Nathan's Crown!

Nathan's first surgery

Today, Nathan had his first (of three) surgeries at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. Mary and Lynn Cox drove down with Nate yesterday afternoon and spent the night in a hotel. They were able to take Nate swimming in the hotel's pool, which Mary said he enjoyed. This morning, he was taken into the O.R. to have his "crown" put on. I hope to soon have pics placed so you can see what I'm about to try to describe, but here goes:

Nathan has "hemifacial microsomia" with microtia. In layman's terms, in the womb half his face was not fully developed and his ear was not fully formed. The mandible (lower jawbone) on the right is not completely formed and does not have its growth plate. He also lacks the chewing muscles on the right side of his face. The left side is completely normal, and as he grows the left side of his face is growing normally and the right side pretty much not growing at all, so his face is gradually getting more asymmetrical. Eventually this can lead to considerable problems, such as twisting of the airway- which would not be a good thing!

Today, he had hardware placed that will "distract" his jawbone, or pull it back into a more correct alignment. The device is similar to a "halo" and is attached to his skull with pressure point screws, four on each side. Coming down from the front of the halo is a bar which is attached to Nate's chin by two pins. A plate was surgically inserted onto his chin for these 2 pins to attach to. Tomorrow, Mary will be taught how to perform the daily adjustments to this contraption that will gradually pull Nate's jaw back into alignment. In 3 weeks, we will return to Iowa City and they will take some of Nate's rib and rib cartilage out and graft it into his jaw. This graft will act as a growth plate in the future. In another 3 weeks, we will again go down and all the hardware will be removed.

During the 6 weeks that Nate is wearing the halo device, he will not be able to open his mouth more than a 1/4 inch or so. Mary has been able to spoon some orange sherbet into his mouth tonight, but it looks like feeding will be difficult for the next 6 weeks. According to the surgeon, he will not be able to chew anything harder than mac & cheese, so soft/pureed diet is what he'll be getting. Nathan is a carnivore. He loves meat- beef/chicken/pork- if you give it to him Nate will eat it!

Todays surgery went well. Nate is dealing with some discomfort, oozing of blood around the chin plate and groginess. We will keep you all informed of his progress. I'll try and post some before/after pictures too. Keep Nate in your prayers as he deals with this situation in his life.

Blizzard pics

Our front yard
Dad working the snowblower
A snowball fight!
Nathan and Juls
Sarabeth on a snow mound

The blizzard(s) of 2007

Tonight we are dealing with the second blizzard in the past 6 days. Blizzard #1 began last Friday evening with thundersleet and freezing rain, which gave us a nice coating of ice. The snow began in earnest on Saturday evening and with the high winds the conditions were pretty dicey outside. Many people here in North Iowa lost their power. Now, almost a week later as some folks are still waiting for their electricity to be restored- a second round of freezing rain and HEAVY snow is falling. The forecast is for another 12-15 inches by tomorrow afternoon, with considerable blowing and drifting of snow.

We are praying for those who are still in the dark. Our good friends Shannon and Jodi Clark are among those waiting. You can read their story on their blog at clarkproverbs.blogspot.com

The kids are enjoying the opportunity to get out and play in the white stuff. Thankfully the temps haven't been too bad, hovering just below freezing. The pics above show what we've been dealing with. As dad works the snowblower, the kiddos are having a blast playing.

Grace is a TEEN!

The youngest of our first family is a teenager. Grace turned 13 yesterday. It's hard to imagine that our little girl is already a teenager, but it's true! She looks and acts more like one every day. We had a small family party with presents and cake last night. Grace will have her traditional sleep-over party with 8 of her friends on Friday night (weather permitting!). She plans on decorating the family room, eating lots of junk, watching a movie or two, giggling a lot!, and not sleeping very much. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Above are some pics of our family party.

Brace Face! Tinsel Teeth! NOT!

A new adventure for the Kamberger family began this week as Caitlin got her braces! As you can see from the pics above, there is no metal involved. Our dentist hooked her up with a new product called "Invisalign" which she will wear 24 hours a day, except when eating/brushing/flossing. Every three weeks or so a new set of Invisalign molds will be utilized. After about a year, her correction will be complete!

Caitlin was very excited to get these started. She was not expecting the "uncomfortable" feeling in her mouth and on her tongue from rubbing against the mold, but we've told her it's much better than having braces!

Grace will also be getting the Invisalign, but not until next year at the earliest. She will need to have four teeth extracted this year to give her mouth a little more room, then will have the molds done after things stabilize.

Here Comes the Storm!

Well, a beautiful week of temps in the 40's has taken a turn for the worse as a low pressure system is moving across the midwest today. It began here last night as THUNDERSLEET. More freezing rain today, then turning to all snow this afternoon into tomorrow. The prediction is for up to 15 inches of snow on top of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice when all is said and done. Typical north Iowa weather! We'll try to post some more pics once the snow hits.

Color the Wind- 2

A few more pics from the kite festival.

Color the Wind Kite Festival

Today was the annual "Color the Wind" kite festival over frozen Clear Lake. It was an almost perfect day for flying a kite. The temps were in the high teens, the sun was bright and the breeze was 'kickin. The only problem was the wind chill- which was in the single digits. There were many people out on the lake and along the "seawall". Kite flyers from all over the midwest were said to be in attendance.

There were a variety of colors and types of kites flying over the ice. Spinning kites; kites in the shape of fish and other animals and acrobatic kites were in abundance. Caitlin took her kite and added it to the mix. She was able to get the kite flying, but the breeze was too strong. It was hard to control and soon crashed to the ice, breaking her string. We noticed that most of the "professional" kite flyers had higher grades of string than what we had. Oh well, a good time was had by all, even though our time out on the ice was limited by the cold.

One of the advantages of living in a place like Clear Lake is that the town has quite a few of these types of activities planned throughout the year. There is a bandshell on the waterfront which hosts different types of concerts all summer long and the annual Christmas by the Lake weekend in early December has a lighted parade on Saturday night that is followed by fireworks over the ice. We enjoy the small town atmosphere and the many activities.

Phantom of the Opera

Caitlin has had the Phantom of the Opera DVD for quite a while and watches it often. She just loves the movie!

For her Christmas present, I (John) gave her two tickets to see the touring Broadway production of Phantom while it was in Des Moines. The show was here for 3 weeks in January/February and has been a huge hit.

So, last Friday night the 9th, Caitlin and I drove to Des Moines. We had dinner at the Olive Garden in West Des Moines (her choice!), then went downtown to the Civic Center. It was fun getting all dolled up and going on a "date" with my little girl! We had good seats, about halfway back and in the middle.

10 years ago Mary and I went to see Phantom, also at the DM Civic Center. Our tickets that night were in the 3rd or 4th row from the back of the auditorium and it was very hard to see. The seats this time were much better.

The production was great. We had a very good time. Afterward though, Caitlin seemed a bit disappointed. I think she was so used to the movie that the stage production was a bit of a letdown for her. A stage production will never be as crisp as the movie, so I think it just wasn't exactly what she was expecting.

All in all, we had a great night. The drive each way was about 2 hours, so we had a chance to visit with each other for 4 hours in the car and another hour or so at dinner. Quality time that is very important!