are so fortunate to have the Ramos family as part of our Cypress, Texas community. Francisco is loved by so many people. Even if you've never met him, just your encouragement will help this little guy thrive. Just recall the last time you received a nice compliment and how good it made you feel inside for many hours. Now, if 200+ loving people made a sweet post on Care Pages, think of how many hours that will make Francisco feel each and every day!

Please, let me thank all of you in advance, for being a part of our community and keeping Francisco close to your heart and in your daily prayers.

An update of Francisco's condition from mom, Eileen Ramos:

We got some promising news today and a small curveball. Let's start with the curveball - during a catscan of his chest yesterday they found a small blood clot in the left ventricle of his heart. This is just related to the poor function of his heart. But, they began treating it with heparin, a blood thinner, and will do so until Monday. That remedy usually helps to break up clots. Until then, you can help us visualize the medicine blasting away the blood clot similar to the Atari game Asteroids (boy, did I just date myself). So please help us with that because if the heparin doesn't work the other meds are more risky (can cause bleeding).

And the more promising news - some lab results from 2 weeks ago just came in and Francisco tested positive for parvovirus (no, not the one dogs get). It's also known as fifth's disease and is a common childhood viral infection. That most likely infected his heart and caused myocarditis. Which means we are looking at 6 months to a year for his heart to regain its strength or close to it. He won't need a defibrillator because the virus caused the ventricular tachycardia. We, hopefully, aren't looking at a surgery or a new heart because his heart should regain some strength.

There is still a long battle ahead of us in terms of him getting his heart stronger, busting up this clot, and recovering from the heart failure. But, at least now, there are more answers as to why this happened. Because he had a previous open heart surgery he is at slightly more risk than the rest of the population for a virus to travel to his heart. But, this still is a freaky occurrence.

I'm still trying to respond to the postings so many of you have sent. I just want everyone to know, near and far, that this great support from so many and all of the praying has helped Francisco to get to this point. As we move forward I hope it continues to lead Francisco toward the path to wellness.

I feel like we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. And we contribute this improvement to the constant prayers from all of you and the indomitable spirit of our little Superman.

Another Update on Cisco by Eileen Ramos:

Francisco continues to do well. He started kindergarten in the hospital on Friday. His teacher comes to his room every day at 11am and he looks forward to it. He also gets occupational therapy twice a week for his fine motor skills and physical therapy twice a week for his gross motor skills. They encourage us to have him walk around. That’s a little better now that the chest tube by his right lung has been removed. Time will tell if it can stay out. It’s still not the easiest, though, since they put an IV in his foot! But he just limps along happily. He’s not letting that hold him down.

Heart-wise we’re sort of in a holding pattern. The echo Monday showed that the clot is still there, but hasn’t moved or gotten any bigger. That’s a good thing. It’s sort of resting in the nook of the left ventricle. They are going to continue another week with the blood thinner heparin and see how it looks on an echo next Monday. It may even develop like an outer skin and attach itself to his tissue and sort of get absorbed which is what we hope for. If it is still there next week the doctors are going to consider some risky clot-busting medication. It may dissolve the clot, but it may also just break it into two, make it mobile, and have it cause a brain bleed or stroke. So you can see why we are happier to give the heparin more time.

Other than the clot, his heart functions the same – very weak or as the doctors call it – severely depressed. But, the hope is that once the clot is handled and the lymphatic system stops leaking then he can go home with medications and physical restrictions. They want to give him a cardiac catheterization before he leaves so they can measure the pressures in his heart. This way they have all their diagnostic info so if, say, in a year’s time Cisco’s heart function has not improved or worsened then they have the necessary data to make him eligible for a heart transplant. Personally, I feel his heart will get stronger because I have seen the amazing feats he has performed since day one on the planet. They’re also checking to see if he has a genetic blood disorder that made especially vulnerable to the virus that attacked his heart. They pull my husband’s and my blood today to see if we are silent carriers of this thalassemia (it’s a form of chronic anemia that affects your hemoglobin).

Boy, at least we’re all getting an education on how the human body works. Honestly, I know I keep saying this, but the well wishes, prayers, and support everyone has given have been so crucial to us as a family. It’s very easy to lose focus when you spend a long time in the hospital. It is quite easy to get mired down in the minutiae and the differing opinions of the differing doctors. But, everyone helps to keep us focusing on the big picture. That Francisco is innately strong. That God hears our prayers. That Francisco wants to be here and has something significant to contribute with his life. We harness those thoughts and convey to the doctors that we have to facilitate what Francisco wants. As he says in his prayers each night “please God make my heart better so I can come home.”

He’s Sprung!

Late last Wednesday the doctors told us that Francisco could be discharged Friday or Monday depending on results of some blood tests. His levels were good so late Saturday afternoon Francisco came home. It was sort of surreal last night to have all of us together in the house and to watch the boys play together in the playroom for hours. Both Francisco and Mateo were very happy. Yesterday I asked my sister what the date was and she told me February 10^th. And I said, “let 2007 begin”. For the rest of the world it began January 1^st, but for us we feel like we are just starting this new year.

I think the best way to begin this is with a recap. Francisco had a great Christmas, but began showing signs he was sick on the night of December 27^th. We thought it was a stomach bug. He had a great New Year’s Eve, but when both my nephew and I noticed how fast he was breathing and how he just sort of fell asleep in the middle of nowhere we took him to the ER on New Year’s Day. And from that point on he was diagnosed with pneumonia and later congestive heart failure. He had episodes of what’s known as torsade, a type of ventricular tachycardia; extreme high heart rates that are usually fatal. He had almost a 20 ounce of fluid drained from around his right lung. He had numerous IVs sewn into him, a multitude of blood draws, and even got worked up for a heart transplant. Because his heart squeeze was so poor he then developed a blood clot in his heart.

The best news to come out of all this discouragement 2 weeks later was that he had viral myocarditis, or simply an infection that attacked his heart. It was a stroke of luck (or divine intervention, take your pick) that they even found this out because this virus is very hard to find evidence of. Because of this news the doctors decided that we will wait it out and support him with medicine that makes it easier for his heart to work. Before the virus was discovered we were looking at a surgery that probably wouldn’t have had a good outcome, but then he could probably get a heart transplant if one became available within a very small window of opportunity. But, we came to find out that transplants are no walk in the park and the life expectancy is only another 12 years at the most.

His heart has already begun to improve. Time will tell if it regains its normal function. Until then he is free to play and participate in activities with some limitations. He’ll be receiving home-based school services at least for the next month because we don’t want to risk anymore infection with him. The carepage (www.carepages.com) that my neighbor and now good friend Kelley Wiginton has set up has been a great source of strength for us. It made us feel like we weren’t alone in this struggle for Francisco. A greater community had his back, so to speak.

It’s been weird sort of living life in the hospital and all the different battles. It’s almost like you are in a parallel universe and can see the normal goings-ons in people’s lives, but try as you might, you just can’t break through. I feel like yesterday when Francisco came back home we have re-entered the real world. And we are so elated to be here. Like I said, “let 2007 begin