Our Sunshine Boys: Grandma

Friday, March 7, 2008

Teresa Village/Bob Hope Village

I've been thinking alot about my grandmother and great grandmother. This video was made at the place they live. I love to watch it. It is one of the few videos I have of them. Justine Mikkelsen is my grandmother and my great grandmother whom I called Mam Mam is Donna Yakey.

Let me tell you a funny story about them. They lived together and my grandmother went for a walk and ended up falling down. Other residents called for an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. She told the people at the hospital to call her Mom to tell her where she was so she wouldn't worry. They thought my grandmother was coo-coo for cocoa puffs. Her being in her 80's...they laughed at the idea of her Mom still being alive. They thought she was crazy. Her mother was alive. She lived to be 104. She played scrabble, bridge, danced, went out to dinner with friends and wore the latest fashions up to a few months before she passsed away.

About the boys

As of 3/31/08

Ryan is 4 1/2 years old. He is in preschool and loves every minute of it. He loves to color and he loves Larry Boy, the superhero from Veggie Tales.

Jack is almost 3 and he is the aggressive one. He likes to pick on his older brother. Even though he picks on Ryan, he likes to do whatever his big brother does.

Evan is 4 months old but is the size of an average newborn. He was born 9 weeks early. He was only 1 lb 15 ounces and 12 1/2 inches long at birth.

All of the boys have had their medical issues.

Ryan was diagnosed at birth with hydrocephalus. He was shunted at 3 days old. That shunt failed at about a year old. That is when the docs performed a third ventriculostomy. That failed one month later and was redone. His last surgery was January 2009 when he was 5. He has MRI's annually to make sure the hydrocephalus is under control.

Jack was diagnosed at 3 months old with hydrocephalus. He was shunted immediately but that shunt failed at 7 months old. They performed a third ventriculostomy and he has not had another surgery since. He has MRI's once a year.

Evan was born Intrauterine Growth Restricted(IUGR). He was born at 31 weeks 3 days gestational age. He was only 1 lb 15 ounces and he spent almost 2 months in the NICU.