Good News, Good News, Luke's Dr. has given us some good news!

I have some great news to share with y'all. I took Luke into the Dr. on Friday for some blood work, I wanted to be sure that his iron levels were good, last time we had his blood work done he was very anemic, we got the results back today and he is doing great. But, that is not the good news I wanted to share, though it is definitely good.

Let me start at the beginning. I've had a few friends I know go on Make a Wish trips with their children. I have been told recently that we should apply for Luke to get a "Wish trip," well I finally went on line the other night and put in an application stating that we were interested. I received an e-mail back stating that in order to get a "wish" the child's condition must be degenerative, progressive or malignant. Gordy and I talked about whether we thought this is how you would describe Luke and both felt that we did not necessarily see him this way, though we know that anytime he gets really sick his respiratory system puts his life in danger at times.

Now to the good news, as I mentioned I took Luke into the Dr. and was asking him whether he would be willing to fill out a referral for Luke to get a Make a wish trip, I told him what the application said, and that other children like Luke have applied and got a trip. He told me that he does not see Luke as degenerative, progressive or malignant. He said that he sees that Luke is making new neuron connections in the brain and he is definitely getting healthier all the time, and will continue to make good progress as time goes by. He also said that Luke's respiratory system is still not always stable, but is getting better all the time. He volunteered to refer Luke for a Make a Wish, if he could come along. To say I left there wanting to shout Praise the Lord, is an extreme understatement. This is the first time we've heard from a Dr. that Luke's brain is improving and that he getting healthier. This is the same Dr. that told us 2 years ago that Luke would be in and out of the Hospital for the rest of his life. Every time I think about this I want to cry tears of joy. I know God is healing Luke, there is no doubt in my mind, I know this is just the beginning of good reports we are going to be hearing, because I serve a Mighty God who is in the miracle business. Each one of you that have continued to pray for Luke's miracle can take part of the credit for Luke's miracle, your faith has made a difference, thank you!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

PS I wanted to answer a few questions from our comment page: Alesha asked how to get on the list for the Zander fund donations, I will be honest, I am not sure as we did not ask for a donation they just sent us one. Cindy asked if our life would be easier if we put our kids in school, I would say perhaps and then again perhaps not, right now with Amy and Natalie helping it is going good. Homeschooling is something we feel the Lord has directed our family to do, so until we get a release from God we will continue on, but thank you for asking.

I am just counting my blessings!

We got back from our wonderful camping trip late Sunday night. We were very blessed in the fact that Luke did awesome. He only had to have a little bit of oxygen the last night we were there. He has been so smiley lately, it seems that he is more relaxed and comfortable, which is a huge blessing. The only bad thing about our trip is that Natalie caught the bug for a few days, beside that we were blessed with good weather, great camping sites, the gorgeous ocean to look at, fun times around the campfires, good times playing card games at night, Gordy & Amy went golfing a few days, the girls learned how to do one stroke painting, to say we had a great time would be putting it mildly. God is so good to have blessed us with this wonderful time after our stressful sick summer.

We were blessed to receive a donation from the Zander fund, http://www.thezanderfund.com. The Zander Fund was established in order to benefit other children in memory of Alexander after his death in May of 2003. Alexander died from a drowning accident. I got to know his mom on-line, shortly after Luke's accident. This is the second time they've chosen to bless Luke. To say this was a huge blessing would be a understatement, as I've mentioned before having a child like Luke is very expensive, not only with his regular medical bills, but with the extra treatments and supplements that we give him it adds up to be huge at times. I was just praying to God recently to bring in some extra cash for Luke as we've just about come to the end of the money we can spend on him and God is so faithful to answer my prayers. Now I need wisdom in how to spend the money as there are so many ways that it could be spent. Some of the things that we are praying about is Hippo therapy, which is Horse riding for special needs child, more HBOT treatments that have really helped Luke in the past, going to either to Dallas, TX to see Dr. Tennant and take advantage of the treatments he has to offer or going to FL to visit a Dr. Cralle who has had amazing results with children's tone issues. Please be praying with us that God will continue to supply our needs and also for wisdom in how to spend the money we've been blessed with.

We began our school schedule on Tuesday. This year I'm putting Luke's PT and OT appointments together on Tuesday mornings, then in the afternoon is the Homeschool PE program at the YMCA, then off to choir after that is done. Amy and Natalie have really stepped up to the plate this year as they are homeschooling the boys in the morning and then both of them are volunteering at the YMCA, Amy will be in the pool giving lessons and Natalie will be helping to teach the Racquetball class, both are looking forward to helping out. I will be teaching the boys in the afternoons on the non-YMCA days. I'm hoping to be able to be at home more often this year, as the last few years have been so busy with appts for Luke, though I do have quite a few appts. scheduled soon for some of the other kids.

May God's blessings be poured out on you today!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke seems to be doing a little better

Just a quick update on Luke. He is finally doing better today, he seems to be more alert and have a bit more energy than the last few days. This flu as I've mentioned before really knocks you out for at least a week or more. Gordy is just now beginning to feel better after being sick for close to 2 weeks. We hope to leave tomorrow when Gordy gets off work for the Oregon Coast. We will spend 4 nights at Ft. Stevens one of the most beautiful parks in Oregon and then go down to Newport once again for 4 more nights. Please pray that God will allow us to go on this trip as I really feel after this summer of sickness we could all use a few days of rest and recreation. I would also like prayer for sleep for me as I've had a few nights of no sleep recently, I know I need to get my clock turned back around. Thank you for your constant prayers!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

It's been 3 years since Luke's drowning accident and we are so thankful for your continued support and prayers

Can you believe it's been 3 years since Luke's drowning accident? There are days that it seems like it just happened yesterday and other days that I can't remember what life was life before that horrible day. We are very thankful for the progress that Luke has made and feel blessed by the fact that so many people are still praying for his complete healing to come. It would be so wonderful to hear from those of you that are still following Luke's progress, your comments are very special and each one of them makes my day.

Here's some pictures from the Torchlight Parade, Luke did such an awesome job that night, below is the kids, plus Karlos at the Zoo, then the Railroad Museum with the Starlight, Starbright group, ending with the beautiful waterfall at Mt. Rainier.

Luke came down with the horrible flu on Saturday, by that night I had to change his diaper many times. Yesterday he kept throwing up or having diarrhea each time we would feed him. Last night I was up all night watching him, I didn't want him to aspirate his throw up so I held him until this morning. This morning he has kept down his food, please be praying that this will pass quickly, as he just can't afford to lose any weight.

We had actually planned to go camping today until the 15th, we always love to go when school has started the campgrounds are empty and the weather is still wonderful. It's gotten to the place lately though where I almost dread making any plans as they seem to always get changed. I'm hoping that Luke will be better by tomorrow and we can get out tomorrow evening. We have had a good summer filled with trips to the Zoo, hikes on Mt. Rainier, free tickets from Starlight, Starbright for a tour on the USS Turner Joy, to go Putt Putt Golfing, to attend a Mariner's game and go to a Train Museum with a ride on an old steam train.

As I mentioned on Tuesday night we received 15 free tickets to go to a Mariners Game, so we filled up our 12 passenger van and went to have some fun. I invited a young gentleman that we met awhile back, he is Ukrainian, this was his first baseball game, so I had the fun task of explaining the game to him. The Mariners lost but we still had a great time. Then on Thursday the anniversary day of Luke drowning accident I decided I needed to get away from the home so Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel and I went on a beautiful hike up one of Mt. Ranier's many trails. We went up 2 miles, about 2,000 feet to see some of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen. To say this was challenging would be a understatement. There were many times the boys wanted to quit, but I would say we Searles are not quitters and we would plug on, they both thought it was worth it when we got there. The hike down was a whole lot easier.

On Saturday we went to Seattle, Gordy dropped Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel and myself off at the Seattle Science Center, where we saw the IMAX movie the Eruption of Mt. St. Helens, which is a very good movie. We then walked 2 miles to QWEST Field, I really enjoyed walking through Seattle it is a beautiful city and we were blessed with beautiful weather. We went to see our good friend Spencer play football at QWEST Field. He plays for the Lake Lancers High School Football team. He is the only home schooler on the team and though he is only a sophomore he is on the second string for the varsity. He did not get to play but we had a great time cheering the team on to victory.

May God richly bless you today! Once again thank you for your continued support and prayers, we have gotten to know so many new friends through this blog and it would be good to hear how you are doing.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue