Flu Bug

We have all been really sick around here with the flu. I got it first, Luke, and now Mike. Please pray that Luke will be able to get rid of it soon! It is so hard for him with already having sore tonsils and then having to cough on top of it. Please pray for quick healing for him from this flu and continued restoration in his brain. Have a great weekend...thanks and continue to believe!

Surgeries went well!

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to post a quick update to let you know that Luke's surgeries went fine today. He was definetly in some pain when I left, so please pray for the medicine to do the trick. Mike is of course staying with his wing man. I am fighting off a cold too so I better be well in the morning. Please pray for continued RESTORATION in Luke's brain. It is nights like tonight that I miss the undie boy I knew and loved so very much. I would give anything and everything to get my little man back to where he was. Thanks so much for the prayers, emails, comments, they get us through...don't stop the prayers! His word says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11: 28. That is exactly what I am going to do now...but not before saying the same prayer I have said for the past 11 plus months..because Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Luke 18:27.

This week with Luke

This week we are working with Luke on trying to sit up, push up when laying on his tummy, practicing reading words, and playing a harmonica. So far, he is doing great at all of the above. He has learned he can play the harmonica by either blowing in or out. A bonus is, the practicing with sucking has made him great with a straw. He is getting much better with that. I have learned in all of my research that often times a "benefit" of a brain injury is kids become great readers. Part of the program with the NACD this time around is to introduce 5 new words a week for Luke to learn. He is doing great with them! Each week he learns to "read" all of them. Before he was hurt, reading was definitely not his strong point. So it is great to see him doing so good with the words.

Next Tuesday, the 12th, he will be admitted to Banner Desert to get his tonsils out and tubes put in. He has always had HUGE tonsils, and some of the people we see feel it will benefit him to get them out. Please pray that day for a smooth surgery and recovery. They do want him to stay overnight just to watch him.

Thanks so much for all of your continued support and prayers. Please pray for continued guidance for Mike and I as we decide what the next step is, and as always pray for continued restoration in Lukey! "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also BELIEVE!"-Anatole France.

Trip to the ER

Well last night we spent four hours in the ER at PCH. Mike went to give Luke water in his G-Tube and noticed it had come out. This is the feeding tube in his stomach, we still use to give him water and extra calories at night. Usually you can just pop it back in, but he could not get it to go. So, after stopping at 2 other ER's and them telling us they could not do it, we went to PCH. We were there for four hours mainly because it took them forever to find one! The doctor finally ended up saying he would just go to his own office and get one. So, he did that, popped the new one in and we were on our way home...at midnight. Luke was SO good throughout all of this!

I also had a phone conference this week with the place that does the Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy in Mexico. The doctor in California looked at Luke's CT scans and MRI's and said he thought Luke could benefit greatly from the therapy. He said we would be very pleased with the results we saw. I know you wonder if he says this to everyone. I have emailed 10 other families who have had this done, with amazing results after. The California dr also does the Oxygen Therapy and was a pioneer in starting it. He said he thought we would see a lot better results faster with the stem cells verses doing the oxygen therapy again. Basically this is how it works, we drive to San Diego. A driver picks us up at our hotel to take us to the clinic in Tijuana (which means I have to start getting a passport for Luke and I, Mike has one.) The cells are given to Luke via an IV. The cells are donated by American women who have delivered healthy babies. They are put through rigorous testing, then spun to get out the purest stem cells. The idea is the stem cells once given to Luke will go to the damaged areas in Luke's brain. The neat thing about stem cells is they are the building block for every cell in the body, so they can turn into nerve cells, brain cells, heart cells, anything. We are really considering doing it...there are basically no risks, other than it not working and us losing a lot of money trying. Mike and I both agree though, if we don't do it, will we always wonder what if. Like I said, I have gathered a ton of cases with great results. Plus the dr in California told us the one thing Luke has going for him he is completely healthy and on no other medicines. Please pray for guidance as we make this decision, if you had asked me a year ago if I would have taken my child to Mexico for treatment, I would have said absolutlely not! The fact of the matter is we are so behind here in the US...there are trials going on, but it is a long way from being approved. If I had kept the cord blood when I had Luke, we would have been able to have it done at Duke University. Anyway, pray for continued restoration in Luke and that we make the right decision on the stem cell therapy. Believe!