Saturday, May 11, 2013

THE 3 "H's"...

HOME!!!!
HAPPY NURSES WEEK!!!!!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Yesterday, Isaiah was discharged to HOME straight from PICU, and we arrived at our house around 5pm.  This was a short stay considering he had major spinal cord surgery!!!  Thank you for praying for a speedy recovery.  Isaiah is doing relatively well.  He has a moderate amount of pain, but it is well-controlled with Tylenol.  He is having a tough time standing up straight due to pain and is unsteady on his feet, which makes us very nervous because he is at a higher risk for falls.  Thankfully, he didn't lose any feeling to his legs or nerve innervation to his bowels or bladder, which is a HUGE praise!  We are very thankful that this surgery did not cause anymore disabilities.  Thank you, Lord!!!

It was pretty amazing at CHOP...I was really nervous not being with our same surgical team that has taken care of Isaiah for the past 2 years.  Well, God took care of that by providing us with several of our 4th floor nurses that had previously taken care of Isaiah.  I couldn't believe it!  I didn't have to explain my craziness all over again...they already understood my anxieties and how Isaiah's body was put together differently.  Our nurses were wonderful and took great care of Isaiah and of us.  Then, after we came home, we had our wonderful nurses from Bayada waiting for us to help transition us back home.  A BIG THANK YOU to all our nurses for all your love, support, and help!  You are amazing and we are so blessed to have you on this journey with us and with Isaiah!  Happy Nurses Week!  If you know a nurse, thank them.  They have a very hard job that is often thankless and heart-breaking. We don't know what we would do without them.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all those fabulous moms out there!  A special thank you to those moms that have been given the special blessing of a child with disabilities or with chronic illnesses.  You are super heroes in your own right!  You may not feel like it, but your child would not be where they are today without your dedication, support, and love.  Having a child with disabilities requires these moms to be on 24/7/365.  They deal with guilt, heart ache, loneliness, and a deep pain that never goes away.  Though they are elated when their child exceeds at the impossible, they often are waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the next devastating event to occur.  Some of these moms have had to make the impossible decision to place their child, that they love more than life itself, into a facility because they can no longer physically keep their child safe.  Some moms have the burden of choosing an experimental drug, treatment, or surgery because they are trying to do what they pray is best for the life of their child.  Some of these moms have had to make the most impossible decision known to man...to stop treatment and let their child go.  Hug one of these moms this week, this Mother's Day.  They need it and deserve it more than you know. They are all around us, often in the background, fighting an insurmountable giant known as disability or chronic illness.  I am so grateful for these moms in my life.  I am a much better woman and mother because of them.  They are examples of what God is like---He loves us no matter how hard or difficult---He loves us no matter what---just like moms love their children.

A special thank you to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House for taking us in again and giving us a home away from home.  You will always have a special place in our hearts. Thank you to whomever covered our costs at the house--that was a huge surprise and a great birthday present to me!  Thank you to my mom, Lois, for being flexible with going between our home, the hospital, and the Ronald house.  Thank you to Chris's mom, Viviane, for allowing my mom use of her car for the week.  We are truly grateful for all of our family and friends, and for the graciousness of our Jesus Christ.  And, we are abundantly blessed by our 2 precious boys, Josiah and Isaiah.  We couldn't have asked for better children.

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