Happy New Year!!

Well...2007 has been a difficult year for the Gauman Family. I must say I am glad to see it some to an end and have a new start with 2008. On March 6th, we experienced a tragedy unlike any other we’ve faced before (and hope to never face again.) This was the day a large RV gate fell on our son, Luke. After my dad having to do CPR on Luke, a sheriff escort to the hospital not knowing when we arrived if our son would still be alive, a talk about thinking about possible organ donation if he did not pull through, an up and down night (and week after) in the PICU where Luke was given drugs to keep his heart and lungs working, as well as being on a ventilator for two weeks. For reasons unknown to us, God chose not to take Luke home, and we began a journey unlike any other. It’s been a long nine months, full of ups and downs. One thing that I can say is that God has never left our side and has carried us down this difficult road. He has been our comfort and our strength during the darkest time in our lives. It is with a smile on my face that I tell of the many miracles God has worked in Luke’s life. Luke’s initial prognosis was very poor; they initially thought he had severe hypoxia. Later CT scans showed this was not the case (in case you are wondering hypoxia does not just disappear overnight-this was just one of many miracles.) God breathed new life into Luke that day and is gradually restoring our precious son to health. Luke has already overcome many of the obstacles that were before him – many that medical professionals doubted he would ever overcome. He recognizes everything that is going on around him. This week we went to see, "Alvin and the Chipmunks." How amazing is it that he can hold his eye open to watch the movie. He stayed awake the entire movie and loved it! He eats all meals by mouth and has no difficulty breathing or swallowing. His precious personality is still intact as he returns to us more and more each day. He is able to follow commands and loves to "play" with some of his toys with us. He is off of all medications except for Merilax until he gets to moving more. We are so blessed to have the precious miracle of Luke in our lives. I share this story with you so that you will know of God’s mighty power and of His miracles. So many people ask me what my goals are for Luke, you know what I say to them, with God ANYTHING is possible, and I want Luke to be the kid he was before that gate fell on him, why should we put limitations on him, he has more than proven himself able to blow through any limits! When Luke was first hurt my song was, "Tunnel," because I BELIEVE and KNOW there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Lately, I have another song, "There is a Reason," by Caedmon's Call. I know there is a reason we are going thru this, but as the lyrics to the song say, "There is a reason, He makes all things good." Sometimes I just wished this would happen on my time not His. So, I say good bye to 2007, thanks be to God for carrying us through. There is a light at the end of this tunnel because he makes all things good if you Believe, and I BELIEVE that 2008 is going to be GREAT! Thanks for continuing to be here with us throughout this journey, please keep praying for continued restoration for Luke, May God Bless you all in the new year!

Thanks so much for all of the comments...we LOVE to read them! I know some of you have had a hard time leaving them. If you click on the text that shows 0 (or whatever #) comments under my text it will take you where you leave a comment. You can also email us at ourgladiator@aol.com.

Merry Christmas!

This week has been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas. We did start Luke seeing an acpuncturist this week. She is great! Thanks so much to Kelly and Stephanie for recommending her (many months ago.) It did take some convincing on my part, as I can be a bit stubborn at times (I am sure Mike will agree to that.) However, Mike and I both got a test needle, and I promise, it does not hurt. Luke had 7 needles in his head and did not make a peep. We will see what happens. He has PT this week, then the next 2 weeks, it is just us working him at home. We are working on getting him to hold his head up and trying to get him to sit up. His head is getting stronger every day. He is so cute...he is very excited for Santa to come. Every morning I tell him how many more days there are, and he gets a big grin. I can not tell you how thankful and blessed I am that he is here to celebrate with us this year! Every morning when I wake up and see the four stockings hanging from our fireplace, I can't help but whisper a prayer of thanks. This Christmas it is my prayer that everyone reading this will truly remember the reason for the season, give Thanks to God for the many blessings in your life, and also say a special prayer for anyone that will not be celebrating with their loved ones this year, whether they are fighting to protect our freedom or have gone to a better place. One thing we have done for many years is make a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake, then we always sing Happy Birthday. Thanks so much for continuing to pray for Luke, please pray for continued restoration of his brain. Remember...Jesus is the reason for the season, Have a very Merry Christmas, and God Bless you all.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us…And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NLT

Visit with Santa

Luke is doing great from his surgery on Monday. You really would never know he had anything done. He was pretty quite in the hospital, but he is back to himself after getting home. He is really starting to want to see everything. He is getting great at using his finger to open his left eye and sometimes his right. I can't imagine how frustrated he has to be at times, but rarely does he show it. What a trooper he is! We are meeting with the doctor the beginning of January to discuss the surgery to open the eyes. We met with the ENT that did Luke's tubes yesterday, and they are both out. He will be getting them put back in in January so we can start going to Oxygen Therapy again. We have taken a much longer break than we would have liked, but did not want to chance it with the aneurysm.

Yesterday, Lynsey and Luke got to sit on Santa's lap. Luke was excited! He kept opening up his eye to look at Santa. When Santa asked if he would like some trucks he smiled and made his cute little sound. We have taken it pretty easy with him this week as far as working him out. I will say, with his flash cards he is able to recognize numbers and letters. I have even written mom, dad, sis, and Luke. He is great at picking out his name. I can also give him simple math problems 2 + 2 and he will pick the right answer most of the times. I really feel in my heart he knows everything he knew before the accident, it is just a matter now of getting his body to work. I know it will take a long time too. It is amazing how much your body loses muscle tone, etc. in such a short amount of time. We do have a physical therapist that started coming to the house last week. I think he is going to be great for Luke. God bless you all and have a great weekend!

Praise God!

The surgery went great! The doctor said he was very pleased with the results. They ended up just having to do the coiling, no stint, so that was great! They didn't end up getting to him until 1:30 this afternoon , which is why this update is so late (a long day considering we had to be there at 6am.) When they came to get him from the pre-op area, they always have someone from transport wheel him there. As soon as we got off of the elevator he knew exactly what was happening and started crying. Then the lady told us, "here is the waiting room," Luke really started crying hard. That was the worst part all day for us, hearing him cry and knowing where he was going! After they took him to the PICU to recover. When we got in there I told him he did so good and to show me an okay...he did it right away! What a trooper he his! Mike is there now staying the night with his wing man. We should be able to bring him home tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your prayers, emails, posts, phone calls, everything....YOU ALL truly made the difference (once again!) in the life of our gladiator and our family today. God Bless you all....and Believe...the best is yet to come!

A Week From Now...

Hello Everyone! First, the Luke story of the week. We are now able to show Luke playing cards or flash cards, and he will pick the correct card I would say over 90% of the time. We have used playing cards and flash cards where he picks the correct color, shape, or object. (I think it helps that I give him an M&M every time gets one right:) Also, when I am carrying to the car or in from the car, he loves to help out by shutting the door with his hand. He is strong!

Now for the important part...Luke will be going in Monday, December 10th for the coiling of his aneurysm. If you would like to see exactly what will be done, you can see read about it at:

http://www.brainaneurysm.com/aneurysm-treatment.html. I am asking all of you for lots of prayers for Luke that day, we have to be there at 6:00am, and his surgery is at 10:00 am. Please spread the word to everyone you know, add Luke to your church prayer lists this Sunday. Almost nine months ago, we asked all of you to do this for us, and I know MANY of you have not stopped since. We are forever grateful to you for that; your prayers saved Luke's life that horrible day in March and have kept him progressing every since. Together with all of our prayers, we can ensure Luke has a safe and successful surgery on Monday. So Pray without ceasing and remember..."If you BELIEVE, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matt. 21:22. May God Bless all of you this holiday season, as you have blessed us so MUCH this year!