Errol Milner Clifford 2006-2009

Errol Milner Clifford was born with a significant heart defect and a cognitive disability that prevented him from walking or talking. As we grieved the child we had anticipated, Errol’s full-bodied smile and irrepressible laugh turned our sorrow into joy, and taught us that many of the best things in life are unexpected. Inspired by Errol’s delightful spirit, friends, family, and neighbors rallied to support our family’s significant emotional, physical, and financial needs, through countless acts of selfless generosity. When Errol’s courageous heart finally failed him on December 23, 2009 we were left numb with grief. In these dark hours we listen hopefully for the echoes of Errol’s brilliant laugh. This blog is the story (starting from present and working back to Errol's birth) of the life and times of the amazing Errol Clifford.


Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Out of the Swallow Study and into the Heart Catheterization

Today was a good day at the hospital for Errol. He passed his swallow test with flying colors (he’s been studying hard), and the technicians were so impressed with his swallowing abilities that they have recommended a decrease in the thickness of Errol’s foods (thin is the goal). The goat’s milk worked! We’re ecstatic about Errol’s progress and attribute it the removal of dairy from his diet. Mad props are due to Sarah Girard and Dr. Christiaanse for their astute diagnosis. HOORAY! 


But we aren’t done with Baptist Hospital, and will return there at 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning for Errol’s heart catheterization. Dr. Williams, one of the pediatric-cardiologists (a cardiologist for children, not an eight year old cardiologist), will insert a microscopic camera into Errol’s femoral artery (ouch) and then up, up, up to map out his heart. The heart cath is a minor procedure compared to July’s open-heart surgery, but major enough to make us anxious as hell. And this is one of those times it’s good that Errol doesn’t really know what’s going on until it’s going on. The heart catheterization is considered out patient surgery, but with Errol (Curveball, to the cardiology staff) we can usually count on quintupling the length of the predicted stay. Needless to say, we are packing our suitcases for Friday. We’ll update this blog as soon as we have news from Friday’s procedure. Wish Errol luck.

1 comment:

Doug Fordham said...

Good luck Errol! We'll be thinking of you guys and hoping for a quick hospital stay. Goat's milk, heh? I wonder if that will fix my ED?