Great few days!

Well...Luke has had a great few days. We kind of took it easy on him after we got back from San Diego. They say rest is the best thing right after Stem Cell Therapy. On Sunday I started him right back on his home therapy program, and he is doing great!! Yesterday, every time I put him on his stomach he would roll over. He also sat up by himself for quite a long time. He is so cute...I will start counting for him. The farther I count up with him still sitting up by himself he just gets a big grin on his face and starts laughing. Another cute thing is with his left leg. We have been doing a lot of therapy on that leg, well to distract him I will usually play, " his little piggy"...well his big toe always goes to Disneyland...Luke thinks that is funny. So now when I tell them to bring his toe that goes to Disneyland to his mouth, he will grab his left leg (remember this is the side of his body that is very slowly coming around) up and put his toe in his mouth.

I realized I never mentioned the awesome eye dr visit we had the dr in San Diego went. Ok, so we have taken Luke to three doctors here in AZ, and not ONE of them did the extensive evaluation that this dr did on Luke. We were there for over two hours. He was awesome!! I guess the difference is, the ones we had seen were all opthamologists, where he is an optometrist. Anyway, he told us he absolutely would not do the lid opening surgery at least for another year. He said there is still time for new pathways to be made that could open the lid. He did tell us Luke needs glasses, as what he is seeing is blurry. He is not at all worried about his brain forgetting to process vision (as the drs here were) because Luke opens his eyes so much to see. He recommended we put Luke on an inversion table with his eyes lower than his feet so his lids would open by gravity. This is something the neurodevelopmentalists on the Utah program have also suggested. We will certainly give it a try!

One thing...if you live here in the valley and are craving pizza, there is a fundraiser at Barro's pizza this Thursday, May 1st, for another little boy I have been following that is a near drown. You have to go to the Barro's at Power/Queen Creek, Val Vista/Ray, or Alma School/Germann. You can get more details at www.prayforsantana.org. I have emailed his mom, Lindsey, a few times back and forth, and actually found out about the place we went for stem cells thru her web site. They are thinking of also taking Santana for the stem cell therapy.

Thanks so much for the continued prayers and support! We appreciate it more than you could ever know. "Every highway of life descends into the valley now and then. And everyone must go through the tunnel of tribulation before they can travel on the high road of triumph." Believe!!

Stem Cells are In!

Praise God! Our trip today to get stem cells went great. The only difficulty was getting the IV in Luke, but that is how it is every time they have to put one in. He has been blessed with my tiny veins, which are very hard to find. Dr. Ramierez administered the stem cells this afternoon around 2:00, so now it is just a wait and see (and pray a lot,) game. They said on average it takes about 3-4 weeks to see results, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. The guy that drove us to Mexico was very friendly. He has been doing this for a long time and said he has seen great things. They have another child who is now 16 coming back on Thursday for his 6th treatment. He is now walking and talking, where as before he said he was absolutely doing nothing. I have to say, the clinic in Mexico was nicer that I expected...I would have pictures, but I dropped my camera right before they put the cells in and it broke. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support...please continue to pray for those cells to go where they need to go for continued restoration in Luke's brain. Believe!

Brave Little Soul!

I know I just posted earlier today (see post below,) but this was shared with me tonight and I just had to pass it on. I have said it time and time again...it takes something like what we are going thru to show us how good people really are...it has humbled us time and time again. I mean here we are a year later, and I think more people are following Luke and his progress than ever. For those of you that have been by our sides since the beginning....THANK YOU, THANK YOU, may God bless you as you have blessed us.

THE BRAVE LITTLE SOUL
Not too long ago in Heaven, there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. He especially enjoyed the love he saw there and often expressed this joy with God. One day however, the little soul was sad, for on this day he saw suffering in the world. He approached God and sadly asked, "Why do bad things happen, why is there suffering in the world?"
God paused for a moment and replied, little soul, do not be sad, for the suffering you see, unlocks to love in people's hearts". The little soul was confused. "What do you mean", he asked. God replied. Have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences, and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone.

The little soul began to understand and listen attentively as God continued, "The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their heart, but unfortunately, most people keep it locked up and hardly share with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this- it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer-to unlock this love-to create this miracle-for the good of all humanity."

Just then, the little soul got a wonderful idea and can hardly contain himself. With his wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied, I am brave: let me go! I would like to go into this world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle!"

God smiled and said, you are a brave soul, I know, and thus I will grant your request but even though you are very brave, you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask, and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however, they will also share in your suffering. Two of those souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you.

God and the brave little soul shared a smile and then embraced. In parting, God said, "Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear this pain, you will do so through my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed."

Thus, at that moment, the brave little soul was born into the world, and through his suffering and God's strength he unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love. Priorities became properly aligned. People gave from their hearts. Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys-some regained lost faith-many came back to God. Parents hugged their kids tighter. Friends and family grew closer. Old friends got together and new friendships were made. Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together. Everyone prayed. Peace and love reigned. Lives were changed forever. It was good. The world was a better place. The miracle had happened. God was pleased.

Believe in God's promises.
"For I am the LORD, who heals you."
Exodus 15:26

Remember...Stem Cell prayers on the 22nd. The thing with these cells is we can't tell them where to go. I Believe though that we can pray them to the damaged areas in Luke's brain and that third cranial nerve to get those eyes open. Thanks so much and believe!

Great Week!

This has been a great week for Luke! He did great today at Horse Therapy...much better than last week! From the home therapy program we are following, he is up to following 3 step directions most (I would say 95%) of the time! Yeah Luke! I have even gotten him to follow a few 4 step directions today. We are also working on getting him to say the "m" sound-not because I want him to say Mama so bad, because the therapist says that is where we should start. I think he has made great progress with that just in the three days we have been working on it. We also show Luke word cards, and he is up to knowing about 50 word cards. What we do is show him 2 cards, then I will have him point to one. Another thing I added this week is opposites. I would have two cards (fast and fish) and have him show me the opposite of slow, so far he is at 100% accuracy! I am telling you, he is really SO smart...we just have to get his body to work. Which brings me to another great thing. Again from the NACD program, we ordered a hand peddler. We just got it Tuesday night, and he cried the first time we tried it. Well today he was able to peddle with his hands and his feet all by himself. I was amazed! His left side has been a lot looser, and a lot more sensitive. Praise God for all of these great things we are seeing lately! If I was a little more computer savvy, I would get a video of him showing off for everyone to see, but not too sure how to do all that. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. Remember....we leave Monday to go to San Diego for Stem Cell Therapy Tuesday the 22nd in Mexico. Please pray that we see results from this. The more I do research on it, the more upset I get that it is not available in the US. In addition, the majority of people I have spoken to were not given the option (even recently) to save their child's cord blood. Here is another great article on the power in these cells: http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/17332894.html?page=1&c=y What if the answer to so many things is right before our eyes in these cells, yet we have missed it all of these years? Remember prayers on the 22nd, and I promise an update that night on how everything went. We expect only great things because our God is awesome God! "...Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9....Believe!!!

New Cousin!

Well...the exciting news this week is Luke has a new cousin! My sister and her husband welcomed baby Max on Tuesday! He is a cutie! As for Luke, well he didn't do so well his second time at horse therapy. He wanted off the horse this time, so we will try again next week. We are going to go early in the morning this time, so maybe that will work better. We are seeing improvements in other areas though, so we will take what we can get. Some of the things we have noticed is he is responding faster to questions we ask him (with his hand signals,) he is also standing up better with our help, and will even move his feet to take steps when we tell him to walk (although he still has a long way to go before he is doing it by himself!) A big thing he is doing this week is raising his left foot and leg up when we tell him to! This is a great thing! Praise God for all for the improvements we still continue to see in Luke on a weekly basis. He is SO good! From the song (Shout to the Lord," by Chris Tomlin) they sang as the finale on "Idol Gives Back," last night "I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand, Nothing compares to the promise (Luke has) in You." Remember...recruit all the prayer warriors for Luke's Stem Cell Therapy on April 22nd. We also have an appointment with another eye dr that specializes in brain injuries in San Diego on April 23rd. Pray these cells go where they are needed...the best is yet to come for sure!!!! Believe!

Horse Therapy!

Luke has had a great week! We have been putting him on his belly some. He does not like it too much, but is starting to get used to it. He is also getting great at drinking from a short straw, so I think it is time to make it a little longer for him to get that mouth strength up. I have a call next week with the NACD to go over the oral motor program they want him to start on. Then the countdown is on to two and half weeks to Stem Cell Therapy. I do want to clarify...the stem cells he will be getting are umbilical cord blood cells. They are donated by American women who have delivered healthy babies. Please line up all prayer warriors for lots of prayers for April 22nd when he will be getting cells. Please pray these cells do amazing things in Luke's healing! Thanks so much for continuing to check on our gladiator. Believe!!