Category: Isaac Update

Refreshing…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Florida Weather, Household, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update, Just My Thoughts, What's Happening

We have FALL in Florida!  Yay!!!  It has been wonderful to feel the crisp cool air, and to be able to open the windows and have the fresh air circulate inside as well as outside.  It will be in the mid-80s again tomorrow, but that is so much better than the 90s we were having.  You will not hear anyone in our house complaining about the weather at this time of year.  We enjoy it so much! 🙂

I am doing better.  I have been able to care for myself, and even do a few things in the house.  I helped with the dishes a little, and also with the laundry.  I was able to whip up a batch of hummus.  Of course the food processor does all the work for that!  I just stand there and drop stuff in!

I was able to go to the services yesterday.  I attended the morning service for just the preaching hour, then last night, I went to choir practice and stayed for the service, too.  I took "Chairy" with me, and sat in the back in cushioned comfort. :) 

I am still having considerable pain at times, like today.  (I guess yesterday was just more sitting than I was ready for.)  I have found that walking does help the pain.  Doug, Isaac and I have been walking each evening for about 30 minutes.  I've been pushing my wheelchair while I walk, and then if I am in too much pain, I just sit down and wheel myself.  I know that's good for my upper body which is needing to be toned up any way, due to my recent weight loss.

I am not helping to care for Isaac yet.  (Well, I do comb his hair!  Some things Daddy just needs Mommy's help to do!)  I did change one diaper one night while Doug was at work.  It was only a wet diaper, and I did not need to adjust Isaac at all.  He helped me to roll from side to side, and I did not need to lift any part of him.  I was very careful and have only done it the one time.  It saved Doug a trip home from work, which is helpful to him.

You know, I know that not everyone understands what's going on with me; and sometimes they pass judgment on me.  They don't understand why I would do one activity, and not another.  They can't understand why Doug is continuing to work nights, or why I am so "helpless" at home.

The bottom line is that I am just trying to do things that will not hurt me.  Once you have been in the place that every movement caused severe pain, you find that you are loathe to be in that position again.  So, as I gain confidence, I have moved forward.  (I could write an entire blog about "fear"!  What a powerful emotion, and one that I have not had to deal with on such a level before.)

So, if there are some that don't understand our choices at this point, I sincerely pray that they do not ever have to experience my situation in order to understand it.  I would not wish any of this on my worst enemy! 🙂

The folks at Doug's work, and in my church, have been so kind and merciful to us.  I am grateful for people who live out Christ's attitude of compassion.  Their sweet spirits have been refreshing to our own spirits while we have been sojourning in the valley.

Isaac is doing well.  He had a spate of seizures last week.  We always hate to see him struggle with them.  We had to administer emergency seizure meds one day last week, and he has not been sleeping very well.  However, his sense of humor has remained intact!  We just love to hear him giggle at a song or because of something Doug does.  His joy is so contagious! 

I guess this is enough of an update for now.  I got a little long-winded, didn't I? :)  I pray you have a good day!

Alesha

Counting Blessings

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Friendship, Household, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update, Just My Thoughts, What's Happening

I spent some time yesterday getting "pushed around" by my husband.  LOL!  (Thought you'd appreciate that, Hannah!) :)  He took me to the chiropractor in my new chair. 🙂

The chiro seems to think I have "facet joint syndrome".  Just click on the name to go to a site that explains it fairly well.  To be honest, I was quite fearful that it would be something more serious.  It certainly feels very serious!  So this diagnosis, although unpredictable, is better than something that would require surgery.

I did feel some immediately relief after the adjustment.  Although, after sitting for any length of time, the pain comes back with a vengeance.  I keep doing a little bit more each day.  "Slow and steady wins the race!" like the hare and the tortoise taught us. 😉

I'm feeling a little bit sorry for myself that I'm going to miss church again.  And please don't tell my pastors, but I miss the choir the most!  ;)  We are already practicing for our Christmas cantata, and I love that so much!  Also our choir is always learning new songs, so I miss out on those as well, and feel like I'm getting behind.  I do enjoy watching them on the web site, though.  It's fun to "see" your choir perform, rather than just hearing it.

I was quite pleased my how comfy my chair performed yesterday, although it did feel peculiar to be rolling around at everyone's waist level.  It's funny how much difference a foot or two can make in your perspective of things.  Now I know why they tell new parents to crawl around their house on hands and knees to view how their baby will see the world, so they know how to "childproof" their home more effectively.  Thankfully, I was not quiiiiiite down on that level!!! lol!

Can I just say again how wonderful my husband has been through all of this?  He is managing Isaac's care without a hitch.  Remember he was home with him full time for a year or so, so he does really great with all of the things required to keep Isaac happy and healthy. 

Of course, Isaac is older now, and we live in a different house, so some things are different.  His taste in videos has changed and he loves to have his curtains opened so that he can see out; but most things remain the same: feeds, meds, clothes changes…and lots of TLC!

Doug is also caring for me extremely well.  He has a real servant's heart and seems to thrive while meeting the needs of others.  I do not have one complaint about his care for me these past two weeks.  I have not gone without anything that I needed or wanted.  He has done all the laundry, cleaning, and meals as well. 

(Well, to be entirely accurate, I must say that Grammy did come over to visit the other day, and ended up dusting before she left.  Moms always seem to know what little thing might just make your day a little brighter!  She also sent over a few pieces of Jalapeno Cornbread last week. Yummo!!!)

I have felt so loved and cared for by my entire family (and my friends) for the past 2 weeks.  I am such a blessed, blessed woman!

I pray you feel loved and blessed today.  Even if you are alone, and in dire circumstances, please know that you are loved by God, and that He is right there with you.  Remember too, that no matter how hard things may seem, they could be worse!  So we need to count the blessing of this present difficulty.  God has protected us from many other things, and we should praise Him for that.

May God bless you this day,

Alesha

Grateful, Glad and Happy

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update, What's Happening

We are doing well here at our house, and I pray that ya'll are doing well too.  We had a great day in church yesterday!  We sang wonderful songs of praise, had special times of prayer for those in need, and heard from our pastor and co-pastor who brought incredible messages from God's Word. 

I am so grateful to be a child of an all-powerful, unchanging God!

We took Isaac to the pediatrician on Friday.  After eliminating many things, we decided he has a sinus infection.  After just 3 days on the antibiotic, I can tell he is already feeling better.  He is starting to "sing" again with his videos.  I did not really notice when he stopped singing, but I'm guessing he must have done so because his throat was sore.  Now that he is healing, his throat must feel better. 

I am so glad it was something so "small" as a sinus infection, and I am delighted that he is feeling well enough to want to sing praises to the Lord. : )

We are still without our computer.  It is being worked on diligently, and I do not want to rush the experts.  I am willing to let them do their good work, and I will be patient. : )  Aren't we foolish sometimes to think we ought to know how long the professionals should take to do a job when we don't know enough to do the job our self???  ; )

I am happy to have a loaner computer, even if it does only work for an hour or so at a time!  LOL!!!  The system battery is low, and so I need to let it "rest" for several hours so that it will work for me.  Since I am a "beggar", I will not be "choosy":  a computer that works sometimes is much better than no computer!!!

My grandmother is home from the hospital and back in her room at the assisted living facility.  She is so happy to be back in "her bed". : )  My uncle is doing well, recovering from surgery.  Sweet Gail was in the hospital again last week, but is now home and, prayerfully, is feeling a little better today.  Love you, Gail!!!

Well, I suppose that's it for my update.  We are planning to have a good week.  How about you?  Quite often we get what we expect, you know! ; )

Blessings to you,

Alesha

Just a Quick Note…

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Hallelujah Diet, Isaac Update, Prayer Request

…to say that we are experiencing technical difficulties here at our house.

My computer is dead, and a friend from church is working on her.  We believe she is going to make it, but I'll be losing almost everything.  I am working on a borrowed computer now, thanks to another kind friend! ; )

If you are expecting an email from me, you probably need to send me one instead.  Anything that was pending in my inbox is now gone, and I have lost all my email addresses.

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Update on prayer requests:

  • My grandmother is in the hospital, and although she is doing a little better, is still not doing well.
  • My uncle had surgery yesterday.  He was not in a full coma, but was incoherent due to drug usage, apparently.  I have not heard how the surgery went.  I believe they were repairing or removing the spleen.
  • My friend Gail is back in the hospital, and is in severe pain.  They suspect there may be some other medical issue besides the Hodgkins lymphoma.

I appreciate SO much your continued prayers for these dear folks.

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Doug is fully recovered from his cold, but Isaac is continuing to cough and run a low-grade fever.  Since it has been continuing for 2 weeks, we will be seeing the pediatrician today.  I'm praying they can pinpoint the cause of the fever, and I am sincerely praying that his lungs are clear.  I have been working very hard to do his treatments and chest PT in hopes that he would not develop pneumonia.

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I visited my doctor last week, and am happy to report that I have lost a grand total of 35 pounds!!!  Yay for me!!! : )  We were also able to decrease my thyroid medication, which is a blessing!

I guess that is all I have to report for today.  Thank you for visiting my blog and keeping up with us.  We certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for our loved ones.

Blessings to you,

Alesha

Happy Labor Day!

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Food and Drink, Holiday, Isaac Update, What's Happening

I always enjoy this holiday so much…like having one more day of calm before the whirlwind of school and the holidays begins in earnest.  Because even though is was still in the low 90's here over the weekend, my mind is already turning to autumn. 

We don't actually have very much of an "autumn" here, but it is nice to have an occasional day of less-than-sweltering temperatures.

I also just LOVE autumn decor.  I used to wait until after Hall*ween to put out my pretty fall leaves and such.  Now I don't wait that long, because I want to have longer to enjoy my favorite decorations.

Doug and Isaac have been sick with icky colds since the middle of last week.  I was quite busy, doing things I don't usually do, because of that.  It was nice, though.  I enjoyed doing the weekly shopping and was able to visit with my grandmother who is in a local nursing home right now.

I also had the joy of attending the 90th birthday party of a sweet lady from our church.  It was such a nice time of fellowship and celebration.  I wanted to share Mrs. Ruby's secrets for living to be 90.  She had three of them:

  1. Drink a Coke every day.
  2. Take a BC powder every day.
  3. Eat cracklin' cornbread whenever you can.

And I have to add that evidently having a really great sense of humor doesn't hurt, either!!! : ) 

(Here's a recipe for those who are curious:  Paula Deen's Jalapeno Cracklin' Cornbread.)

Well, I need to finish up here.  I still have a couple of "to-do" items left on my list.

Are you working on a project today too?  I'd love to hear what you accomplished today! : )

Were You Wondering About Us? :)

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Florida Weather, Isaac Update, What's Happening

We are doing fine here in sunny/rainy Florida.  (You know, we have them each in turn: the sun and the rain; and then we have them together: sun showers – one of my favorite kinds of rain.) 🙂

Isaac is doing well, although since Friday, he has not slept one night through.  He had been sleeping so soundly every night for almost a month; but suddenly he is finished with that.  I guess it was just too boring for him!  So now he is waking up a couple of times each night, or either he never goes back to sleep after he first wakes.  He does sometimes nap between 6-8 a.m., but then stays awake the rest of the day. 

So, obviously, Doug and I are t-i-r-e-d!  I feel like we are burning our candle at both ends, and the wick is just about completely consumed.  It's a good tired, I guess. 

We are making it to all the church services (twice on Sunday and again on Wednesday night.)  I'm also managing choir practice on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening, and special music practice on some Sunday nights after the service.  It's a lot, but I am enjoying it.

Isaac seems to really enjoy being in the church building with all the people before and after the services.  He always has enjoyed noisy places.  I've read that the NICUs in the hospital are very noisy places, and that preemies get used to that level of noise.  They find it soothing.  Isaac's foster parents told us that when they first got him he cried all the time; but he would quiet down in his favorite places:  church and Cracker Barrel.  : )

People are getting to know him, which is nice.  Folks are asking me questions about him, which I much prefer to staring. : )  Some people have volunteered to watch him for us during a service, but there is much to be considered before we can do that.  He needs to be changed during almost every service, but there isn't an appropriate place for that yet.  When it's just him and Daddy, it's no big deal; but others will need to be trained to lift him.  They will also need to learn to recognize his seizures, as well as learn how to engage him so that he doesn't become overstimulated, noisy and obnoxious!  (although he does that last bit with us sometimes, too! lol!)

Daddy has decided to take a much needed day off of therapy today.  It does make quite a full week for him when he does all the church services and both days of therapy.  Each trip to therapy is 4 hours of driving.  The therapy is totally worth the drive time; but occasionally we just need a break. : )  Hopefully we'll be able to get Isaac's hair cut today.  He is getting a little "shaggy".  ; )

I guess that's it for today.  We're struggling right now with our diet, and have not been eating as well as we should be.  It really takes a toll on my energy levels when we don't stick to the eating plan.  That's my only excuse for not blogging as much as I should. : /  Every week, we are getting back on track a little more.  Lord willing, my energy levels will rise with each healthy habit we practice. 

I pray you have a great day, and can count each of God's blessings as He gives them.

Alesha

Finally Getting Caught Up With You

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update, What's Happening

Thank you for reading my blog.  Really…I mean it!  I truly enjoy blogging and sharing our lives with you; but it would be a boring, dissatisfying exercise if it weren't for your comments and participation.

So, thank you!  I am so glad you are here.

I have so many things to tell you about, so let's get started.

First, we have taken Isaac to 6 doctors in the last 4 weeks.  It has been exhausting physically, mentally and emotionally.  I'll try to sum up in bullets:

  • Isaac was running a low-grade fever for a couple of weeks.  We never figured out why, and it has now stopped.
  • He has lost weight since our last visit to his gastroenterologist, and so we have increased his daily caloric intake.
  • We have started him on daily carrot juice and barley supplements and he is doing well.  We have been able to stop the OTC laxative that he was taking daily.  : D
  • We had noticed a ridge developing on Isaac's forehead.  (I noticed it after taking a pic for the blog…hadn't realized it was there until I saw the pic on my computer!)  Also, his face is becoming noticeably asymmetrical.  However, the neurosurgeon is not concerned with either of these things.  His head is simply going to grow that way, due to earlier issues.  His features will probably even out as each growth spurt ends.
  • Isaac's been having a new kind of seizure for about 6 weeks now.  The neurologist recommended a VNS system.  You can read about it on the Cyberonics site here.  We are still in the information gathering stage on this.
  • Isaac's left hip is subluxated (partially dislocated).  This is caused by muscles that have been too tight on his inner thigh that have pulled that leg over to the right.  We found out about this last December, and have worked hard to position Isaac so that the hip is in a good position.  That isn't going to fix the dislocation though.  The only way to do that is with surgery.
  • Isaac's hip has not gotten any worse since last December, and the orthopedic surgeon we saw does not believe he is in pain with it.  We were worried that the pain could have been causing the increased seizure activity, but the surgeon doesn't feel that is the case.
  • We are going to see the doctor again in December, and will probably schedule the surgery for soon after that.  I tried to find a site that explains the surgery in layman's terms, but couldn't find one.  I'll keep looking to see if I can find something and share it with you later.
  • Isaac is sleeping well right now, which is such a blessing.  We have started doing his asthma treatments at a different time of day, rather than at bed time, and that seems to have made a world of difference.

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I won a blog contest a few week's back and received the yummiest wash cloths from Copperswife, Cheryl.  They are the softest, prettiest things I've seen in a long time.  I am using them only for Isaac, and they are especially nice for washing his face every morning. : )  Here are a couple of pics.  I planned to get a few more pics, but was unable to do so (more on that later).

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Be sure to read Cheryl's latest blog.  It has some encouragement for us to have the proper priorities as we finish up our busy summers and head into the upcoming school year.  It's a good read, as usual!

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Isaac received another nice surprise last month from our friends Jerry and Laura in Japan.  Jerry and a group of other missionaries and interns climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan!  It was an awesome trip.  Be sure to catch his first installment of the journey on his blog, linked above. 

Jerry had offered to mail postcards from the post office at the top of Mt. Fuji, and so I had asked him to send one to Isaac.  Not only did he send a beautiful postcard, but he also included the headband that he wore on his trek.  This is the message that Jerry sent to Isaac.  (After the month that we have had, you can imagine how these kind words touched this mommy's heart. )

"Dear Isaac, When a Japanese person has a difficult job to do, they wear a headband with a message written on it to encourage them.  Each member of our group wore a headband with the Kanji 'Hisshou' (victory) written on it.  This is my headband.  I hope it will encourage you in whatever hard jobs you have to do.  Habakkuk 3:19"

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(Laura, I hope I have it right side up! : )  I "googled" it so see how to turn it. )

It is amazing the things that God puts into motion weeks, months or even years before you need a Word from Him.  I'm sure this climb has been something that Jerry has pondered for a long time.  And at just the right time, God allowed him to make this climb, and then he, in turn, passed on a blessing to us.  Our God is incredible.

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I know this post has gone on forever, but I have just a few more things to share. : )

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New shirts for Isaac

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New shirts for Mommy : )

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Our new parsley plant (in a cute little pot, courtesy of Grammy).

On a sad note, my new camera has DIED!!!  You can't even imagine my sadness!  We had only had it for a couple of months, and I had just learned how to take much better pictures of my jewelry with it!  I was taking some pictures, and the camera fell on the floor.  It jammed the lense mechanism, and now the lense won't open.  When the lense doesn't open, the camera won't even come on and stay on.  I am very, very sad!  I will be pulling out my old camera that takes AA batteries to see if I can use it again.  (Insert my deep, heavy sigh here!)  Did I tell you how SAD this makes me??? : (

And my last little bit of news…I have joined the choir at my church!!!  I am so excited to be singing again!  I am enjoying the practices so much, and of course, the fellowship that comes with it.  Don't forget, if you can't make it to your church on Sunday, you can watch ours online in real time.  Here's the link:  Landmark Baptist Church.  Just click the "media" tab, then the "live services" tab.  (You might even see me in the choir!!! tee hee hee!) : )

Thank you, again, for coming to read my blog; and I especially want to thank you for your prayers for us.  We appreciate it so much.  

God's richest blessings to you,

Alesha