November 27 (2:45 PM)

Sorry, no pictures today. The new rechargeable batteries I bought for the camera aren't working.

Dani Jo has done well today. She did much better last night after they switched her back to the hospital vent. We met with the team of doctors this morning. I felt like we made some considerable progress in our meeting this morning. I voiced some concerns I had about the way things had been handled over the past two weeks. Some of the nurses voiced some concerns as well. We all felt well about the meeting. The doctors have contacted Dr. Ruben (pulmonologist that will manage Dani Jo's case when she goes home, CCHS expert) to get some input into the proper ventilator settings for her on the home vent. We are going to try to correct desats initially by gradually modifying her bpm settings as opposed to greatly increasing her oxygen levels. They restarted her feedings again today. She gobbled down 30 cc pretty quickly for lunch today.

A special thank you to Jake (Respiratory Therapist) for all your help with Dani Jo and for teaching us all about the ventilator and its settings.

Kudos to Karen (nurse today) for all your love for our little girl. We love the way you love on her when we are not here to do that. Karen also wins the Golden Enima Award for successfully performing this procedure and not waking Dani Jo up the entire time. (Your trophy and certificate have been ordered.)

Jennifer B., thank you for your post. You can sing Jesus Loves Me to Dani Jo anytime you want to.

So, overall, today has been a pretty good day. We are looking at surgery on the large intestine in about 1.5 to 2 weeks.

Thank you all for your prayers.
The Hearl Family

Monday Night (November 26)

The hospital called tonight about 6:00. Dani Jo had a rough afternoon. She desatted several times and was just not herself tonight. They did two cultures to check for bacteria growth. They did some bloodwork to check for infection. They tested her for RSV. As of 9:30 tonight, all of the results had been negative. An x-ray revealed that she had some collapse in her left lung, so they put her on her right side so the left lung could expand and open up a bit. They switched her from her home ventilator to the hospital ventilator she was on before the trach surgery. (Amanda and I think this is a good thing.) The home ventilator will eventually be the right thing for her, but right now I think the other vent is best. The medical staff at the hospital is more familiar with the vent she is on now. Personally, I don't think they know enough about the home vent to know how to modify the settings accordingly. We hope to speak with Dr. Ruben (pulmonologist) tomorrow in hopes of getting him to be in charge of her ventilator settings. The past several days have been frustrating at times. Several members of her medical team seem to want to get her vent breaths per minute as low as possible (almost like they are trying to wean her off the vent--however, she will never be weaned off the vent because of CCHS). When they lower the bpm, she begins to desat. They then respond by jacking up her oxygen level of the vent. At times, it has been up above 60-70% recently. This is not recommended at all since there are damaging effects of too high levels of oxygen. They have said that they want her on one bpm rate for 12 hours during the day and another rate during the night. This would be great if she only slept during the night, but she's only 1.5 months old--she sleeps all throughout the day. She has really struggled remaining consistent and stable with the home vent the past week. These episodes occurring tonight have caused them to stop her feedings again. She has an IV and will get fluids that way for now.

She did test positive for Hirschsprung's Disease last week. We hope to have the surgery to remove the portion of her large intestine soon. We had hoped for so long that she would be home by Thanksgiving. Everything looked like that might happen for a while, but as the days pass and she continues to struggle with the home vent, we prepare ourselves for a longer stay at the hospital. I would like to say that home for Christmas is a realistic possibility, but I will hold off on saying that right now.

Teresa, thank you for everything you have done for our family and for Dani Jo. We love you so much for your sincere love and desire to take care of our little girl at the hospital. You are quickly becoming a part of our family. I have come to realize over the past two months that the medical profession is no different than any other profession. There are those that choose that line of work because they love what they do and they want to make a difference in the lives of the patients and families they deal with. There are also those that choose a career just to earn a paycheck. Unfortunately, we have had to deal with this as well lately. Teresa is definitely one that fits the first description.

Dr. Parsons, we miss you, so whenever you want to come back and take care of Dani Jo again, we will be waiting. Maybe that's what Dani Jo is waiting for. She didn't want to go home without you being there with her, so hurry up and come back. :-)

Well, that's all we really know right now. I am taking tomorrow off work to meet with the doctors. I hope to get in touch with Dr. Ruben tomorrow and ask for some expertise help from him. Please keep Dani Jo in your prayers. We love all of you.

Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, and Dani Jo

Thanksgiving Day (9:45 AM)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. We are getting ready to go to the hospital in a few minutes. We got the test results from the biopsy last night. Dani Jo did test positive for Hirshsprung's Disease. Basically she has a portion of her large intestine that does not have nerve endings in it that help move the waste through her body. At some point in the near future Dani Jo will have to have surgery to remove this part of her large intestine.

The doctor I spoke with last night said that if Dani Jo were able to get her feedings up over the next several days, she may get to come home and we would bring her back in a couple of weeks for the surgery. He thought she would do better with the surgery if we waited a few weeks to do it. If we did bring her home prior to the surgery, we would give her enimas every six hours at home.

If she cant' get her feedings up to par over the next few days, he would have to go ahead and do the surgery soon. In order to do the surgery, they have to do another biopsy where they take several tissue samples until they find normal tissue. This will tell them how long the part of the intestine w/o nerve endings is. If this is a very small part, they cut it out and reconnect the end of the intestine. If this is a large part, they cut it out and she would have to have a colostomy bag for a few months until the intestine healed from the surgery.

So, right now, we don't exactly know what will happen with the surgery. We trust in God that He will protect her throughout the upcoming days and weeks. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We love you all.

PS--Travis, this pic with the App State hat is for you. Enjoy it, cause it will be replaced with a VT picture soon. This pic is a few weeks old.

Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, and Dani Jo

Nov 20 Finally Getting Somewhere!

Well, we are starting to get somewhere at least with her stooling issue. The Dr. came in this morning and finally did the repeat Hirshprungs biopsy. We should hear something by tomorrow sometime--then we can move forward.

Treatments:
If they find that it is Hirshprungs (depending on how large the section is), they would be able to just remove the section and reconnect. If it is larger than they can remove & reconnect, they wouldd do a different surgery that would result in her having a colostomy for a few months for her to get bigger for a more intense surgery.

If they find that it is not Hirshprungs, and that it is just a narrowing in her intestines, they could either do surgery and remove the "narrowing section" or they would continue with enemas and wait until she was a couple of months older and do another "barium enema" to see if the narrowing has improved.

Well that is all I know for today! Thank you all for your prayers! God is still in control!

Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, & Dani Jo Hearl

Nov 19 Bonding With Mommy

Since Daddy has gone back to work, Mommy and Dani Jo has has a lot of time to bond. Today was a pretty good day. She was off the vent most of the time today. She is still just on 15cc of milk and the rest of nutrients through IV. They are also still giving her enemas every 6 hours. They were suppose to do a repeat biopsy today for Hirshprungs Disease, and the Dr. did not get to it. They said we are suppose to have it done first thing in the morning.....We shall see!

Mommy also stays back pretty much all day with Dani Jo from the time she gets there until the time she leaves...only going down for lunch for about 45 minutes. Dani Jo was awake most of the day today--so Mommy was able to hold her right much! We hope to find out more about "HD" Biopsy tomorrow afternoon. Check back for an updated post tomorrow night!

11-19-07 GO HOKIES!

After VT's win, Dani Jo decided she needed to show her support for the VT Hokies! I'm Daddy's little girl for sure!!!!

November 17 (1:30 AM)

Having trouble sleeping tonight, so I decided to write and give all of you an update. After a while, it gets lonely at night without the entire family home. Hopefully writing a little bit will make me feel better. I didn't get to go to the hospital today--I think that's part of the reason I'm bummed out tonight.

Dani Jo has been doing pretty good with her breathing the past few days. The problem now is with her small intestine. She's not having regular bowel movements. It seems like we've been going through the same cycle the past two weeks. They feed her with the bottle for about two days. She doesn't have a bowel movement, her stomach becomes hard and swollen, they stop feedings, give her an enima, she poops and then we start the whole cycle over again.

They thought it was Hirshsprung's Disease originally (when a part of your intestines doesn't have nerve endings to push the waste through the bowels. They did a biopsy to test for this about 2 weeks ago. Results were inconclusive. They did a contrast enima a few days ago. They discovered a portion of her small intestine that is very narrow. This is called a stricture. They say they can do surgery to widen this part. Today the doctor came up and said they wanted to do another biopsy on the narrow part to see if it is HD or a stricture or both. Amanda and I have become frustrated over the past few days. Nobody wants their child to have a surgery, but this feeding/not feeding cycle is becoming frustrating. If she needs surgery, then I wish they would hurry up and do it. We feel like we are going in circles. The bowel problem is the only thing keeping her from coming home. They had told us that she might come home on Monday. That's not going to happen.

If they do the biopsy on Monday, it will probably be Wed. or Thurs. before we hear anything about it. If we do surgery, it will probably take a few days to get that done, and then there would be recovery from surgery. Who knows? All I know is that we want our little girl home. We got a new lead doctor two days ago. It seems like we are back at step one with the new doctor. All we ever hear is "the doctor is coming up tomorrow to take a look at her", but tomorrow never seems to come. Sometimes I feel like Dani Jo is just another patient to some of the doctors and that it's no big deal to them if the doctor doesn't get it done today. They always say, "well, the doctor couldn't make it up today, but they are coming tomorrow." I know it's just another day to some people, but to us it is another lonely day without our daughter at home. To Jordan and Jamie, it's another day without Mommy and Daddy at home. It gets frustrating after several of these days.

All of the medical equipment and supplies is at the house. We got a call from my insurance company today and they have approved 12 hours of at home nursing for Dani Jo. That whole thing has been another area of stress. There are different programs out there to help with medical care and assistance for her, but it seems like you have to be denied from 800 different things to be eligible for other things. We applied for Medicaid knowing we would get denied, but we have this denial to apply for other things. We tried to apply for SSI, but she doesn't have her social security card back yet. Taking care of Dani Jo will be a piece of cake compared to all of the legal, insurance, etc. paperwork we have to battle with.

I miss my baby girl. I miss my family being together. I want this empty spot in my heart to go away. I want to stop crying when I lie down at night. Please pray that we will all be together soon. Thanks for listening tonight.

Joey

November 13 (9:00 PM)

Sorry we haven't posted in a few days. They switched Dani Jo over to the ventilator she will use when she comes home. She struggled a little bit to start with getting used to it. It's different from the ventilator she had been on since she was born. It will take a few days to get the settings all figured out.

She has had a distented (swollen and hard) stomach for the past few days. The pathologist is probably going to do another suction biopsy to test again for Hirshsprung's Disease. It's looking more and more like she does have HD considering the difficulty she has has stooling recently. We are praying that she won't have to have surgery on her small intestine and that it can be controlled with a stool softener.

They stopped her feedings today because of the swollen stomach. We didn't get to go to the hospital today. We had to stay home to meet the guys that brought all of the home health care equipment. Dani Jo's bedroom now looks like a hospital room with all of the supplies and equipment. She has a ventilator, suction pump, oxygen sensor and monitor, apnea monitor, oxygen machine, several oxygen tanks, batteries for everything, backup batteries, and about 20 boxes of medical supplies. This will get us through the first month. We will be taking up donations to put an addition onto her bedroom soon. :-)

I had to go back to work this week. I plan to take 2-3 weeks off when she does come home--hopefully, sometime next week, depends on the HD results. Thank you to everyone at CGMS for donating days to me this morning. You all are all very special to me.

I'll post some pics from Sunday and Monday, along with a video or two.

Please pray that Dani Jo's HD test results will come back ok.

Jordan Loving on Dani Jo

Saturday, November 10 (6:30 PM)

Dani Jo had another good day at the hospital. She slept most of the time we were there. Her stomach is distented (swollen) a little bit. They noticed some abnormal results from the biopsy they did to check for Hirshsprung's Disease (bowel disorder) last week. We will learn more when we talk to the pathologist on Monday. If she does have HD, they think it's probably a mild case because she has been stooling a lot.

Daddy got to hold her for about two hours this afternoon. Jordan got some time with her little sister today as well. Amanda and I are still practicing cleaning the trach. We're getting there.

We took a lot of pics and videos today.

Enjoy the video of Dani Jo breathing without the vent for 30 minutes tonight.

Breathing without the Vent

We got home from hospital a few minutes ago. Dani Jo had a great evening while we were there. She was awake for a long time. We began to clean around her trach about 5:30 this afternoon. While cleaning around the trach, Dani Jo popped the ventilator hose off of the trach. She was awake, so we decided to leave the hose off while we cleaned the trach. It's much easier to clean with the vent. hose off. It took us about ten minutes to clean the trach. She was breathing on her own the entire time. We asked the nurse if we could keep the hose off for a few minutes. Twenty minutes later, Dani Jo was still breathing on her own and keeping her oxygen levels up. We didn't want to push our luck today, so we hooked her back up after 30 minutes and went home happy tonight.

Friday, November 9

Dani Jo has done terrific today! When I came in this morning, she had pulled her feeding tube out and was just as alert as she could be. She was breathing all on her own, which is a good thing! This would mean a step closer to being taken off the ventilator during the day or while awake and just put on the vent while sleeping! Dr. Parsons may do a trial run with her before discharge just to see how she tolerates off the vent while awake! We will pray without ceasing!

Because she had pulled her feeding tube out the Dr. said that we could try bottle feeding her a little. I bottle fed her 10cc and she did really well. She wanted more. "Baby steps"! We are getting everything setup at home for her to come home. She will have to have 24/7 extensive in-home nursing care for the first few months. Monday is a big day for her. She will be placed on her "home" ventilating system for a week or so here at Brenners to make sure her settings are ready for home care. She will also have her first Trach change on Monday and she will be one month old. Please remember us in your prayers. They are setting a tentative date for 2 weeks for her Homecoming. We are very excited however, very nervous. Our lives will be different with round the clock in-home nursing, so remember us as we journey our new lives.

A big thank you to everyone that has kept us in your prayers. When we come home we continue posting on this site to keep you all updated at home, since we really can't have visitors in the beginning.

Our love to all and thanks again for the prayers, emails, phone calls, monetary gifts, baby gifts & thoughts. We are basking in God Glory for our new miracle!!!

In Christ,
Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, Dani Jo

Video of Dani Jo (November 7)

This is a short video of Dani Jo doing what she does best--sleep.

Our First Time Cleaning the Trach (November 7--4:00 PM)

We got our first experience cleaning the trach this afternoon. I guess we did ok. Lori (nurse) said we did a good job. We've still got a ways to come before we go home, but at least we are getting started.

Dani Jo has done very well since the surgery on Monday. Her sats (oxygen levels) have been great. She looks really good. She is still sleeping a lot because of the pain medication she's on. We did see her open her eyes for a few moments this afternoon.

I have posted a few pics of Amanda and I cleaning the trach. I've also posted a short video of her sleeping today.

We got a surprise visit by Cole's grandparents this afternoon. (The grandparents of the little boy with CCHS). Cole's family has been a great source of inspiration for Amanda and I. We can hardly wait to meet Cole tomorrow morning.

They did a biopsy on Dani Jo this morning. 20% of all CCHS kids have a bowel disorder called Hirshsprung's Disease. They don't think Dani Jo has been because she has been stooling so well, but they just want to rule this out. Results of this test will probably take a week or two.

That's it for now. We'll try to write more later.
We love all of you,
Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, and Dani Jo

Tuesday Night 8:00 PM (November 6)

Dani Jo did great at the hospital today. She's still out of it from the medication and from the surgery. She opened her eyes for about 10 seconds today while we were there. No desats today!! Praise God! We left hospital early today to take Jordan to the movies in Mt. Airy. Sorry we missed you, Darlene & Tami--I did hear that you guys got to see her anyway.

A special thank you to our wonderful nurse last night (Teresa). She is Dani Jo's primary nurse and has been absolutely wonderful. (see pic).

We met with Crystal (nurse/mother of CCHS child) today. We talked for about an hour. We get to meet her 23-month old son on Thursday. We are planning a visit to her house within the next two weeks to see how this all works at home.

I'll try to post some more pics tomorrow.

Joey

A BIG THANK YOU---11-05-07

This is just a BIG thank you to everyone at Brenners Children's Hospital NICU for everything that you did to comfort our family today in our great time of need. To Dr Parsons, Dr. Rubin, Dr. Patel, Dr. Kirse (and I know I am leaving some out)--but all the Doctors; Surgeons, Nurses, Medical Students, Friends, Family--Prayers--monetary--thoughts--gifts--food--(there is no way that I could possibly send a thank you to all that have sent any of the above). I hope that each of you will accept this as a thank you from the very bottom of our hearts with most warmth--Because of you Dani Jo will be strong, God will give us strength and make our family stronger than we have ever been before. This will be a life changing experience for our family and I know with your support and prayers we will conquer!


Most of all thank you to the mother of another CCHS, our true Angel in disguise. I know that it wasn't by chance that it just so happened that her son has CCHS, nor was it by chance that she worked in the Peds OR, not was it by chance that she would be by Dani Jo's side during her surgery; the same surgery that her son underwent close to 2 years ago. This was not coincidence at all. Coincidence is when God works anonymously!!!!! Thank you so much Crystal. As we embraced before Dani Jo went down for surgery, there was an overwhelming feeling of peace come over me and I knew no one would ever know my pain the way you would. I have a special love in my heart for you and your family and thank God for sending you our way!!!!!


Thanks to all, In Christ,
Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, Dani Jo Hearl

Video (3:30 PM)

Back from Surgery (3:30 PM)

Dani Jo returned from surgery about 20 minutes ago. She is doing well. We finally got to see her beautiful face without tape all over it. Dr. Kirsh said the surgery went wonderful. See video and pic.

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you Jesus for protecting our little angel.

2:30 PM--Just left for surgery

The anesthesia team just came up about 15 minutes ago and took Dani Jo down for her surgery. Surgery is expected to last only 15-20 minutes by the time they get her down there. We had a very tearful introduction to Crystal Rouse--the pediatric OR nurse that has a son with CCHS. (see picture) She was with the anestesia team that came and took Dani Jo to surgery.

I'll try to write more when she gets back from surgery. Thank you for your prayers. God is good.

Monday 12:00 Noon (November 5)

Dani Jo had a great night last night--no desats. None today so far. She is still out of it with the medication. Trach surgery is scheduled for 2:00 this afternoon. Surgery lasts only about 15 minutes. Please keep her in your prayers this afternoon.

Sunday Night 10:00 PM (November 4)

We just called the hospital to check on Dani Jo. She had done pretty well tonight. Still knocked out from the meds--resting and getting ready for her big day tomorrow. Thank you Angela (nurse) for being so wonderful with our little angel tonight. The doctors and nurses in the NICU are wonderful people. They are very passionate about their work. Dr. Parsons has been tremendous. We appreciate everything he has done to educate and comfort us during Dani Jo's stay at Brenner's.

God works in mysterious ways. I received an e-mail tonight from a lady named Crystal. She has a son that has CCHS. Her son is 23 months old. Crystal and her family live in Kernersville, NC (about 30 miles from the hospital). Guess where Crystal works? Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem (the same hospital Brenner's is located) Guess what Crystal does? She is a pediatric nurse in the anesthesia area? Guess where Crystal is working tomorrow? In the operating room. Guess who else will be in the operating room tomorrow? Dani Jo. I think this is more than just a coincidence.

Thank you all for your calls and visits today. God will reward you all for being a blessing to our family.

Video (Sunday, November 4)

Watch the video to see the surgical line from this morning.

Sunday, November 4

Today has been an OK day. She gave us a scare when we first got here. She desatted to 7% oxygen and starting turning blue. They pumped her full of oxygen and she recovered. Mom and Dad can't take too many more of those episodes. Dani Jo is definitely stronger than we are.

They were unsuccessful putting her PICC line in last night. She had surgery this morning to put in a "central line." It's a permanent IV line that goes into a main vein near her heart. The surgery went well. Dani Jo is pretty much knocked out today from the surgery. Tracheostomy surgery still scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Please keep her in your prayers. I have posted a short video of her today. You can see the surgical line on the video. It's the little white line coming out from her chest.

I'll try to keep you'll updated during surgery tomorrow.

Saturday (11-03-07)

The past two days have definitely been a roller coaster of emotions. Two weeks ago I had never heard of Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS). Now, I know more than I probably need to know. Dani Jo began to really struggle keeping her oxygen saturation up over the past few days. Yesterday, she desat (dropped her oxygen levels) numerous times. They tried to put her on CPAP (a stronger ventilation system through the nose, but not as serious as the ventilator). She did not respond well with this. Yesterday afternoon, they had to put the ventilator tube back in. She is scheduled to have her tracheostomy surgery on Monday. The doctors would have had to put the vent tube back in for the surgery, so they went ahead and did it yesterday. The hope was that she could get a couple of days of good sleep and rest before the surgery. This has not been the case. She desatted several times last night and today (even while on the ventilator). She has struggled today. They put her on morphine last night to try to keep her calmed down. She fights the ventilator a lot when awake. This afternoon we experienced our scariest moment with Dani Jo. She dropped her oxygen levels. Typically the nurses come over and up her oxygen and she comes out of it. She didn't today. Her oxygen levels dropped to zero. She had turned purple. After a few seconds (it seemed like an eternity to us), she finally snapped out of it. They pumped her full of oxygen and she regained her color. The doctor said that she appears to be frustrated with the vent tube down her throat and that she is tensing up trying to fight the tube. When she does this, the air can't get into her lungs from the ventilator. He said she had actually passed out with her episode this afternoon. They are stopping her morphine and giving her verset (sp??) . This is a more effective form of sedation. Doctor Parsons said that since she has regained a bit of strength, she appears to be stronger than the morphine she was getting. The hope is that the verset will completely knock her out so that she will relax and let the vent do the work for her. They are currently trying to put a PICC (permanent IV) line into one of her arteries. She will need an IV for the surgery and to feed on for a couple of days after the surgery. They tried to put a PICC line in her last week, but were unsuccessful. If they can't get it in this time, they will have to surgically implant a line prior to the trach surgery on Monday.

Now for a bit more about CCHS. CCHS is a genetic mutation of a specific gene. Amanda nor I had no impact on her getting this gene. It was a spontaneous mutation. We could have other children and not be affected by CCHS. However, if Dani Jo has children, there will be a 50% chance of that child having CCHS. If all goes well with the trach surgery, recovery time is usually 2-3 weeks. It will take a week or so to determine what type of ventilator settings will work for Dani Jo. As an infant, she will be hooked to a ventilator via the trach tube 24/7. As she grows older, we will be able to further determine if she can come off of the vent while she is awake and breathing on her own. Basically, her respiratory system shuts down when she falls asleep. About 70% of CCHS children are able to breath on their own while awake. They only need the vent while sleeping. 30% of CCHS children require the vent all day long. There are currently about 200 children and infants in the world today with CCHS. There is no known cure for this rare disease. (Yet!!) When Dani Jo comes home, we will have 24/7 nursing care at the house for a while. As we become more comfortable with caring for her with the trach and ventilator, the nursing care at home will be reduced. Dani Jo will not be able to make any sounds for the better part of a year. The trach tube initially will take up her entire windpipe. As she grows and her windpipe enlarges, there will be room for air to bypass the trach tube, thus causing sound. So we won't be able to hear our girl cry for about a year. We were fortunate to get to hear her cry two days ago when we gave her a bath. It was her first bath since birth (21 days earlier). If Dani Jo progresses well over the first few years of her life, she may be able to have the trach tube removed in lieu of a diagphragmatic pacemaker. This is a surgical implant into the diaphragm which causes it to move, causing breathing to take place. We met with a CCHS specialist yesterday. He gave us encouragement and hope with a lot of the new technology coming for CCHS kids. He made the statement that he would like to say one day that "Dani Jo had CCHS." CCHS kids can live relatively normal lives. Many are active in school and athletics. They just sleep and speak a little differently than other kids. Please don't feel sorry for Dani Jo or our family. We are blessed that we may have the opportunity to take her home in a few weeks. This is the third time we have been in the NICU with a new baby and we can say that we have been blessed. We have seen and talked with several moms and dads that never got to take their babies home from the NICU. What seems like a terrible thing to many in this world will become our new way of life for Dani Jo and our family. We know that God is in control and that He will take care of Dani Jo. He may choose to heal her today, tomorrow, in ten years, or never. He may use Dani Jo just the way she is to touch many people's lives. She has definitely already touched our lives. For those of you wanting to learn more about CCHS, there is information out there. The best website for CCHS info is www.cchsnetwork.org This website was created by Mary Vanderlaan, mother of a CCHS kid (now 19 years old). The website touched me a few days ago. I saw a picture of a CCHS kid on the website at her senior prom. This picture gave me hope and inspiration for Dani Jo.

We are all very tired, stressed, etc. We miss not being able to bring Dani Jo home right now. We miss not getting hardly any time with Jordan and Jamie right now. But we know that God will not give us more than we can handle with His help. We want to thank all of you for your prayers, support, gifts, cards, visits, etc. You will never realize the impact it has had on us.

Please remember Dani Jo in your prayers as she prepares for surgery on Monday afternoon. We will post more when we get a chance.

In Christ,

Joey, Amanda, Jordan, Jamie, and Dani Jo Hearl

Dani Jo's First Bath

All Saints Day, 11-01-07

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!

Me and my sisters on Halloween!
Just a picture of the "Hearl Girlz"! Triple Trouble!!