February 20, 2010 11:30 PM

Hello friends,
     We had some friends over last night and were sharing with them a lot of things about the last several months and while talking with them I felt that I needed to share a part of our conversation with you.  This is stuff that has been in previous blogs, but I need to pull from the past and add some of the present so that you will get a picture of the situation and be encouraged as I was.  
     Back in September, right before being discharged from the PCCU (on our way to the regular floor) at Vandy we had a care conference with all the Drs. and therapists there.  What they told us basically was that what we saw in Micah then was what we were going to be stuck with and that it would not get better and would most likely get worse.  At that point, Micah sometimes would make eye contact (but usually not), he made no purposeful movement, he showed absolutely no emotion except pain once in a while, you get the picture... The Drs. actually told us that we should not go to the in-patient re-hab as they would do nothing for him.  
     Well, Micah's eyes miss nothing & he uses them to answer questions, he lifts his left leg to help every time we start to put on pants, socks, shoes, etc... and tries with the right, but it is harder for him to use, he will bump knuckles with his brothers, he laughs (at people, TV, jokes, etc...) smiles, cries, makes noise when he wants to get out of his room.....  I would say that he has already exceeded the Vandy Drs. expectations for him!  So for this, we thank the Lord because we know that God is not done with our son yet.  

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; "  Philipians 1:6

     God is not done with any of us yet, thank goodness!  I'm glad to know that He is not going to leave me as I am, but is always leading me in a better way, raising me up to walk with Him and teaching me to know and do His will.  God has a purpose for each of us, and He is constantly drawing us towards that purpose.  Some things we are all called to do (love our brother & sisters, be a servant, etc...), but then we each have our own calling also and it is ours to fulfill and no one can do it for us.  We each must be confident in the Lord that He will not leave us without help, but will strengthen and give us all that we need to fulfill His purpose for our lives.  His work for you may not look or feel like anything you had in mind, but know this, He will complete His work in you dear one.

Blessings,

Tina

February 17, 2010 2:45 PM

Hello friends,
     I pray that this blog finds each of you doing well.  We are enjoying our last few days with Thomas' parents here.  They will leave on Friday afternoon to go to PA to spend some time with their daughter and her family and we will miss them.  We have been having some concentrated prayer time for the family before they leave. 
     Micah has been doing well the last few days.  We took him to meet his Dr. and a couple of therapists yesterday and I got the okay to start weaning him off of his med that helps with sleep.  Last night he got half of his normal dose and slept wonderfully so we will continue this for a few days and then hopefully get him completely off of it.  He is also on several meds to help move things through the intestines.  We are praying that we can reduce them and eventually get him off of them.  The reason for them is that his pump med is a muscle relaxer and it relaxes muscle.  The St. Louis Dr. said that this problem would get better in time.  We don't want to have him on any more medicine than is absolutely necessary so your prayers are appreciated.  
      The rest of us are doing well and the kids have been great help and entertainment with Micah.  God has truly blessed me with these children, I can't imagine not having even one of them.  God is changing all of us during this time and challenging us and it is our prayer that you also are being challenged and changed into more of His image through you prayer time with Him. Blessings to each of you.
     Still believing the promises past & present,
Tina 

February 9, 2010 12:00 AM

Hello friends,
     I don't remember the little boys' name, but the book was titled, " (Alexander, I think) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day", - this was our day today.  Micah did not keep much of anything down today and I was an emotional basket case, the two do not go well together.  It was a long, hard day and I'm glad it's over (well almost, Micah is not asleep yet).  Kudos to my husband that came home a little early to help me out and of course the kids.  Also many thanks to those friends that came or called with timely encouragement.  We ended the day by watching the film "Faith Like Potatoes", if you haven't seen it you really should.  


Feb. 11th      12:00  AM
     
      Well, the last two days have been much better than the previously mentioned one.  We've all been calmer and Micah has been happier.  I believe that he had some congestion that day and that is was preceded by a bad headache.  I had noticed that he had not been as happy as before, but thought that maybe he was getting bored with the house and routine around him.  It is so difficult to know, since we really don't have any consistent way to communicate yet.  He has the last couple of days gotten better at using his eyes to answer us, we just have to know what to ask.  Since he was using his eyes today, I would ask him to look at some specific thing or person to answer yes.  When I asked if he had a headache his eyes didn't move.  When I asked if he had a headache yesterday he immediately looked at the thing I asked him to look at.  Pray for us that Micah will continue to use his eyes to talk to us and also that he will start to talk.  He has gotten a lot more noisy since we brought him home and if he could start making noises consistently to communicate then words wouldn't be far away.  Some of the nurses told me that when he didn't feel well he would say, "mom".  Oh, what I would give to hear that myself!  We keep praying and claiming the promises and words spoken over Micah from his birth.  Thank you all for praying for us, we couldn't have made it this far without those prayers!  
Blessings,
Tina
     
PS - I forgot, Micah lost yet another tooth yesterday : ( due to grinding.   Not sure if it was a permanent one or not.
      
      

February 5, 2010 12 AM

Hello friends,
     Well, I can't say we're doing great, but we're doing okay.  We are not getting everything done with Micah that we need to, but we have been working through 5 months of clutter and rearranging rooms also.  We're getting close to being done with the upstairs and then will move downstairs.  Thanks for the prayers for Micah, he fell asleep last night and tonight before we ever took him to the room.  Once asleep, there is not much that will wake him.  We're slowly working his food schedule to something manageable for our lives which means not having to be up at the crack of dawn or up in the middle of the night.  He did throw up this morning a little, but nothing the rest of the day so I'm praying that it will stay that way.  
     A big thank you to all of you dear people that are bringing food, I honestly don't think I could have made it through the last few days if I had had to cook also!  What a blessing!  
     Micah is doing good and is really enjoying being home.  Yesterday I think he laughed most of the day!  At one point (or more) I had to make the kids leave him alone because they had him laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his face and I thought he needed a break just to breathe!    The kids have been great with him and have been a good help for me also. 
       
Feb. 8, 2010

Hello again.  The last few days have gone well.  There has been no emesis, Micah is sleeping good and we actually made it to church on Sunday!  That was my first church service in 5 months outside of our family worship with Micah at the hospital.  It was wonderful to get to see my family again!  A lot of time was given over the weekend to training the kids in doing what they can to help with Micah.  They can do more for him than make him laugh, which according to scripture, is great medicine!  I believe that our biggest task now is to get into a routine that works with Micah's routine.  He takes a lot of time and if we're not careful , nothing but taking care of him gets done.  Please add this to your prayer list for us.  Blessings to each of you!
Tina


A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Prov. 17:22

February 4, 2010 8:30 AM

Good morning friends,
     I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to wake up this morning in my own home and have a cup of tea in my kitchen.  Our trip home was not uneventful, but we did ok.  Right after leaving the hospital we were caught in traffic due to a wreck after a few miles (not even out of town) Micah threw up everything he had just been fed : (  Not an easy clean up job in a van, in a parking lot.  We did what we could and traveled on.  About an hour later it happened again though not as much.   At this point we decided that he did not need to eat while in the car so we shut everything down and put a movie in for him to watch.  The rest of the trip was uneventful.  
     When we got home the kids had decorated the whole front porch and hung welcome home signs on every door!  Getting Micah inside was a bit of a chore due to the very wet ground, but not too bad.  Once inside I think he smiled almost constantly until we put him to bed.  He wanted to be in bed, but he wanted his brothers to be in bed also and he cried until they did.  This is something I would appreciate prayer for as today we are shifting the house around and Micah will be in a room alone.  It's just not going to work any other way with all of his paraphernalia.  
     Thomas and I stretched his legs out good before prayer time and when we let go he kept them stretched out for I think almost 30 minutes, that never happens.  He slept well and is still sleeping now.   I think that I will enjoy not having to leave my house today.  The whole agenda for the day is organize, organize and then if we have time we will organize some more.
     May the Lord bless you all with a beautiful day (a day is made up of more than the weather during that 24 hr. period).
Blessings,
Tina 
      

February 1, 2010 10 AM

Hello friends,
     Only two days left!  I'm getting ready to go spend some time with Micah, he has cooking and speech therapy together this morning.  I got to spend quite a bit of time with him yesterday as I was here alone.  While talking to Micah last night about how much God loves him he made a "g" sound which I've not heard him make before and so I took that he was trying to say God and agreed with him and he seemed completely satisfied that I understood him.  That was the only sound he made last night.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  The last two days he was also helping me with putting his splints on by moving his legs.  He has not done any of this since his surgery.  I think he was also trying to get his foot over the side of the bed again the other day!  As soon as the nurse put the side down he swung his foot straight to the edge of the bed.  We're praying that being at home will only increase his healing and movement.
     My verse today was Ps. 37:5:
   
"Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."

Here is the lyrics to part of a song that has been very special to me the past few months.  I don't think I've shared it with you, but if so, it's a good one to repeat.  I know that there are many besides my family struggling right now, crying out for a loved one and this song voices those cries.  If you want to see the whole song I have the artist's name at the bottom.

Hold My Heart
How long must I pray, must I pray to You?
How long must I wait, must I wait for You?
How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through?
I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me.
I'm on my knees, Father will You turn to me?

One tear in the driving rain,
One voice in a sea of pain
Could the maker of the stars
Hear the sound of my breaking heart?
One life, that's all I am
Right now I can barely stand
If You're everything You say You are
Would You come close and hold my heart
              -Tenth Avenue North

Be blessed dear ones,
Tina