Santa Barbara – The Linden House

As in nests, skeletal remains, and droppings galore. Yes. Gross won’t really cover all of what was happening in there but I’ll just skip those fun facts and dive into other less what-nightmares-are-made-of details about demo day!

In a previous blog posts I likened demo day to Christmas. The excitement. The surprises. The power tools! Demo day is exciting because you see the biggest transformation in a short amount of time. It’s also scary because demo day is when you uncover all the dirty little secrets. And dirty is an understatement in this project.

As a mom of two boys I’m no stranger to, “what is that sticky spot” or “what’s that smell?” and “OMG is that moving?!” But this surpassed all of those moments by a mile. Here are some photos for you to take in. Be happy this is not scratch and sniff.

Now, I am an optimist. I know, shocker right. That’s how I get myself into and out of these projects without crying – much. But one look at this trailer and it was not difficult to spot severe water damage even before demo began. (Remember the missing panel? Yea.) So my optimism for making this a quick and easy wave of the ol pry bar was already in check. My concern was that so much of the framing would have disintegrated the shell would collapse once all the paneling was gone. That and just waiting to see how damaged the floor was and if the chassis was cracked in half or something like that!

Thankfully, on a wish and a prayer, the shell held! The ceiling framing actually looks brand spanking new. Even the insulation in most the ceiling looked untouched by time. I wish I had been able to salvage the ceiling but the damage is so extensive in the corners especially that I had to remove the panels in preparation of tying in what will be new supports into the existing ones. And as I’m thinking about it, I’m actually not sure HOW the shell is still attached at the moment but I’m going with it! The floor is badly damaged and more than half of the wood that should be supporting the outer edges of the floor is just gone. But hey, who doesn’t need a little overhaul at one time or another right! Just means adding a little more lumber to the cart. And the chassis looks like it has surface rust but is still solid and will need little to no work. Yahoo!

Tomorrow my demo team (thanks Tony and Diego!) are going to help me clear out the rest of the debris so I can get a good look at the floor and begin the plan of how in the heck to put this puzzle together again. Feel free to come on by and check out our progress for yourself!

More photos coming soon and thank you for all the encouraging comments!! The best part of these projects and keeping this blog is sharing with friends and family. xoxoxox

6 months old today!

Six months ago, I was in a helicopter leaving Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara heading to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles with my baby who was not even 48 hours old. He had been paralyzed for the flight so he wasn’t moving or breathing. My heart was torn apart every time I looked at him just laying there in the middle of the helicopter in a clear box with tubes down his throat and out his chest. The oscillating ventilator that was breathing for him, puffed 400 breaths per minute into his tiny lungs which caused his whole body to vibrated so unnaturally. I had a helmet on but it was still so loud and Cole was just laying there with nothing but a diaper on. I wanted to pick him up cover his ears and hold him close so he wouldn’t be cold. Every now and then one of the three on the transport team would say something about Cole’s heart rate. It was followed by a nod of the head then occasionally one of the various knobs or dials was adjusted. The whole flight was surreal. It was around 6pm and the sunset that evening was beautiful. We flew along the coastline and I saw Carp, the 33, then we were over Westlake and all I could think was, this can’t be happening. Every now and then I sent an update text to David who had left Santa Barbara with my mom to meet us at Children’s Hospital. The transport team said the flight was approximately 45 minutes but I swear we made it there in 20. Before I knew it we were flying over Sunset Blvd and I got a text from David saying, “We see you!” The helicopter landed and I thought thank you God, Cole survived the flight. At that time I had no idea what was to come or how this would play out. All I knew was we survived one hurdle and my baby was strong. He was not giving up and that gave me strength.

Cole’s lungs were not fully developed at the time of his birth. He was working extra hard to breath and in doing so was causing the aveoli in his lungs to tear. The tears lead to an accumulation of air inside his chest cavity which had to be evacuated by surgically inserting small tubes in between his ribs into his chest cavity. A third tube was later inserted due to a large accumulation of air which collapsed his left lung. Cole’s other problem was persistent pulmonary hypertension. This occurs when a newborn’s circulation system does not adapt to breathing outside the womb which causes pressure in the heart; a rare, but life-threatening condition.

It was 25 days from the time of Cole’s birth until he was able to come home and on every single one of those days we felt the love and support of our family and friends. The neonatologist who was with Cole at Children’s Hospital said he had never seen a baby as sick as Cole get well as quickly as he did. With our whole hearts THANK YOU for your prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing support group and we are so thankful to have you all in our lives. Today Cole is strong, happy and healthy