Christmas 2005

Ben with Santa at the Police Christmas Party. I'm pretty sure Ben was a good boy all year long!:)

Ambulance Flight

Our Flight nurses and respiratory therapist. They were fantastic.

July 2004 we took a trip down to Florida to visit Ben's grandparents who were a mission. During that stay, Ben got really sick and ended up in the PICU of St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. We were there 11 days before leaving to go back to NH. Because Ben was still on the vent, he had to be flown back in an ambulance. That was an experience I'll never forget. I was able to travel with him. It was a really small jet. You couldn't even sit up straight. The flight was 3 hours long and over $12,000. Eventually we made it back to the PICU at DHMC where Ben finished out the course of his illness.

Being loaded onto the jet

Third Birthday

Ben is HAPPY to be THREE!

The Billin Family threw an awesome party for Ben
Brothers...Kaleb thrilled to celebrate his special day

Make A Wish

February 2005

Kids with Mickey
Stitch and Lilo Mickey and Minnie with the Orton Family
We were lucky to have our good friend Becky come with us.
Pluto saying hi to everyone...

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On February 6th, the Orton Family left for Walt Disney World. We were picked up in a stretch white limosuine that took us to the airport. From there we caught our plane to Orlando, FL. We were met by a "Give Kids The World" volunteer. (only wish kids are able to stay at GKTW) He collected our luggage, brought us to our rental van, gave us directions to GKTW and sent us on our way. We stayed for a total of 10 days and were able to take in many sites and attractions. GKTW in itself was like it's own theme park. They had a huge movie theatre, mini-golf, a merry-go-round, ice cream parlor, face painting, Disney characters that came to the village special to see the wish kids and much more. We visited EPCOT, MGM, Magic Kingdom, Sea World, Universal, Adventure Islands and of course Ben's grandparents who were staying in Tampa, FL at the time. It was an unbelievable, unforgettable and magical trip of a lifetime! We want to thank our wish volunteers, Maureen and Kim, who made it possible. We love you

January 2005 PICU Stay

What a crazy month January was. We were scheduled to leave on the 6th for Ben's "Make A Wish" trip to Disney World. The kids were SO excited! Unfortuanately Ben got sick on the 4th - two days before we were to leave. I still had great hopes that we would make it home in time to leave. (wishful thinking) I took Ben to the local ER like I always do and there they did all the regular tests and blood work before calling for DHART to come pick him up. On the way to Dartmouth, Ben got worse and they ended up putting him on the vent to rest him until he arrived in the PICU. There we found out that he had pseudomonas - something he probably is colonized with - but when his immune system is compromized, it can infect him and make him really sick. He actually looked really good for being so sick. The doctor's tried to wean him off the vent the next day so that he could fight this on his own but Ben would have no part of that. He was on a small amount of pressure support, just enough to make life a little easier while coasting through his illness. He had IV access for ceftazidine which they treated him with for 14 days. For some reason, we couldn't wean Ben off the vent. After the first week the doctor's began thinking that maybe Ben's brain was deteriorating and shutting down slowly. All his numbers continued to get lower and lower the longer he was on the vent. He was hypothermic, had bradycardia, low blood pressure and his CO2 levels were really low as well. I had my hunch that the vent was causing all of this and not his brain. After 3 weeks there I wanted them to push him more and get him off the vent so that he could bring up all his numbers. That is exactly what they did and sure enough his numbers came back to normal. We were prepared to go on his wish trip with a vent - which we were trained on - but thank goodness that did not have to happen. We were so happy. After 23 days, Ben went home!

Daddy and Ben with his buddy "Elephant"
Ben on his vent
A bigger view of his vent
Ben right after his bath
Mom kissing her sweet boy