Great Weekend!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! We did! We went up to Payson for a few days, and it was nice to get away. Luke did great. Here is a cute story from our trip...we went out to lunch at El Rancho in Payson. I was giving Luke pieces of chips to eat while we were waiting for food. He started reaching for something...when I realized he wanted more salsa on his chips. He thought it was pretty funny to dip his chip in the salsa before he put it in his mouth. I am really starting to see how much he loves doing things by himself or helping us. He is getting so good at coming to a standing position when we are holding his hands. He is doing pretty much all of the work now once we grab his hands. Another thing he did yesterday, was sit up all by himself through 5 Hannah Montana songs (I am guessing this is at least 15 minutes.) It always seems like when I am timing him, he doesn't do it as long, so this time I wasn't looking at a clock. Lynsey and Kaylee were doing Karokee and would bring him the microphone every now and then. He liked "talking" into it. I think he was paying attention to them, so he didn't even realize he was sitting up. So, he has gone from sitting by himself for about 5 seconds to 15 minutes now in a month...I think those stem cells are going where they need to go. Praise God! We are also working on something pretty major with him here at home. Yesterday he had about 80% success with it. I am going to give him another week to work hard at it...then I will let you all know what it is:)

Next week we have a really big week. Monday an appointment with a physiatrist at St. Joe's, I have heard great things about her, please pray we see this. Then Tuesday, a follow-up MRI to check on the aneurysm, please pray for no more surgeries on this. Lastly, Wednesday we see Dr. Manwaring for a six month shunt check up. Three days and three drives to St. Joe's...it will be busy, but hopefully this is it for appointments for awhile.

Thanks so much for checking on Luke. Remember..D-Backs game info 2 posts below. If you have indicated you wanted tickets, we need the ticket money by June 4th to get you the tickets in time.

"You should praise the Lord for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us." Psalm 107:21. Have a great week and believe!

Shake your booty!

Luke continues to make baby steps in the right direction. This week his new trick is shaking his booty. When we are helping him stand up he now has a little dance he will do. He is really getting a lot stronger, and he is getting his sense of balance back slowly but surely. Yesterday I was able to get him to sit up by himself while I counted to 500. The little stinker though, is starting to have to be bribed to work. When we try to sit him up, he will try to push himself back. I told him yesterday if he sat to 300 I would buy him a toy, so when we got to 300, I told him if he got to 500 it would be a big toy. He made to 500, and then was done. He is also trying to say Mom really hard, he will do the "m" sound then the "o" sound then the "m" sound again, just need to get them all together. Thanks so much to everyone who has contacted us about the D-Backs tickets...the deadline is going to be June 3rd. More info on that is in the post below. Thanks to everyone also for continuing the prayers for healing for Luke...we are so very appreciative of everyone who continues to follow Luke...15 months later! We have seen so many miracles along the way,. I know the very best is still yet to come; He can accomplish SO much more than we can even imagine. Believe! "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Help Luke...See a D-Backs Game!

We have been contacted by a group called East Valley Sol (eastvalleysol.org.) Each year they pick children to help with their medical expenses and hold various fundraisers. Anyway, they know of Luke's story because their kids go to the same school as Lynsey. They contacted me about doing a fundraiser for Luke. At first, we really struggled with it. I have always donated to PCH, Make a Wish, and St. Jude because I was so thankful my children were healthy. Obviously that can change in the blink of an eye. Trust me, I would much rather be giving than receiving. Anyway, they have arranged for us to have a fundraiser and attend a Diamondbacks game at the same time. Luke gets half of the ticket price to use for therapies. We are looking at various intense therapy programs for him, the starting price for most is $15,000. Here are the details:

The game is Tuesday, June 17th-Diamondbacks vs. Oakland A's Start time is 6:40pm
Tickets are $15.00 each and are bleacher seats in Sections 141-143

If you are interested, please email me at ourgladiator@aol.com. Please do not feel obligated in any way to attend. If you can, we would love to have you join us. I pray you will be blessed ten times over! Thanks so much for continuing to check on Luke. Believe! "We walk by faith...not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7

Happy Mother's Day

Luke continues to do good. I keep saying as long as we are seeing improvement no matter now small we think they may be, we are on the right track. I talked to someone earlier this week who told me that usually when you think nothing is happening, that is when the most is happening in Luke's brain, so I am going with that! This week for the first time he did a double roll, rollled over from tummy to back, then back to tummy. He is also trying SO hard to try and get up on all fours. He is so close I think! I have also gotten him to sit up for 4 minutes at a time. I had a call earlier this week with the lady overseeing the speech program we are doing at home. She really feels like he is on the right track. Some of the stuff we have been doing is blowing a horn, making m sounds, trying to get a d sound, right now he does the motion but no sound, and working on chewing. Another exciting thing, is in addition to horse therapy (this week they even had the horse trot with him on it,) his physical therapist is going to start seeing him another day at our house to work with them. I think this will really help him out. I have to say, after re-reading my post from last Mother's Day we are in a much better place! Last year, all I wanted was to hear his voice...this year while he is not talking with us, he is able to communicate with us in many different ways. My favorite being when he will squeeze your hand 3 times to say, "I Love You." He also gives the greatest hugs with a few pats thrown in. So please continue prayers of healing and restoration in Luke's brain. Thanks for the prayers also for my grandpa...he is doing a little better every day. Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms reading this who encourage me everyday with your emails, cards, everything! We couldn't have made this journey without you, and the fact of the matter is Mr. Luke would not be alive and progressing so much if not for your prayers! "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you..." Isaiah 66:13

Three Minutes!

This morning Luke was able to sit up by himself for three minutes!! This is a huge improvement over just last week. Although I can't say I would attribute it to the Stem Cell Therapy as much as the Horse Therapy he has been doing. It is definetly getting his head and trunk a lot stronger. Another good thing is when he is sitting he will hold his head up at mid line. He is continuing to roll over when we put him on his tummy, and also move his left arm and leg. Now for the Luke story of the week...last week I took him to Target with us after I picked Lynsey up from school. We were at the check out ready to pay when I noticed Luke reaching his arm out for something. At first I didn't realize what he was doing, but then saw he was trying to grab something. At the end display at the check out they had boxes of those white powdered donuts. Luke was trying to grab a box! He knew what they were for sure...when Mike and him would go hunting and fishing they would always get a box to eat on the way. So, Luke got his donuts, although he has not had any yet, as he is not supposed to have any sweets for three weeks after getting the stem cells.

Now, since I know you all are praying for Luke, I figure I can ask everyone to add a prayer for my grandpa. Yesterday, my mom's dad, had a car accident. It was later determined he had a stroke while he was driving which caused the accident. He is in the ICU now, after under going a surgery last night to stop the bleed. So, as it was with Luke, all we can do is wait and pray. We have already seen the way God can work miracles, the way he did in Luke. So we are expecting nothing but the best. So, thanks for your prayers for my grandpa and for Luke's continued recovery! Believe!