Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! We have so much to be thankful for this year! So this Thanksgiving we give thanks to God who continues to pour out blessings of healing and progress on Luke (although I will admit sometimes I wish they were pouring out just a little faster.) We are thankful for Luke who works so hard day in and day out. We are thankful to all of our family and friends who help us out with SO MANY things...taking Luke to therapy, watching the girls, words of encouragement at just the right time, the list goes on and on. Please know how much we appreciate everything you do...I know Luke would not be where he is at without all of you! So I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Our greatest blessings!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34

Thursday, November 19, 2009

ER

Well last night I had to make a trip to the ER with Luke! Three stitches later...all is well! Not exactly sure what happened, as I was right there. He was sitting on the carpet looking thru his backpack when his head hit the coffee table. He didn't fall, so my best guess is he went to sneeze and slammed the table. It looked a lot worse than it was, as it was bleeding pretty bad (in fact my first thought was 911.) The doc said he got it right in the spot where his skin is pretty thin. So, now he is sporting three stitches in his left eyebrow. I gotta say that kid is a trooper once again. They were able to do the stitches without sedation and overall we were in and out of the ER in less than three hours:)

Now for an interesting article on stem cell research happening right here in AZ...in fact at the very hospital I took Luke to last night:

Gilbert Stem Cell Research Programs are Making Healthcare History

At a Town Hall meeting on October 6th, 2009, residents of Gilbert Arizona listened to medical advances being made in the area of adult stem cells for heart failure. Stem cell pioneer Dr. Nabil Dib, Director of Cardiovascular Research at the Mercy Gilbert Medical Center has been one of the first physicians in the United States to use a type of stem cell called myoblasts, for treatment of patients with heart failure. Since those early studies which began in Phoenix Arizona in 2000, thousands of patients have been treated with their own stem cells for heart failure.
Dr. Dib explained how after a heart attack the injured heart muscle produces chemical signals that attract stem cells from the bone marrow, as well as activate stem cells that are resident within the heart but usually not active. Unfortunately, the repair response after a heart attack is usually not very strong, and as a result, after a heart attack the heart continually loses function until heart failure can occur.
One of the techniques being performed at Mercy Gilbert is administration of stem cells within several days after the heart attack. When the stem cells are administered in the blood, they can "sense" that there is something wrong with the heart and try to repair it.
At the meeting Dr. Dib received many commendations for his excellent work. "Dr. Dib's work for Mercy Gilbert rivals that found primarily in university and research hospitals, so we are proud and honored to have him working here in Gilbert at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center," Councilmember Joan Krueger said. The Mayor of Gilbert stated "History is being made in our town of Gilbert at Mercy Gilbert Hospital."
In addition to the advances in the use of myoblast and bone marrow stem cells, Dr. Dib explained how the hospital is opening up a public cord blood bank. Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells that have several unique properties because they come from tissue that is not mature. Traditionally, cord blood has been used for transplantation of patients with leukemias because the cord blood is capable of making a new blood system when given to patients who have been previously treated with very high doses of radiation and chemotherapy. The use of cord blood without radiation and chemotherapy was reported in many situations but until recently has not been used in the United States.
Researchers at University of Florida and Duke have started using cord blood for Type I Diabetes and Cerebral Palsy as part of clinical trials. The creation of a public cord blood bank at Gilbert will allow for researchers to conduct similar clinical trials.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Ode To Luke!



This post is a poem that our wonderful neighbors The Riggs Family wrote to Luke. He loved it and so do I...you all will too:) Thanks to the Riggs Family!!


Ode to Luke

Luke, Luke, grand high duke!
Ode to your masterful way
You try and you try
And you aim so high
Each and every day.

You have come so far
We're so very impressed
You teach us so much.
Be strong, happy, and such.
Even when you're stressed:)

You're amazing and smart.
We admire and love you!
You're a hero for sure
For all you endure
So to you we give ode to!



His famous Thumbs up sign!


Here Luke is trying to make his smile work for the pictures!




Loves his little sis!

Thanks to Tami Proffitt for the great pictures she took of our family....Loved the moments she captured! (www.tamiproffitt.com)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Check this kid out!

Here is what Luke's therapy consisted of today, and this is not supposed to be the hard part of the day! I have to say...he always loved the monkey bars. Looks like Mike needs to get the welder out! Luke has been so pleasant the last three days (knocking on wood as I write this.) He has been very smiley, laughing, and joking...Love it!! Let's pray he keeps up with this good mood!





Yeah...I did it!


This is what Luke does when he wants to tune out the ladies yapping!



Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Finally!

So sorry for the lack of updates! We made it thru our first week at Napa Center and Luke is doing AWESOME!!!!! It is always good for me to get the opinions of other people who haven't seen him in awhile as to how he is doing, as we see him everyday. So things they have noticed since the last time: his left hand is a lot looser and more functional, his posture is better, his reaction time is faster, and he seems more aware. Baby steps,,,but steps forward indeed! This session we are only here for two weeks so we added an extra hour onto the day, so Luke goes 8-3:30. I must say he is working like a champ....never complaining at all. Yesterday his therapists all said it was his hardest working day yet. I think he understands all this work is paying off and can see his body getting stronger and he can do more. We flew home this weekend, and had landed back in LA on Sunday. We were waiting for everyone else to get off the plane,and I look over at Luke and he was grabbing onto the seat in front of him bringing himself up to a standing position. Guess he was sick of sitting down....gonna have to watch him a little closer now I think!

In other exciting news, I have been following the blog of a little girl from Show Low who suffered a brain injury after being accidentally run over a year ago. She is similar to Luke in that her entire left side of her face is paralyzed due to nerve damage. The doctors will tell you after six months, it can no longer be repaired. Well....obviously in Luke's case the doctors have been wrong WAY too many times! So I check this girls blog this weekend and back in October she started seeing a Chiropractor Neurologist (in Gilbert no less) for nerve stimulation. She is now moving her left side slightly including eye movement she did not have before, all this after just one treatment. I called the office the next day. They were very nice, want to see all of Luke's medical records, they even have a research grant for the work they are doing! The thing that makes me mad is there is a test called a nerve conduction test that has NEVER been done on Luke or even recommended for that matter to see where the problem is for sure. Who knows maybe they will do this test and find out the nerve is severed, in which case it can not be repaired, but better to know for sure instead of just speculate right? So we have that appointment for Nov. 30th. I am very anxious about it...pray these people can help wake up his left side. The thing is Luke knows it does not work right. We had family pictures a few weeks ago and kept telling Luke to smile (even if it is only a half smile.) He was getting frustrated and finally put his hand to his mouth to form a smile. The best part is...she got it on film, I will post it when I get the pics back. Smart kid he is I tell you. Now here are some pics of the hard work he has been doing. Thanks for all your prayers....and a huge thanks to our great neighbors, the Riggs, Luke LOVED his special delivery...made his day after a hard day of work on Monday!



Working barefoot on walking


Playtime in the balls after a hard day's work

Weight lifting time


Crawling Practice


In the Spider Cage.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Sorry!

Sorry for not updating sooner...and this one will be short. Maybe a longer with pics tonight. Therapy is going great and Luke is working SO HARD!!! Thanks for all of your emails and messages!