Back on Track!

In reading our last few posts, it seems we only post when things are difficult. Well, this isn't one of those posts. 

Just wanted to report that things are going great. He has recovered almost completely, and he is back to walking! Everyday he walks 10-15 steps at a time and is getting better every day as he discovers the freedom it gives him.

We love to see his happy face as he claps after walking! Such a happy kid :)

Cheers and Concerns

I want to apologize for the tone of this post right now. Usually I try to post upbeat, silly and positive messages and updates. But I can't help being human too, and feeling a little mixed emotions. 

Today was great! Easton took over 20 steps without falling! It was amazing! Then, just to prove it wasn't just a fluke, he took another walk of 12 steps, then 14! It has been such a great day for him.

But tomorrow he'll go back under the knife for another surgery. His kidneys still are not draining properly, so the docs will open him up and see what is wrong. 

While I'm grateful for modern medicine and the amazing things doctors can do and find out and fix, it is so hard to hand him over to the doctor and see the look of abandonment on his face as the doctor takes him away for another surgery. Then knowing that he may lose the great advances he has made in walking for awhile as his body recovers and tries to remember how to work right.

It is all for his good. He needs the surgery, the doctors say. And he'll bounce back and probably develop quicker as his body functions better. All these are great arguments, and true. But in the end I'm just a dad, handing his scared little son over to a stranger who will take him to a strange place and hurt him with needles, make his mind fuzzy and leave him aching, not knowing what happened to him and why his father abandoned him.

And yet, is that any different from a Heavenly Father who knows exactly how a son or daughter will suffer in mortality, yet still He sends His children to a strange place, where they will be hurt, confused and aching with desire to return home? He knows it is for our good that we experience this test. He loves us enough to allow us to be hurt, and suffer, knowing it will help us develop and become who we are supposed to be. 

Yet I can't help but wonder if He, too, shed a tear or two as He watched a doctor take us from a place of safety, by His side, to a dark and dreary world. I'm certain there were tears of joy as well, knowing that we too would develop more quickly and function better with our mortal bodies than we were able to as only spirits. He, too, shed tears.

I'm convinced that we are given mini experiences in this life so we can, in a small way, understand how He feels. That He truly is our Father.

Cheers and Concerns? Yes. And maybe a little Understanding of a Heavenly Father's love.

A surgery of discovery

So, the docs say Easton's kidneys are still draining too slow. . . . And they don't know why. We wonder if it just means there is a blockage in the bladder that is still affecting both kidneys, but they don't know.

So next week he'll have a surgery of discovery with the hope of finding out what is going wrong and hopefully fixing it.

That's the hope

A Fast and a Smile

We believe in the Law of the Fast, wherein we go without food or water for two meals, and dedicate that time to prayer, contemplation and seeking blessings for us or others in need. As a church, we fast one Sunday a month, and individually we might fast whenever we feel we are in need of further guidance or blessings. 

On one particular Fast Sunday, little Easton, who had walked all over with his walker or with assistance, suddenly stood without assistance, then took four steps by himself for the first time. All the family cheered and clapped, bringing a huge smile to Easton's face. But the biggest smile was on Colby, my first son's face. With a gleam in his eye, he said, "That's what I was fasting for!"

How grateful I am that God answers the sweet prayers of children.

Expect Miracles: the Followup MRI

When I went in my mission, a speaker in the MTC told us that the work we were doing was God's work and that we should "Expect Miracles" on our missions. Through experience I gained testimony to this fact.

 I've also come to learn that Parenting is God's work too, and that as we exercise faith, and acknowledge God's hand in all things, we can expect miracles in parenting as well.

Our most recent miracle came through an MRI Easton had to follow up on an earlier MRI about 18 months ago. Back then he was having "Infantile Spasms", which are basically a kind of seizure, and through their tests they found that his brain had problems. One was that the nerves weren't as myelinated as they should have been at that point. Though they hoped it was just a little behind, and would catch up eventually. The bigger concern was that there were two nerve clusters where they should have spread out. Our brains start with all the nerves bundled close to the middle, then they branch out and spread out throughout the brain. He had two bunches that had never spread out. They told us that by this time they should be done migrating, and that they would probably stay that way the rest of his life, with uncertain effects to his thinking and movements.

Well, 18 months later the MRI shows that not only are his nerves myelinating, but the nerve clusters have spread out and are no longer a concern. Their explanation is that the earlier MRI was a little fuzzy due to his young age, and that the nerve clusters may not have been there in the first place. Our explanation, we thank our Heavenly Father for His tender care. 

They also changed their opinion on the infantile spasms. Originally they said the seizures would come back at some point in his life. Now they say they don't expect he'll ever have problems with them again. He's still a little behind developmentally, but is doing well.

Miracles don't always come the way we want them to, or when we want them, but as we learn to recognize them and thank our Father for event he small ones, we'll be amazed at how much God blesses our lives. Especially in this, our most important calling, of Parent.

The Power of Home

Amazing. Just amazing.
Easton spent 4 days in the hospital (2 more than he was supposed to thanks to a nicked colon), and moaned and whined whenever it was time to get another pain medication. He was in such pain that he just laid in bed all day and barely moved.
Then we brought him home, set him down, and off he went, crawling and climbing over everything like he never had surgery. That's the power of home. A home filled with love brings peace to the heart and healing to the soul. It gives hope. It's a familiar reassurance that loved ones are near and all will be well.
Indeed, as the hymn says, "All the world is filled with love, when there's love at home."

Wow! You're kidneys are beautiful!

Said no one. And yet, we just paid for a cosmetic surgery to fix how Easton's Kidney looks. Crazy? Probably. But then again, we're parents. We're supposed to be a little crazy.
In truth, however, the surgery was less for how the kidney looks, and more about how it is shaped, and thus functions. He's just now waking from a 4 hour surgery to remove the blockage in his ureter that's stopping the kidney from draining properly. Because of the stoppage, the kidney ballooned out and was deformed, needing some reshaping.
During the process they accidentally nicked the colon, but fixed that and hopefully avoided any infection.Don't worry,  It just required a stitch or two. He's not a semi-colon now or anything :) unfortunately since they nicked the colon we need to wait till he has a bowell movement or passes gas before he can eat. We're told that could take anywhere between a few hours to a week. I guess whenever your intestines are even touched, they go into sleep mode and take a while to wake up. It is helpful to get up and move around, but he'll be somewhat limited in what he can do as he heals.
They also were able to find the hiding, right teste and, wonder of wonders, it was still alive and they were able to pull it into place.
Overall, things seem to be going well. So grateful.