Emma's Entourage

This Sunday at 7:00 am, a group of 20 will be participating in the CHOC Walk as Emma's Entourage. As a group we raised just under $4000 for CHOC Hospital. It should be an exciting event. We will post some pictures from the walk on Monday.

Emma Update and CHOC Walk

Dear Family and Friends,

Emma is doing so well. She has several teeth now and is becoming quite vocal. While it will remain difficult to talk with a trach, she has discovered that she can make noises. It is quite cute. She has been making good progress with her physical therapy as well. She is able to balance herself with a little help on a large ball and can hold herself up on a box with some support. Since mommy went back to work, Emma has done well with both grandmas babysitting. Daddy even took a shift on Tuesday. This weekend marks this 1 year anniversary of CHOC saving Emma’s life. On September 10, 2005 we almost lost our little girl, but through the heroic efforts of so many nurses and doctors, we get to experience all these joys today. We are so thankful to CHOC and their staff and want to give back. We will be participating in the annual CHOC Walk on October 8th. If you would like to sponsor us or participate yourself, please let me know. There is no pressure; we just wanted to let you know of the opportunity. Below is all the information. Thank you once again for your prayers and support over the past 14 months.

Thank you, Mark, Alissa, and Emma


We are participating in the 16th Annual CHOC/Disneyland Resort Walk in the Park on Sunday October 8. As a walker, we’re trying to raise as much money as we can to help the children of CHOC. Children's Hospital of Orange County is very special to our family. As you know, they helped save Emma’s life. We want to give back as much as possible. After spending a total of 10 months in the hospital, we know first hand how special CHOC is. CHOC is a place where any child can receive the medical attention they need, regardless of their ability to pay. Last year, the CHOC Walk raised over $1 Million to help pay for this medical care and this year our goal is to raise even more! This is a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the 150,000 children who visit CHOC each year. If you are interested in donating, here is the link. CHOC WALK. Click on sponsor a registered walker and our registrant id’s are mdford1973 for Mark and yoyosmommy for Alissa. If you prefer you can also give a check directly to us made out to CHOC. If you are interested in walking with us, let us know ASAP so that we can get you the information to signup. We need at least 4 more walkers for Emma’s Entourage. It will be a great event and will benefit so many kids.

New Pictures

I like to eat beef jerky with my new teeth!

Mommy, Emma, Grandma, and Great Grandma

I like to play with paper.

Look at me doing physical therapy.

Emma has Teeth

Emma officially has her top 2 front teeth and we see a few others breaking through. She looks adorable with her toothy smile. A couple weeks back, she spent 4 days in the hospital, but it turned out to be a false alarm. She was throwing up a lot again and we didn't want to chance it. All tests came back negative for infection so she came home. 4 days is a new record for her shortest stay. Two weekends ago, we took Emma to the Mission Hospital parking structure to greet 900 motorcycles as they came through on their annual CHOC Ride. The bikers ride from location to location picking up poker cards trying to make the best hand. They end up at the blimp hangers on the old Tustin Marine Base. It is a great fundraiser for the CHOC. Emma was so excited seeing all the motorcycles. We had to put ear plugs in her ears though because it was so loud! This past weekend, Emma got to spend time with Alissa's extended family. In all, there were 16 of us together for dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Her Great Grandpa and Grandma Smith were in town for a few days, so we all got together. Emma had a great time and stayed up way past her bedtime.

New Job

Alissa started her new job at CHOC last week. She went through orientation on Monday and has been training with Marta at Big CHOC for the past 5 days. After she finishes her training this week, she will begin her official work on the 5th. She cannot wait to start working with the families.

Newest CHOC Employee

On Friday, Alissa was officially offered a position as the Parent Services Coordinator at CHOC Hospital in Mission Viejo. This is an exciting opportunity for her to use her experiences over the past year with Emma to help other parents going through similar situations. She will act as a liaison between the parents and doctors/nurses. It is a 20 hour a week job with flexible hours. We cannot imagine a more perfect job for Alissa. CHOC has become so much of our lives with Emma in the hospital for 10 months and now we can give back. She will be starting on or before September 11.

Great Weekend

This past weekend Emma had a lot of firsts. On Friday we took her to Babies R' Us for her first portrait studio photos. We arrived just before 5:00, but there was a long wait. By the time they were ready to take her pictures, she was tired and we only ended up getting 6 pictures taken. They turned out nice though. Daddy had to work on Saturday, so Mommy and Grandma took Emma to Healthbridge for a visit. On Sunday Emma finally made it to our church Sakred for the first time. It was so nice to be back and the sermon was quite appropriate. The theme was Welcome Home and was on the parable of the prodigal son. After church we went to Nana and Papas house for a thank you lunch for everyone who helped out with Karen and David's wedding last month. Then on Monday, Emma got to visit Mommy's school and meet a lot of the prayer warriors there. We are still waiting for her teeth to break through. They are so close and Emma can't wait for the pain to go away.

Trach Update

Yesterday Emma headed over to Big CHOC for a bronch to see how her airway has progressed since getting a trach last November. She had an appointment at 1:00, but we were supposed to be there at 1:00. She also had to fast from 8:00 on. When we arrived, CHOC had no record of the appointment. Alissa walked over to Dr. Nickerson's office and he remembered booking the appointment as well. He pulled together a team and made the bronch happen after all. It was just another example of how great of care we receive from the CHOC family. After trying to give Emma a couple IVs and failing, they gave her some versed through her nose and she relaxed greatly. Her bronch procedure consisted of sending a tiny camera through her nose down her throat. They checked to see if the airway had become stronger, larger, and if any granuloma tissue had formed. Dr. Nickerson was surprised how far she had come. When they removed the trach during the procedure, her oxygen level and breathing remained good and her airway remained open and pink. He expects that by next Spring she should be able to remove the trach without any further surgeries. She just needs to gain about 50% more weight and she will be good to go. We look forward to that day because we will have a lot less medical equipment in the house.

I'm One!

On Sunday, Emma turned One! It was a very special day. We celebrated at Grandma Julie and Grandpa Jack's house with a small group of family, friends, and our extended family (Emma's amazing nurses). It was so much fun to celebrate how far she has come in a year. She went from 2 pounds 1 ounce and 13 inches long to 10 pounds 10 ounces and 24 inches long. She has been home for more than 4 weeks this time around and is doing so well. She enjoys spending time with Mommy playing. She loves to bounce, swing, and play with her toys on the floor. She also loves to watch Playhouse Disney, although Mommy and Daddy can only take so much of The Wiggles and The Doodlebops. On Friday Emma goes in for a bronch to see if she still needs her trach. In all likelihood she will still need it for another year, but it will be good to see how far she has progressed. Another bit of exciting news is that we will probably be getting home nursing from 11 pm to 7 am, Monday through Friday in the next couple of weeks. We cannot wait!

Doing Well

Emma has been home again for about 2 weeks now. She turns one on the 16th. Since returning home from the hospital, Emma has been doing fairly well. When they sent her home she was still throwing up a little bit. As a result, we decided to switch to straight breast milk instead of fortifying the milk. Since then, Emma has not been throwing up. We want her to get the extra calories that the formula gives, but if she can't keep it down it is not doing any good. Emma has learned to roll from her back to her stomach, but cannot get back over. She is finding her voice a little bit as well. You can hear her squeak a little bit more often. A few of her teeth are getting close to breaking through. On June 22, Emma got to meet some of her relatives that she had never met at her Auntie Karen's wedding rehearsal. We were supposed to go to Dee's house today for the 4th of July, but I have been sick for the past few days. I had a 103 fever on Sunday and had to stay away from Emma and Alissa for 2 days. It was a bummer to have time off and not get to spend it with them. I will have another update in a week or so unless something major comes up beforehand.