And the winner is.....

First off, I want to thank everyone who helped us with this raffle; 

KCPCU Staff

Carissa Cook

Liz Larson

Kate Zishka 

Family Dental Care 

KCPD Daily Informant

All my family and friends who shared, and posted and re-posted the raffle

These friends and family and businesses helped us by sharing our special guys story and selling tickets and collecting money-from many people who didn't want the tickets, just had huge hearts and wanted to help our bald guy get to Boston to get fixed!  

For all of you who purchased tickets, and gave generous monetary gifts, we are humbled by your kindness.  For all the good thoughts and prayers sent our way-we feel your love for sure!

I wish I could personally thank each and every one of you-please know we will pay all this goodness forward!

With that said, the winner is a fellow NKCH employee-and unfortunately I haven't been able to reach her yet, so I'm not going to post her name-but I will as soon as she says it's ok. Hint hint. She's an ER doc and fellow copper wife....

And she has always been very supportive of us and even taken care of me as a patient before. She is someone I respect and admire, and miss working with since I don't work nights anymore!  

*update-just chatted with the winner of the concert tickets and Brandie Niedens is the winner!!

Brandie and her husband Jake have amazingly huge hearts and want us to use the tickets for Ethan to see his true love!  "Putting a smile on that little guys face is what is most important". 

Thank you Brandie and Jake-you have made Ethan one happy, happy little boy. I will definitely post pics of his huge grin once he hears his girlfriend live!!

Ethan had his teeth cleaned and two pulled in preparation for his surgery.  And have I shared lately how awesome our dentist and staff are?  Ethan's teeth look gorgeously white and he did awesome with the numbing and tooth pulling. He never even cried-he actually giggled during most of the cleaning. Family Dental Care, Dr Erica Fisher, Melanie and Whitney-you rock!! Thanks for being so kind and gentle with our guy!  I was more of a wreck for the tooth pulling than Ethan was!  

Ethan had a Cardiology appointment today with Dr Kaine and it was very good. We received our official letter from Boston about the bald kids heart and their findings and recommendations. He is in agreement with what they have planned and is as hopeful as we are for a permanent fix instead of a temporary one.  Ethan's Right Ventricle function looks better today on echo, and everything is not so congested in his heart. Dr Kaine admitted he was pushing for a non-invasive procedure initially because he wasn't sure E had the cardiac reserve to have a positive outcome with an open chest/by-pass surgery. The way his heart looks now he feels it's a much safer option.  And glad we are getting it done before the icky sicky fall months are upon us. He's as unsure as we are whether he could handle a bad respiratory illness if he wasn't fixed. 

Many of you who know me well, know I have to have a plan. All my ducks in a row. A course of action. And then a back-up plan should the primary one fall through.  And as with everything, this trip to Boston is no different.  Though we are so hopeful, so very hopeful and excited for a fix, I am a realist. 

Should things not work out all rainbows and sunshine, we have to be prepared for the worst.

 And I have this crazy theory about being prepared, then it won't happen.  

Like packing an overnight bag for a follow up for the bald kid wards off an admission.

 No bag packed and he gets admitted. 

Part of our preparation involves knowing that should things go rough in Boston, that we know Dr Kaine would accept, admit and help us get Ethan back to KC for compassionate care.   With tears in his eyes a most resounding yes was his answer.   And though he sure plans for that NOT to happen, he did admit we are heading into a potentially really big surgery. And our little guy is unique and has defied odds so many times in the past, so he expects no different this time. 

And neither do we.  Neither do we.