I have so much to be thankful for, as today is the anniversary of Luke's miraculous journey back to life. He seems to be doing fine not having his Previcad, this is a huge answer to prayer as I said we've tried before to discontinue this med only to have to get him back on it within a day. He is also doing so much better at taking his food, thank you for your prayers, they continue to make all the difference in the world.
I had a pretty good day, didn't even shed a tear until this evening when I began to think about this time two years ago. As you can imagine it is a very emotional memory for our family. I decided to go to church, which I'm so glad I did, it was just what I needed. We had an awesome prayer time and as I was crying out to God to complete the healing in Luke, I really felt like the Lord was telling me that He would be doing a awesome work in Luke soon and the healing process would sped up. I was very encouraged to hear this and as I continued to cry out to the Lord He showed me that just as he raised Luke up from the dead, He would also be spiritually raising up those loved ones in our church family that need a definite touch from God to begin living a holy and righteous life for our Lord and Saviour.
As I think back to these past two years I have to shout to the world how thankful I am to still have our precious Lukie with us, God could of taken Him to heaven, where I'm sure he would of been much more comfortable there, then here in his broken body.
Here is a list of things that I'm most thankful for:
Gordy - He has been and will always be my best friend, this journey we've been on has not been easy, but with Gordy by my side the whole way it has been so much easier. His love and strength are amazing!
Daniel - He continues to bless my life, I'm so thankful that God has brought him through these past years a stronger and mightier man of God.
Amy - Wow, where do I begin. I was just telling a friend of mine yesterday, I don't know what I would of done without my older girls help during these past two years. Amy has been an amazing example of God's love and has gone above the call of duty more than I can even begin to tell you about.
Natalie - She has been a constant help without any words of complaint coming out her mouth. She is my right hand so often, I constantly have to guard against taking advantage of her and her servants heart.
Isaiah - He loves to give wonderful hugs and is getting to be more helpful all the time, I'm thankful that he is such a sweet boy.
Ezekiel - He is my little prayer warrior, he prays almost everyday that this will be the day that God will heal Luke, he has such a compassionate heart.
Luke - He has taught me more than I could of learned in 50 years. He is so precious to love on and his smiles keep me going on the rough days.
Lily - She has been such a joy and I'm so thankful that God blessed our family with her sweet kisses and hugs.
I continue to be so thankful to my family, they have been a rock to lean on, without their support this journey would of been almost impossible to continue on. I am so appreciative of all our friends who have stood by us with a helping hand and of course, I know that we could not of made it without all the prayers from our faithful blog followers.
I thank my precious Heavenly Father the most, without his help and support I would of never been able to make it through these past two years. God is my refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. I've grown closer to Him then I ever dreamed was possible and have learned that I can trust in the Lord with all my heart and not to lean on my own understanding.
I hear all the time, Sue I read Luke's blog all the time I've just never commented on it. It would be so wonderful to get a comment from all of you today just to encourage us that you are all still praying for Luke's complete restoration. It's also fun to see just where Luke's blog is reaching across the world, please take a minute today to jot us a note. You are appreciated more than you can imagine!!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
We are weaning Luke off his last Prescription Med
I meant to sit down and write a few days ago to let you know that we have finally decided to wean Luke off his last med. He has been taking the equivalent to Zantac since his accident and then it got bumped up to Previcad, which is much stronger. Anyway we've known for some time that it is not good to take this on a regular basis, since it basically kills all the good stomach acids. Stomach acids are important for breaking down your food and helping it to go where it needs to go. Every time we've tried to stop his Previcad before he would get really congested and need a lot of extra suctioning. This time he has been doing much better and we are actually on his 3rd day without his Previcad.
We are blessed to have a friend who happens to be a Chiropractor/Naturiopathic Dr. He has been helping us by giving us some recommendations on what supplements to try to help Luke get his stomach acids working again. We had him and his wife and ten children over for dinner on Tuesday night and he went through a lesson on digestion for Gordy and myself so that we could learn exactly what is probably happening to Luke's little body. The kids had a blast playing with his children and Isaiah asked me if we could have them over again next week, I said we would very soon, but probably not next week, as we are getting ready for our last camping trip of the summer.
For years now we have taken the first week of September, after the schools get going to go camping since the weather is awesome and the campgrounds are pretty empty. We will leave on August 31st and get back on Sept. 6th. Though Daniel will be returning even sooner since he has to get back to work. He began a new job of interning with an electrician, a man from our church who began his own company about 6 months ago. He has not given up on his dream of owning his own music studio, he has just come to the realization that a studio will not bring in enough money to support him. He is enjoying his new job, he had a real peace about the change and if all goes according to plan he will be an electrician within 2 years time.
I know so many of you love to get specific prayer requests for Luke, so here they are: Pray that all will continue to go well with his medicine change, that he will stop throwing up, though he has been doing a little better with this, that he will stay healthy during our last camping trip of the season, that his legs will continue to get a good bend and last but not least that his brain will be completely restored.
Please be praying for me, this is an emotional time for me and at times the grief I feel chokes me with tears always on the surface. I'm so thankful for all that God has done these past two years, I'm especially thankful for so many of you that have lifted Luke and our family up in your prayers so faithfully. I mention this often, but you will never even begin to understand how much it means to us to have you praying for us. I give thanks to the Lord for each and everyone of you, I was thinking recently about the fact if Luke's accident had never happened I would never have gotten to know so many wonderful, caring people. I wish there was a way of contacting each and everyone of you personally, just know that your comments and e-mails to howslukesdoing@yahoo.com are read and reread and are cherished beyond what I can even express.
Once again this blog is way too long, I don't purposefully do that it just seems to happen. May God richly bless you today in ways you can't even begin to imagine!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
We are blessed to have a friend who happens to be a Chiropractor/Naturiopathic Dr. He has been helping us by giving us some recommendations on what supplements to try to help Luke get his stomach acids working again. We had him and his wife and ten children over for dinner on Tuesday night and he went through a lesson on digestion for Gordy and myself so that we could learn exactly what is probably happening to Luke's little body. The kids had a blast playing with his children and Isaiah asked me if we could have them over again next week, I said we would very soon, but probably not next week, as we are getting ready for our last camping trip of the summer.
For years now we have taken the first week of September, after the schools get going to go camping since the weather is awesome and the campgrounds are pretty empty. We will leave on August 31st and get back on Sept. 6th. Though Daniel will be returning even sooner since he has to get back to work. He began a new job of interning with an electrician, a man from our church who began his own company about 6 months ago. He has not given up on his dream of owning his own music studio, he has just come to the realization that a studio will not bring in enough money to support him. He is enjoying his new job, he had a real peace about the change and if all goes according to plan he will be an electrician within 2 years time.
I know so many of you love to get specific prayer requests for Luke, so here they are: Pray that all will continue to go well with his medicine change, that he will stop throwing up, though he has been doing a little better with this, that he will stay healthy during our last camping trip of the season, that his legs will continue to get a good bend and last but not least that his brain will be completely restored.
Please be praying for me, this is an emotional time for me and at times the grief I feel chokes me with tears always on the surface. I'm so thankful for all that God has done these past two years, I'm especially thankful for so many of you that have lifted Luke and our family up in your prayers so faithfully. I mention this often, but you will never even begin to understand how much it means to us to have you praying for us. I give thanks to the Lord for each and everyone of you, I was thinking recently about the fact if Luke's accident had never happened I would never have gotten to know so many wonderful, caring people. I wish there was a way of contacting each and everyone of you personally, just know that your comments and e-mails to howslukesdoing@yahoo.com are read and reread and are cherished beyond what I can even express.
Once again this blog is way too long, I don't purposefully do that it just seems to happen. May God richly bless you today in ways you can't even begin to imagine!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Friday, August 18, 2006
We continue to rely on God's gift of perfect peace
I was going to begin this blog by saying we've had a busy few weeks, but then I guess I say that just about every time I write, so I'll skip saying it for now. Luke has been doing okay, though he has been sick off and on these last few weeks. I'm not sure what is going on with him, he just seems to be more congested at times and has needed a little bit of oxygen every night lately.
I took Luke and the girls to visit my sister, Lori and her husband, Lonnie in Eastern Washington last weekend and he got really sick on Sunday. I knew he wasn't doing well so I hooked him up to the oximeter and sure enough his heart rate was up to 180 and his oxygen levels were very low. I began oxygen and finally had to take it up to 3 liters to get him into the low 90's. We prayed for him and I immediately gave him tylenol, within an hour his heart rate was coming down, but he continued to be on oxygen all day. I was able to turn it down to where he was only on 1/4 of a liter when he went to bed that night. It was another one of those roller coaster ride days for me, I had so looked forward to going to church with my sister in the morning, but ended up staying home with Luke. Just as Lori was leaving she put on a CD for me to listen to and the first song I heard was Blessed be the Name of the Lord, it was God's way of telling me once again to bless Him in the good times and the hard times. What I had looked forward to as a relaxing weekend ended up being at times quite stressful. I had let Natalie drive over and back, she's still learning to drive and needs more experience until she ready to get her license, she did an awesome job, but it is stressful at times teaching someone how to drive. On the way home what usually would only take 4 1/2 hours at the most to get home ended up taking 8 hours because we got stuck behind a horrible accident. Needless to say we were all very happy to get home!
I took Luke to HBOT and PT on Wednesday and his legs are looking better all the time. His PT had him sitting and then standing and the bend in his legs is looking so much better. Luke continues to be more alert and responds to touch more and more all the time. I was playing with him last week, on one of the hot days and put a ice bag in his hand, he did not like holding it so I told him to open his hand and let go and he did this about 4 or 5 times. It is so good to see him responding more to commands and finding him more responsive to the touching of his hands and feet. He smiles all the time when you play with him, he especially likes to have his legs and hands moved very quickly.
Some specific prayer requests for Luke at this time are that he will continue to get a better bend in his knees and that all of him will become more flexible. That he will continue to gain better control of his neck muscles so that his head will not fall so easily. Also that we will be able to figure out what causes him to become congested every time he eats and that he will not have anymore reflux problems. Last but not least that whatever is causing him to have this extra oxygen each night will be cleared up once and for all.
Please also keep us all in prayer as this time of the year can bring back so many memories. I find myself thinking about how different our lives were two years ago and though I am extremely grateful for the progress that Luke has made, I still grieve the fact that he has had to suffer for these past two years. Sometimes the stress of taking care of Luke with alarms going off at all hours of the night, making sure he gets all this meds and feedings on time each day, getting him to his appts., making sure all the other kids don't feel less important, never feeling like I can get all the things I need to get done in a day done, take a toll. I know that God is my refuge and strength and I do go to him on a daily basis, it is only because of His faithfulness that I'm able to go on somedays. Remember, you to can go to the Heavenly Father and find perfect peace to get through your toughest days, He loves you so much and is just waiting for you to ask Him for help.
May God bless each and everyone of you!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
I took Luke and the girls to visit my sister, Lori and her husband, Lonnie in Eastern Washington last weekend and he got really sick on Sunday. I knew he wasn't doing well so I hooked him up to the oximeter and sure enough his heart rate was up to 180 and his oxygen levels were very low. I began oxygen and finally had to take it up to 3 liters to get him into the low 90's. We prayed for him and I immediately gave him tylenol, within an hour his heart rate was coming down, but he continued to be on oxygen all day. I was able to turn it down to where he was only on 1/4 of a liter when he went to bed that night. It was another one of those roller coaster ride days for me, I had so looked forward to going to church with my sister in the morning, but ended up staying home with Luke. Just as Lori was leaving she put on a CD for me to listen to and the first song I heard was Blessed be the Name of the Lord, it was God's way of telling me once again to bless Him in the good times and the hard times. What I had looked forward to as a relaxing weekend ended up being at times quite stressful. I had let Natalie drive over and back, she's still learning to drive and needs more experience until she ready to get her license, she did an awesome job, but it is stressful at times teaching someone how to drive. On the way home what usually would only take 4 1/2 hours at the most to get home ended up taking 8 hours because we got stuck behind a horrible accident. Needless to say we were all very happy to get home!
I took Luke to HBOT and PT on Wednesday and his legs are looking better all the time. His PT had him sitting and then standing and the bend in his legs is looking so much better. Luke continues to be more alert and responds to touch more and more all the time. I was playing with him last week, on one of the hot days and put a ice bag in his hand, he did not like holding it so I told him to open his hand and let go and he did this about 4 or 5 times. It is so good to see him responding more to commands and finding him more responsive to the touching of his hands and feet. He smiles all the time when you play with him, he especially likes to have his legs and hands moved very quickly.
Some specific prayer requests for Luke at this time are that he will continue to get a better bend in his knees and that all of him will become more flexible. That he will continue to gain better control of his neck muscles so that his head will not fall so easily. Also that we will be able to figure out what causes him to become congested every time he eats and that he will not have anymore reflux problems. Last but not least that whatever is causing him to have this extra oxygen each night will be cleared up once and for all.
Please also keep us all in prayer as this time of the year can bring back so many memories. I find myself thinking about how different our lives were two years ago and though I am extremely grateful for the progress that Luke has made, I still grieve the fact that he has had to suffer for these past two years. Sometimes the stress of taking care of Luke with alarms going off at all hours of the night, making sure he gets all this meds and feedings on time each day, getting him to his appts., making sure all the other kids don't feel less important, never feeling like I can get all the things I need to get done in a day done, take a toll. I know that God is my refuge and strength and I do go to him on a daily basis, it is only because of His faithfulness that I'm able to go on somedays. Remember, you to can go to the Heavenly Father and find perfect peace to get through your toughest days, He loves you so much and is just waiting for you to ask Him for help.
May God bless each and everyone of you!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Friday, August 04, 2006
Thank you once again for your prayers, PLEASE don't stop praying for Luke's complete healing, God hears your prayers!
It seems like forever since I've actually sat down to blog. Gordy has been doing all the updates lately. It's hard to know where to begin, when I wait so long to write. I guess I will begin by telling you all "THANK YOU" for your prayers for our trip. It was beyond wonderful, Luke stayed healthy and even progressed with smiling almost daily, our family had the best time together. I told Gordy and the kids that there was not really anything from home that I was missing since they were all with me. It was hard coming home and realizing that I had to pick up where I had left off with appts. for Luke and catching up with all that we had missed by being gone, but I'm finally feeling caught up.
Today Natalie and I did a deep clean in Luke and Lily's room. I had not gone through all his medical supplies in probably over a year. Needless to say we threw away two huge bags of garbage and boxed up two boxes of stuff. All day I kept thanking the Lord for the progress Luke has made. We threw away 7 old bottles of medicine and each time I would thank the Lord that Luke no longer needs that med. We also found some old trache ties and supplies, it actually brought tears to my eyes as I once again thanked the Lord that he no longer needs those things. We also got rid of old orthodics for his hands and feet. It brought more tears to my eyes when I realized how tiny his first pair of ankle orthodics where, knowing that his precious little feet have not walked or ran in just about two years. At one time today I made the comment I probably have not completely cleaned out some of the drawers in two years and then it hit me two years ago, we did not need any of these supplies because we had a beautiful healthy little boy. Once again it was a roller coaster ride of emotions for me, thanking the Lord for his progress, but also grieving the little healthy boy he was before his accident.
I had planned to take Luke in for a HBOT treatment today, but he was struggling a bit with his nose running today. He had been sick for a few days, the amazing thing about that is that this time during his sick time he did not need to have huge amounts of oxygen, as he has had happen in the past. God is moving in this area of Luke's life.
Coming into August was tough for a few days, thinking back to this month two years ago brings back horrible memories, as you know our whole lives were changed forever. God is so faithful in encouraging me, on Sunday I had a time of really crying out to God, asking Him why, He is taking so long to complete the healing process. But, as usual God is faithful and has encouraged me with His Words in the Bible and also a book that I read faithfully is a devotional called Streams in the Desert. Last night I copied about 6 pages of little post it notes and hung them up around my bathroom, they are encouraging words, one of them says, "SUE, you can trust the Man who died for you. If you cannot trust Him, then whom can you trust." That pretty much summarizes it for me, it continues to be a trust issue for me, I know deep down in my heart that God is able to reach down this second and make Luke whole once again, I guess what I struggle with is why He is choosing not to complete it today.
I have mentioned this often, but you will never know how much it means to me that a lot of you have not given up praying for Luke's complete healing. PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP, I KNOW THAT GOD CAN DO IT, CONTINUE TO STAND IN THE GAP WITH OUR FAMILY IN BELIEVING FOR THIS MIRACLE.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
PS I know that I've mentioned in the past prayer requests for some other little ones that need a touch from God and right know there is a little girl named Gabby that needs a miracle today. She has a brain tumor and without a touch from God, there is no hope for her recovery. Please keep her in your prayers today, she has a blog called http://www.gabbysmiracle.blogspot.com/
Today Natalie and I did a deep clean in Luke and Lily's room. I had not gone through all his medical supplies in probably over a year. Needless to say we threw away two huge bags of garbage and boxed up two boxes of stuff. All day I kept thanking the Lord for the progress Luke has made. We threw away 7 old bottles of medicine and each time I would thank the Lord that Luke no longer needs that med. We also found some old trache ties and supplies, it actually brought tears to my eyes as I once again thanked the Lord that he no longer needs those things. We also got rid of old orthodics for his hands and feet. It brought more tears to my eyes when I realized how tiny his first pair of ankle orthodics where, knowing that his precious little feet have not walked or ran in just about two years. At one time today I made the comment I probably have not completely cleaned out some of the drawers in two years and then it hit me two years ago, we did not need any of these supplies because we had a beautiful healthy little boy. Once again it was a roller coaster ride of emotions for me, thanking the Lord for his progress, but also grieving the little healthy boy he was before his accident.
I had planned to take Luke in for a HBOT treatment today, but he was struggling a bit with his nose running today. He had been sick for a few days, the amazing thing about that is that this time during his sick time he did not need to have huge amounts of oxygen, as he has had happen in the past. God is moving in this area of Luke's life.
Coming into August was tough for a few days, thinking back to this month two years ago brings back horrible memories, as you know our whole lives were changed forever. God is so faithful in encouraging me, on Sunday I had a time of really crying out to God, asking Him why, He is taking so long to complete the healing process. But, as usual God is faithful and has encouraged me with His Words in the Bible and also a book that I read faithfully is a devotional called Streams in the Desert. Last night I copied about 6 pages of little post it notes and hung them up around my bathroom, they are encouraging words, one of them says, "SUE, you can trust the Man who died for you. If you cannot trust Him, then whom can you trust." That pretty much summarizes it for me, it continues to be a trust issue for me, I know deep down in my heart that God is able to reach down this second and make Luke whole once again, I guess what I struggle with is why He is choosing not to complete it today.
I have mentioned this often, but you will never know how much it means to me that a lot of you have not given up praying for Luke's complete healing. PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP, I KNOW THAT GOD CAN DO IT, CONTINUE TO STAND IN THE GAP WITH OUR FAMILY IN BELIEVING FOR THIS MIRACLE.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
PS I know that I've mentioned in the past prayer requests for some other little ones that need a touch from God and right know there is a little girl named Gabby that needs a miracle today. She has a brain tumor and without a touch from God, there is no hope for her recovery. Please keep her in your prayers today, she has a blog called http://www.gabbysmiracle.blogspot.com/
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