Monday, June 25, 2007

Recent photos of Micah



I just wanted to show off his curly hair



Father's Day with Daddy...Micah picked out a book Daddy has been wanting

Results of tests last week and Kelly to Juarez!

Hola (Hello in Spanish) to everybody!


Why am I saying Hello in Spanish? Because I am going to Mexico tomorrow! I’ll get to that in a little bit. First I want to give a brief update on Micah.


We had good news and disappointing news last week.
He had an eye test last Thursday to determine if there was any loss of peripheral vision (a potential side effect of his medication) and also to check for abnormalities on or around his eyes and nerves. Everything looked great- again a praise to the Lord because we have been concerned, as he has been digging in his eyes a lot lately and has been on the med for a year and a half. So, we breathed a big sigh of relief!


The disappointing news is that he is not seizure free. Immediately following the eye test, he had an EEG. During that test, he had two seizures. We were with him and did not see them. Dr. Raja said it looked like the seizure activity was coming from the back left side of the brain, which means there is possibly one or more tubers that have developed back there. Micah will have a MRI in early August and we’ll know more then. So, these past two months that we had thought he wasn’t having seizures, but that isn’t the case it seems. However, he has improved leaps and bounds in the past 6 months-year!


I am going on a mission trip with my church (FBC of San Francisco) tomorrow. Some of you know about it and if you don’t, I apologize for not telling you before now. But now you know and can be praying for us this week! We are going to Juarez, Mexico. Actually, we are flying into El Paso, staying there and driving into Juarez every day. We come back on Saturday. We will be doing a Vacation Bible School Wednesday through Friday. It’s a short trip because we are taking 7 kids with us. This is the first family mission trip our church has taken, meaning we have some entire families going, some taking one of their children, one young couple without kids, a couple of single moms, a couple of single gals, and myself. I am not taking Micah since he is too young. Two of my dear friends are taking care of him tomorrow and part of Wednesday. Wayne will have the rest of the week off with him.


Well, the day is slipping away and I still have much to do to get ready.
A few quick requests to pray for concerning the trip:
-safety traveling there and as we go in and out of Mexico every day
-God to prepare the hearts of those we will encounter
-that our team will serve Amigos Ministries (the main organization we will work
With)
-for God to use this trip in the lives of all our team, and our children in particular

I include that last part because I know my first trip to Mexico in 1995 was what sparked my interest in missions, and ok, I wasn’t a child (24), but I was really effected.

Thanks for your prayers!
Much love,
Kelly

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Lookout world, Micah's walking!

Yes, Micah is taking steps these days! He is getting bolder and taking more steps all the time. As recent as two weeks ago, he would only lunge toward the recliner from the couch (which was about 3 steps). Now, he’s taking as many as 10 to 12 before he collapses on the floor. He can’t yet stand up from the floor, he still has to pull up to something, but once he’s up he is eager to try and walk. He is still quite unstable and without a lot of balance, but we are so thrilled to see him walking!! I see a day coming in which I will not be carrying around a 33 pound child and this makes me glad! He has had NO seizures in about 7 weeks! Can somebody say Hallelujah?

We took Micah to have an EEG today; you may remember that the last one was in April and was completely normal. The goal was to have another one to see if his brain waves are still normal and he isn’t having any seizure activity. Although we aren’t seeing any seizures, it’s possible that he could still be having mild ones that we don’t see. Unfortunately, this EEG wasn’t successful because Micah was screaming and crying and eventually pulled off two of the electrodes and then the test had to be over. Even the EEG tech’s singing couldn’t calm Micah. He sings and hums from start to finish, usually unintelligible words like “Didle dee diddle dum, di-dee dee do diddle dum scee,” over and over he sings this. Wayne thinks he is a little too quirky to make a person comfortable. I actually think he’s quite entertaining, but then if you know me, you know that I am easily amused! And then he tells Micah “Oh, you’re beeeeuuutifull!”

We happened to run into Dr. Raja after it was over, told him it wasn’t successful, etc. We were glad to see him because we showed him how Micah could walk and he was so thrilled! He commented on how big he is getting as well. At a Dr. appointment a few days ago, the nurse tried to measure him using a 40 inch chart that he could lie flat on and he was off the chart! So, we know he’s over 40 inches tall. What a surprise, right?

Micah will be having an eye test a week from tomorrow. Please pray that we actually get to keep the appointment; we’ve had to cancel the appt. twice in the last two months because Micah was sick. They will be giving him general anesthesia, so he has to be well. Dr. Raja said he is going to try and coordinate an EEG at that time as well. The purpose of the eye test is to see if he has lost any vision. You may or may not remember that one of the potential side effects of his medication is loss of peripheral vision. He has been on this since February ‘06 and we haven’t been too concerned. Recently, he has been digging in his eyes a lot. We’ve already been to an ophthalmologist last week (yes, we visit doctors frequently) who said that his eyes and nerves look great. That was a relief, but I’ll be glad for him to have this eye test which should be a little more revealing.

Well, for you Texas folks, or even if you aren’t, you should know Wayne has applied for a job at UT Tyler for the registrar position! He sent in his application two weeks ago, so now we are hoping they will call him for an interview. It would be a great location, as it’s only 40 miles from my sister and her family!
I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much, since we had a similar situation last year really close to Kim and Thomas and it didn’t work out. God knows though, and we are just praying for his direction and will.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Why, oh why, do I blog?

I’m participating in a fun little survey among some internet/blogger friends today, so if you came looking for an update on Micah…look tomorrow. A friend took an incredible picture of him and I'll be posting that once I get it! I do intend to give an update!

How did you start blogging?

My husband and I decided to start a blog to keep friends and family updated on our son Micah. He was diagnosed with a serious neurological disorder when he was five months old. He’s now 2 years old.

Did you intend to have a blog with a following? If so, how did you go about it?

Well, I expected that some family and friends would read it, beyond that, I never expected that total strangers would be interested in reading it. At first, we sent an email to folks letting them know we had a blog and every now and then we remind people.

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

Refer to the answer in question one. I believe we have been successful in keeping people updated about Micah. I could be a little more consistent in posting though. My plan to do better is to get off my lazy duff and post once in a while. OK, I’m really not lazy; I just go through blog slumps, I suppose.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

Not a whole lot, really. Since I have been reading other people’s blogs and have been inspired AND entertained, sometimes I think about posting my thoughts on something and then it usually doesn’t happen.

I don’t think it has changed that much because I will always write about Micah since it is my main job to take care of him. And SO many people have been and are praying him. Yet, I think I need to free myself to write about other things too, because there really aren’t any blog police coming to get me. At least, I don’t think so.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started?

I can’t think of anything; I’ve just been learning as I go. I have just had fun reading some of my friends’ blogs and new internet friends’ blogs. There is such a wealth of information (like great recipes), inspiring stories, and entertaining posts that make me howl with laughter.

Do you make money with your blog?

No, but I’m open to suggestions. : )

Does your immediate and extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

My immediate family (on both sides) does know about it. I know that at least a few of them read it. Extended family, I really have no idea.

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

Enjoy it. Be encouraged by reading some of these other folks’ blogs.