Busy days to report about, as we prepare for our trip.

I have been busy getting all the details done before our trip, so we've had many appts. scheduled lately. I took Luke in for a Dentist visit and was pleased to hear that his teeth look great. I've wondered at times if they had any damage done because of reflux problem he had for awhile, but the Dentist said that we are doing a great job at keeping them healthy. I also took him for a Dr.'s visit to get a RX for oxygen, as we go on trip we will take his oxygen, hoping that we won't need it but having it never the less. We are ordering extra of everything we might possibly need for him and trying to think of anything that might come our way while we are gone. It certainly is a bit more challenging planning this vacation with Luke's special needs.

Here's a little story from today. I took Luke and Lily to the YMCA to watch Isaiah and Nataile sing in the YMCA Homeschool Choir, it was Member Appreciation day at the Y. Luke seemed to enjoy the concert in his new stroller. His stroller has a steering wheel on the front which drew many children to play with it, he seemed to like having the children there playing. While we were there he feel a asleep for a little while and a few little kids called him a baby, at which time Ezekiel told them that he is not a baby, he is three years old and that he drowned, which opened up a whole slew of questions. I'll be honest it was hard sitting there listening to Zeke standing up for his brother and watching people stare at Luke, but I was also pleased with Zeke for being such a wonderful big brother, watching out for his little brother Lukie. One more turn on this roller coaster ride that brings out so many extreme emotions all the time.

Last time I blogged I asked you all to pray for Luke to stay healthy, that his lungs will stay clear, that his oxygen levels will continue to stay up, that his legs will begin to bend, that he will begin to show even more smiles and that we will hear him laugh again soon. I am excited to tell you that God is answering your prayers, we are seeing more smiles all the time and he has even begun to smile while we are playing with him, which is a first, no laughing yet but I know that will happen soon. I've also seen a bit more bend to the knees and he has stayed healthy and is breathing fine. I am asking you to continue to ask the Father for Luke's complete healing, that we will see him run, play, talk, laugh and have a day where he will not need to be suctioned at all. I truly believe it will happen one day, I just get anxious at times waiting.

My biggest prayer request is that you will keep our whole family in your prayers as we take this trip. I realize that many of you think it is probably very extravagant to take such a long vacation, but I want to let you know we've been planning and saving and sacrificing other things so that we can take this trip. We are praying that this will be a time of healing for our family, a time of relaxation and most importantly that we will have life long memories of God's blessing us as we go. We also want to be a blessing to others so that they can see Christ's love through our lives and know that God is good all the time.

We are leaving June 1st and will be gone through July 8th. We will try to post pictures and share our journey with you along the way. I realize this blog is supposed to be about Luke, but I think during our vacation I will be sharing more stories about the whole family.

One last note, I have a few prayer requests to share with you all. Gabby is a little girl with a very rare brain tumor and she needs a miracle from God, you can read more about her at http://www.gabbysmiracle.blogspot.com/. Melissa is a precious momma to 7 children, the same as me, and she found out in December she has a brain tumor that turned out to be cancerous, to read more go to: http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=melissasnow I was excited to see on Brett Jr.'s site an update telling of his progress, he still needs a miracle from God to be whole once again, his link is to the side. There are many more that I could share but at this time these are the most desperate for a miracle right now.

May God richly bless you today, I hope next time I blog it will be on our trip. Once again thank you from the bottom of my heart for staying so faithful in your prayers!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

P.S. One last prayer request is for Joanna, who also has cancer, I'm not sure how she is doing at right now. Amy, could you let us know how to pray for her at this time?

BIG little steps.

I realize that the title of this blog is an oxymoron, but there is no other way to describe Luke’s progress to you. You see some people look at Luke and all they can see is a child that can’t walk, talk or do other normal things kids his age are doing, but we look at Luke and we see all the things that he was unable to do just a year and a half ago and therefore are encouraged that he continues to make progress be it ever so slow at times, it is still progress and we are thrilled to see it happen on a daily basis.

Luke’s Physical Therapist suggested making an appointment for him to see the Neurologist to get his opinion on some options for helping his muscle tone get better. I know that I’ve mentioned numerous times that Luke needs prayer to help get a bend back in his knees, they are still for the most part rigid and strait all the time. To say I was a bit anxious about going to a Neurologist would be putting it mildly, the last time we went to a Neurologist I left there in tears and depressed for days, because of the hopelessness the Dr. gave us about Luke’s condition.

This was a new Neurologist and I was encouraged to see his reaction to how Luke is doing. I told him Luke’s history and how we have seen continuous progress, be it ever so slow at times. It was so exciting for me to see Luke respond each time the Dr. would check Luke for a reaction as he touched his feet, legs, hands, fingers and arms, he would not only move each limb he would also react in his facial expressions. I was especially excited when his PT came in and Luke immediately looked up at her and responded to her voice, the Dr. said boy he really knows you doesn’t he. I felt like standing up and shouting Hallelujah, because a Dr. has finally acknowledged that Luke is not only responsive, he is also tracking, seeing and showing emotions to someone he likes.

It felt so good to leave an appointment feeling encouraged instead of discouraged. As for the Botox and other options for Luke’s legs, he felt that it wouldn’t really help Luke right now because of the muscles that are being affected. He did mention that eventually Luke would probably need surgery to help stretch his muscles to get some movement back into them. I’m praying that God will continue to work His mighty miraculous touch in Luke’s life and that we will not need any more surgeries.

Luke continues to smile on a daily basis we almost caught one on camera today, as soon as we do we will blog it for you all to see. I told him when he smiled at me this morning that was the best Mother’s Day gift I could get, just seeing all my children smiling and happy make me happy. I was spoiled today by being served breakfast in bed and being served through out the day, along with a gift certificate to go get a pedicure and manicure done.

One last note in this already too long blog, is we decided last week that we needed to once again change our trip plans. We are now going to take a trip down the California coast and spend some time in San Diego, LA and finish up one the Oregon coast. We are hoping to spend 4 days down in Mexico working with a Pastor friend, of ours. His church is in the progress of building a new church and we would like to go down there and be put to work for a few days, helping where ever is needed.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Please be praying for Luke that he will stay healthy, that his lungs will stay clear, that his oxygen levels will continue to stay up, that his legs will begin to bend, that he will begin to show even more smiles and that we will hear him laugh again soon. May God richly bless you today!

Love in Christ,
Luke’s Mommy Sue