Summer fun!

We are gearing up for another summer of fun. Writing our lists of what we want to do this summer and where we want to go. We are heading to my mom's house in IN soon. We will be outside a lot for that, in the pool or playing in her "park" (what the girls call her backyard that has a swingset and slide and seesaw). The kids are all going to school 3 days a week this summer, which means we have 2 weekdays to do things as well as 2 weekend days to do things. We will be outside quite a bit, as well as having some fun at jumping places and indoor gym areas. And I know the kids stay outside a lot at school as well.

While I love having fun in the summer, it also means something else, the possibility of sunburns. And while sunburns may be no big deal to others, (you burn, put some aloe vera on it and have a nice tan after) they are a big deal for Ben. He is at a much higher risk for cancer, especially skin cancer, because of the immunosuppressants he is on. So, we slather him up with sunblock every time we go out. Any time it is at all sunny, he has sunblock on. The girls and I wear sunblock as well, as I feel that skin care is important and I do not want any of us at an increased risk of melanoma. We also have Ben wear a rashguard and swim shorts when he is swimming outside. When he is swimming inside, we sometimes take the rash guard off.

Ben also drinks a lot of water normally. This is actually a really good thing in order to prevent dehydration, especially in the summer. He has also started drinking 2 pediasure's per day at the pediatrician's request to help with his weight gain.

There is some good information related to heart transplants and summer at:
http://smallbeats.childrensomaha.org/summer-safety-tips-child-heart-transplant/

Ben should be able to play like every other kid that hasn't had a heart transplant, in summer or winter. We just have a few minor things that we have to take extra precautions with. Like at the beach, he can't go swimming in the lake water. He can wade out in it, but no swimming in it due to the likelihood it may have e.coli. E.coli would be much harder for Ben to fight off due to the immunosuppressants. Swimming pools have been deemed ok though. He should be able to play most sports as well (when he is old enough-though I am highly considering a tots soccer or tots t-ball soon), though the transplant team tries to discourage sports where something could fly at the chest. But, right now he is 2, so we haven't worried much about that yet. We are more worried about the possibility of skin cancer as well as any diseases that may be lurking. With the added quandary of, he doesn't get enough vitamin D, so now we have him on vitamin d supplements once a month because, as I said before, we can't just let him sunbathe-due to the increased cancer risk.

So, we will take all of our precautions, but, we still plan on filling our summer bucket list and having lots of fun indoors and outdoors this summer. We all know what a LONG winter it was, we (the kids and I) all need some outside time now! And, we do not want Ben living in a bubble!

Having a lunch picnic at the park

Playing on the seesaw after lunch-lots of sunblock used this day!