We are bringing the annual Christmas letter into the internet-age. Another crazy year for the Iller family is wrapping up. Like in recent years, we had a some major changes and challenges in 2006.
As 2005 was coming to a close, we knew about two of the changes that were coming: We were about 3 months away from having our newest addition to the family. But we were already aware that our new baby boy would be born with a major heart defect. There was much discussion on exactly what the problem was and if he would have to be delivered months early, etc. Chris was also offered a new position (Creative Services Director for KWBQ & KASY-TV) in Albuquerque, New Mexico with the company he had been working for since 2001. He accepted the job if the start date could be after the birth. That's where we were when 2006 started.
January was "preparing-for-the-move" month. Chris flew out to Albuquerque and bought a house in a new neighborhood with a community park right behind the house.
The house had one previous owner and was in great shape, but the backyard needed some major work.
We immediately listed our house for sale in Longwood, Florida and sold it in a day for more then twice what Chris had bought it for in 1999! We arranged our move out day to coincide with our trip to the hospital to have our son.
Also in January we learned that the WB Television Network and UPN Television Network were closing down and they were going to form a new network called the CW. The 2 TV stations that Chris just accepted a job at...just happened to be a WB and a UPN stations. More changes. This meant that these two stations were going to be without a network affiliation when the new TV season rolled around. Chris wasn't too worried about it.
The next few weeks involved us packing up our belongings and shipping them out to Albuquerque in pods. Chris also wrapped up his job as Marketing Director on The Daily Buzz.
Because of our baby's heart condition he was going to have to be delivered at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Which was about 2 hours away from where our Longwood house was. We didn't know how long we were going to have to be there, but we knew it wasn't going to be a quick visit, so we locked down a room at the Ronald McDonald House (East House) down the street from the Hospital in St. Pete.
It was pretty much like a hotel room. We had to do daily chores and pay a small fee to be there each day.
On March 6, Archie Aaron Iller was born!
Chris and Josie stayed at the Ronald McDonald house while Robin recovered at the hospital. The team of doctors immediately started working on Archie to figure out the exact problem and how to fix it. Click here to see his first home video. As soon as Robin was out of the hospital, Chris had to head to Albuquerque and start his new job on March 13 and to get our belongings out of the Pods in the driveway of our new home.
Then a new routine settled in. Chris would fly from Albuquerque to St. Petersburg every other weekend to visit everybody, while Archie remained in the hospital. Weeks turned into months. Robin and Josie were looking like permanent residents of the Ronald McDonald House. Chris was unpacking the belongings in Albuquerque and getting the house ready for everybody else's arrival.
In short, Archie's valve in his Pulmonary Artery didn't develop. So they had to put in one from a donor in an open-heart surgery. As Archie grows, he will have to have it replaced with a new one and go through the surgery again. They guessed about every 3 or 4 years until he stops growing.
To say that it was a challenging time is not giving it justice. It was a very emotional and stressful time for the whole family. We did our best to make sure Josie was having as much of a normal time as possible. One of the big challenges in Florida was that no kids were allowed in the unit Archie was in. And Robin had Josie with her. So if Robin wanted to visit Archie at the hospital, somebody would have to watch Josie at the Ronald McDonald House. It was a big help that Robin's parents came in for many visits to help out with that.
Josie started going to a church day-care a few days a week too. Not only did this help out with the problem, but it helped with Josie getting out and meeting others.
Even though Robin's & Josie's stay at the Ronald McDonald House was not something we'd want to relive, there were good times. Both Josie and Robin met some very nice people who became friends.
Many friends and family members came for visits too. Click here to see another one my videos of Archie.
When Mother's Day came around, a local news channel in Tampa did a story on our situation. Click here to see it. As the months rolled on, we thought it would never end. But in July, we got the word that Archie could be discharged from the hospital. He would be on an oxygen tank and food would be delivered straight into his stomach through a g-tube. He would also have to be medicated every few hours. Because of an altitude issue and problems with oxygen tanks going on major airlines, we had to drive from St. Pete to Albuquerque.
So that's what we did. And we did it in a weekend. We left on a Friday night and drove for 24 hours. We stopped in a small town in Texas on Saturday night and arrived in Albuquerque on Sunday night.
Now that the family was all together again, our new lives and routines started up in Albuquerque.
Most of Robin's time was (and still is) spent visiting doctors, talking on the phone with insurance people, making appointments, picking up medications, etc. etc. At Chris's job, one of the TV stations locked down an affiliation deal with the new CW Network, and the other station also locked down a network deal with another new TV network that was formed called My Network TV. Chris also found out that the TV stations were losing their General Manager, but the one coming in to replace him was Chris' old boss (Stan Gill) from Dayton, Ohio. Chris liked working for him back in Dayton, and Stan liked Chris working for him. So for the first time in about 2 years, Chris felt some relief at the work place. He's still very busy, but not as stressed and not as unhappy as he was at the last job.
Josie started attending a local church's day care program twice a week (similar to what she was going to in St. Pete) and is enjoying her new friends and learning a lot.
In mid-October, Archie had a bit of a set-back. After we noticed him breathing harder and harder, we brought him to the hospital to find out he was having heart failure! They still don't know what caused it officially, but it was probably a combination of his oxygen being weaned off to fast, and some type of cold he had caught. His little body and heart couldn't handle it and he was back in the hospital...but at least it was local. They fixed him up pretty good and he was able to come home the night before Thanksgiving.
We were given pretty strict instructions about Archie in fear he might catch another cold that would put him back in the hospital. He was not to be in a public place that had lots of people. Specifically, no malls, no churches, no trips, no airplanes, no guests at the house (especially if they were recently on an airplane) until after flu season.
We broke the news to our family. Chris's mother and sister were going to come out for a Christmas visit, and Robin's parents and sister's family were planning a visit in March for Archie's birthday. All of these plans had to be canceled.
We also found out that Archie is growing fast and he's going to have to have his next open heart surgery sooner then later. Instead of 3 or 4 years from now, it's looking like it might be summer of 2007.
And that pretty much brings you up to date.
Chris, Robin, Josie and Archie had a quiet and simple Thanksgiving and Christmas in their new Albuquerque home. We sure hope 2007 is a quiet and simple year for us too. It would be a nice change from the past couple years. You can follow along with us and find out, because we will be updating this blog throughout the year with updates on the family. I'm sure we will have many pictures and videos for you to look at.
We do want to thank all the friends and family that prayed for Archie and our well being during 2006. It looks like the prayers worked!
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Happy New Year!!
