More about James

The repeated lab was normal today! I am so grateful. We can cross one thing off the list!

James is going to see the doctor again on Thursday. He is going to listen to him again and we will do a chest x-ray. There is so much on my mind with this. There has to be a better way. (I always felt that way with Elizabeth who also struggles with extreme symptoms of allergies. We tried so many things without success. She is still miserable with overwhelming congestion at certain times of the year.) I really think allergy shots would help James. We did allergy testing in Indiana and James did take sub lingual drops (instead of shots), but over time he quit taking them no matter how much I hounded him. I suppose that we could do testing here and try again, but if he's not motivated it will be wasted effort.

His back is the biggest concern I have for him right now. I wish the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon wasn't so far off. (I suppose two weeks isn't that far away. It just seems that way right now.) If the pediatrician is right in suggesting possible Scheuermann's there is a difficult road ahead. And there will be difficult decisions to be made. There is so much controversy about this disease. Absolutely do chiropractics some say, avoid them others adamantly insist. Many have extensive surgery. That is scary because the risk of paralysis after surgery for Scheuermann's is greater than back surgery for other things. My heart is heavy for him.

It does appear that the norm is life long pain no matter which road you travel with Scheuermann's. I have read more than one story about people dependent on pain meds in order to function. James said tonight that he doesn't care what kind of treatment happens as long as it will relieve the pain. If it is Scheuermann's that is not likely to ever happen. And how do you tell a vibrant almost 16 year old that?

Maybe all this fretting is for nothing. Maybe he just has scoliosis, not Scheuermann's kyphosis. If so, I will be so grateful. If not, then we will learn even more about the sovereignty of God and just how important it is not to get so wrapped up in this world and our life in it. Always there will be good because that is the nature of God.

James

I keep debating about whether or not to give a James update. I remember being a teenager and not wanting my mom broadcasting my whole life to the world. I have decided to go ahead because he's got some big things going on. He has been sick for several weeks with a bad cough. Sadly, it appears to be the allergy driven stuff that he's been plagued with for many years. Initially he was better here than in the midwest, but that seems to be changing. We finally took him to the doctor who gave him a very relieving breathing treatment and prescribed a strong antibiotic, two inhalers and a drug to inhibit allergic reaction long term. He took the last of the antibiotic today and doesn't appear to be any better.=( I guess we will go back if he isn't well soon.

Also, he had a series of spine x-rays recently. They revealed scoliosis. He has two curves, one thoracic and one lumbar and two or three misshapen vertebrae. (Vertebrae should be rectangular - or the same height at all places. James has some triangular - wedge-like - vertebrae.) These things are possibly due to Scheuermann's kyphosis. He will see an orthopedic surgeon on October 29.

He had some minor, routine lab work done too. It came back with some questionable results. We are going to repeat that Monday to see how it compares. It could be nothing, but it could be another issue for him too.

I would be grateful if you'd pray for him. I will let you know how things turn out over the next weeks.

Miss Haelley

I recently received these pictures of Haelley taken at five weeks. I just had to share. Isn't she adorable?! Along with these photos I got a Haelley hand print too! In forty days they will all be here, Lord willing. (I have asked Him more than once to please allow them to come.)

**That UK hat that you see I bought at the mall while Haelley was still the mysterious "Junior." I believe that the little shirt was purchased by Elizabeth quite a while before Haelley's appearance as well.

Jason update

Friday Jason saw the cardiologist......for the last time! His VSD is gone! It is perfect timing too because his surgery is one day short of four weeks away. Heart issues make surgeons and anesthesiologists kind of nervous.

Also, he saw the pediatrician yesterday for his four month check-up. It went well. His ears are still perfectly healthy! He is still a little bit, weighing only 11 pounds 8 ounces and measuring shy of 24 inches. That places him way at the bottom of the growth charts, but he is healthy, developmentally normal and growing at a steady pace.

Today we saw Jason's surgeon for a pre-op consultation. That went well too. The surgeon was pleased with the progress he's made with orthodontics, saying that his cleft went from very wide to mild. Yippee!! We now know that the first surgery will repair both the outside and inside of the lip and part of the nose. The gum line and palate will be corrected later - about 9 - 12 months. The first surgery, scheduled for November 6, will be outpatient, taking about 2 hours. He will be encouraged to eat normally immediately after surgery and will likely go home within hours. He will have splints on his arms to restrict elbow movement for ten days so that he cannot disturb the healing surgical site.

He is obviously four months old. He is very fun to watch and play with. He laughs and smiles easily. He likes to play all the normal baby games as well as with toys. He is rolling around and working very hard to scoot. He is teething which is a bit different in a baby with a cleft. He cannot bite down like "normal" babies so he chews on his finger at the back of his mouth. And he DROOLS constantly! Thankfully, he is very verbal. He talks a lot and makes many funny noises. I am very excited about that because I think he will be excited about speech. Perhaps that will prevent some speech problems down the road. These days are fun because four months is just a great age!

I have a video on my camera of him laughing. James and I tried to upload it to my blog without success. I wish I could have put it here for you all to see, but it's not happenin'. However, I thought it was time for another picture. Little guys change so fast...

Nancy funny

I gotta share a quote from Nancy. She and I were in the van together tonight. At one point she looked at me with that "I love you so much, Mom" look and said, "You're my mom."

I countered with, "No, you're my daughter."

To which she replied, "No, I'm the granddad."

What fun! Later she laughed in that "I'm about to be 30" tone and said, "I said I was the grandpa." I guess it took her a while to "get it."

Better!

Today has been a good day for me physically. I am so blessed!! Please thank God for me and with me! What a gift He has given me. My only complaint (which is too strong a word) today is some shortness of breath and lingering weakness and fatigue.

I did have to quit taking the antibiotic. It appears that Jason is allergic to it. He had GI symptoms yesterday and today developed a rash. Oh well. It will be useful knowledge going into surgery (5 weeks from today).

Thank you for praying for me, and please, please, please praise God. All the glory belongs to Him!

John and Cami

There is now (implying that there wasn't originally) a story behind this wonderful picture. Yep, I'm going to tell it...

When I was in Indiana in August we had a little party for John's graduation. I asked Jennifer B., who is a photo journalism major, to bring her camera and take pictures of John and of my children as a group. She took this picture of John and Cami that night.

I actually saw the picture for the first time when a friend forwarded (doesn't that word grate on your nerves?) an email with a link to Jennifer's pictures from that night. When I looked through them I took special notice of this one. I really like it - a lot. So I had this thought: post it on my blog! Great thought, don't you think? Execution came a bit harder than the thought.

Because the picture was on a commercial webpage (or whatever that is really called) I couldn't load it onto my blog. I tried everything my little brain (with no extra power this time) could think of. Nothing worked. Plan Y was......take a picture of it! So I did, and here is the blurry result. I didn't think it was too bad considering I took it of my computer screen.

I love these two people. One because he's my son and the other because she loves my son. An older (than me) mother once told me that she couldn't imagine not loving anyone her child loved. I understand that now. Cami is wonderful, and many things have endeared me to her, but the first was that she saw in my son someone worthy of her love. I agree. He's a special young man.