O.K. I have to share what Leah did the other day. We were at Walmart, my 4 kids, my Mom and me. I was carrying Samuel because it was late and he was too tired to be happy in the basket. Mom was ahead of me with the two big kids and Leah was walking by my side. Suddenly she disappeared from my sight, but I heard her say,"Can I ride?" Then saw her sliding under a ladies arm and into her basket...you know the ones that have the kid seats at the front. The lady and her husband, about my parents ages, were so nice. I think they really got a kick out of how embarrassed I got. I was laughing so hard I nearly wet myself...after 4 babies those muscles aren't the same. ;) Leah never did see what was so funny to all of us adults and then topped it off by thanking the lady for letting her sit down.
Samuel started walking today!!!!!!!!! I didn't get his first steps on video but I'd say I got step 5 and on. He's taking 4 to 6 steps at a time and then gets so excited that he makes himself fall down. He is also fussing non stop today. It's driving my senses mad. I think it is from having so many teeth trying to come in at the same time. Just nothing seems to make him happy for more than a few minutes. I feel so bad for him. None of the regular things are even working right now. Hopefully the worst of it will be over for him soon.
Following are the emails I sent out the last two days about our nephew Josiah...
6/24
Branden and Bonita (my bil & sil) are on their way to the hospital with 2 yr old Josiah right now. He should be going into the OR at approx 5AM East Coast Time. The kidney transplant should take about 4hours. Branden and Bonita, as well as the rest of the family, are full of excitement as well as being very nervous.I will let you know tomorrow afternoon or eve. how the surgery went.Thank you for your prayers. Many of you have been praying for Josiah since he was born and we are all so grateful to you. To those of you who don't know...he was born with a kidney disease and has been on dialysis since he was just a baby. Feel free to share this prayer need with any who you know will pray.
Lisa
6/25
Our little Josiah made it through the surgery. He now has a new kidney! Branden called about half an hour ago and said he doesn't quite understand everything the dr.s told him, yet, but basically time will tell the true outcome of the transplant. He will be in the hospital for at least 2 weeks. The dr. gave both good news and uncertain news. The surgery did take a little longer than 4 hours. There are a few causes for concern, but the drs. are being cautiously optimistic.
Please also pray for the family of the 12 year old healthy little girl who died suddenly from a stroke. She is where the kidney came from. I can only imagine the pain they are in right now. May God bless and comfort them as they grieve. So many have been helped because they were willing to donate her organs.
Thank you,
Lisa for all the family
Byron's dad is still not doing well. He was seeing his kidney dr. today. His hopes are that getting a Procrit shot will boost his blood production and give him his strength back. Seems like he had a really long visit with the dr. I haven't heard if they came to any conclusions.
Needless to say, our lives are far from boring. One of these days I will get some more pictures up here.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Prayer Needs
My FIL is still not doing well and has no more answers about his condition than he did Sat. I've a feeling it could be a long process to get to the bottom of his health problems.
The big news today is that our nephew, Josiah, who is 2 yrs. old and has been on dialysis since he was just a few months old is getting a new kidney. They have gotten the call several times and it didn't work out. This time he is already admitted to the hospital and is scheduled for surgery at 5 AM Eastern Time 6/25. We are excited and nervous. If you read this please pray for the family, doctors and esp. little Josiah.
The big news today is that our nephew, Josiah, who is 2 yrs. old and has been on dialysis since he was just a few months old is getting a new kidney. They have gotten the call several times and it didn't work out. This time he is already admitted to the hospital and is scheduled for surgery at 5 AM Eastern Time 6/25. We are excited and nervous. If you read this please pray for the family, doctors and esp. little Josiah.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
FIL Out Of The Hospital
Well my FIL went home today, but has NO answers to what is wrong with him. He is supposed to get follow up with his kidney dr. and any other dr he want to if he desires further testing to determine what is wrong and how or if it can be fixed.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Long, Long Week
We still know nothing about the cause of Byron's dad's severe bleed over a week ago, continued low blood counts, fever, odd color (not quite jaundice, but still strange), random swelling of joints and limbs, rash (possibly reaction to a med.), etc. He is still in the hospital and getting very little testing in attempts to discover what is wrong. He is hoping to go home as soon as his fever goes down and stays down, but it scares me some to have him go home w/o knowing what caused this all to start in the first place.
The kids went to VBS all week and had a great time. They even rode the bus there each night even though they didn't have to. I can hardly believe how much they enjoyed that hot stinky bus. I guess it was an adventure for them.
Saturday was the June birthday/Father's Day celebration with the Ackerman clan. It was the first time we were all together at the same time since Craig and Amy's babies were born. There were 18 of us in Mom and Dad's house. It was a bit crowded, but so fun to all be together. We had a really good day despite the muddy sticky mess the older kids made in the back yard. I had fun watching Paw-Paw and Byron play squirt guns with the kids out back.
Father's Day we went to the hospital and took Grandpa his card and gift. We got him a tie with a picture of all 6 of his grandkids on it. It kinda reminds me of a Tabasco tie only it's a grandkid tie instead. He really liked it and I'm so glad.
Samuel took his first two steps on Father's Day and we missed them. He's been free standing since the middle of last week and then in the nursery at church he took to steps forward before he plopped back down on his hiney. I'm going to try and catch his next few steps on video. My baby is growing up too fast. :(
The kids went to VBS all week and had a great time. They even rode the bus there each night even though they didn't have to. I can hardly believe how much they enjoyed that hot stinky bus. I guess it was an adventure for them.
Saturday was the June birthday/Father's Day celebration with the Ackerman clan. It was the first time we were all together at the same time since Craig and Amy's babies were born. There were 18 of us in Mom and Dad's house. It was a bit crowded, but so fun to all be together. We had a really good day despite the muddy sticky mess the older kids made in the back yard. I had fun watching Paw-Paw and Byron play squirt guns with the kids out back.
Father's Day we went to the hospital and took Grandpa his card and gift. We got him a tie with a picture of all 6 of his grandkids on it. It kinda reminds me of a Tabasco tie only it's a grandkid tie instead. He really liked it and I'm so glad.
Samuel took his first two steps on Father's Day and we missed them. He's been free standing since the middle of last week and then in the nursery at church he took to steps forward before he plopped back down on his hiney. I'm going to try and catch his next few steps on video. My baby is growing up too fast. :(
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Waiting for a Diagnosis
The endoscope did not give an answer to the source of the bleeding yesterday. Dad L does have a number of ulcers, but none of them are bleeding. He is continuing to lose blood from somewhere and has had 5 units so far. Today he is having the colonoscopy. I have not received any news yet on that.
Byron and the kids are going to VBS each night this week and we are all just trying to continue life as normal as possible. We have told the kids that Grandpa is very sick, but they don't need to know more than that. They really couldn't understand it anyway. We are just praying that the drs. will find the cause and that there will be a cure.
Byron and the kids are going to VBS each night this week and we are all just trying to continue life as normal as possible. We have told the kids that Grandpa is very sick, but they don't need to know more than that. They really couldn't understand it anyway. We are just praying that the drs. will find the cause and that there will be a cure.
Monday, June 9, 2008
When It Rains, It Pours
I'll start by pasting an email I sent out yesterday.
Dear friends,
This has been a very long day. During Sunday School we got a phone call from Byron's mom. His dad, Brian, has not been feeling real well the last couple of days. They got to church, he was feeling dizzy, sat down in the pew and passed out and began vomiting blood. They called an ambulance and we met them at the hospital.
He has an internal bleed and has lost 2/3 of his blood volume. He does have bad kidney's and several other health issues. He is receiving blood transfusions right now and will probably get as much as 5 or 6 units. The doctor will do an endoscopy and colonoscopy tomorrow to try to determine the source of the bleed. At the moment his potassium levels are too high and they have to get them back down before they can run the scopes.
God was really protecting him today. The doctors were amazed that he was even able to walk and talk as low as his blood levels had gone. He could easily have died, but God spared his life. He still has a ways to go before he is considered recovered.
Please pray for his healing. I'm sorry to make this so long, but it really just scratches the surface of our day.
Thank you,
Lisa
When we got home from the hospital, I was running fever and feeling like crud. Until I'm well I won't be back down at the hospital. (Just last week I had kids with strep, cutting teeth, unsually cranky for no reason, and a lot of hard work bringing in less $$ than expected for Byron)
Today Dad L. did get the endoscope once the doctors were able to bring his blood levels up a little and get his potassium levels down enough. He does have ulcers in his stomach, duodenum, and esophagus, but none of them are bleeding. He is not strong enough to run both tests in one day, so he will have the colonoscopy on Tuesday as long as his blood levels and potassium are good enough. If the bleed is not in his lower GI either, then we are looking at something even more serious. We are all just taking one day at a time and one test at a time.
It seems we as a family have just had one thing after another happen either health or financial in nature for over two months. We know God is in control, but it is all still quite physically and emotionally stressful at times.
On a fun note...Samuel started yesterday trying to stand on his own. He will use something very low to the ground to start out and then will slowly rise to standing. He wobbles there for 2 or 3 seconds and then plops on his rear. He is soooo proud of himself.
Dear friends,
This has been a very long day. During Sunday School we got a phone call from Byron's mom. His dad, Brian, has not been feeling real well the last couple of days. They got to church, he was feeling dizzy, sat down in the pew and passed out and began vomiting blood. They called an ambulance and we met them at the hospital.
He has an internal bleed and has lost 2/3 of his blood volume. He does have bad kidney's and several other health issues. He is receiving blood transfusions right now and will probably get as much as 5 or 6 units. The doctor will do an endoscopy and colonoscopy tomorrow to try to determine the source of the bleed. At the moment his potassium levels are too high and they have to get them back down before they can run the scopes.
God was really protecting him today. The doctors were amazed that he was even able to walk and talk as low as his blood levels had gone. He could easily have died, but God spared his life. He still has a ways to go before he is considered recovered.
Please pray for his healing. I'm sorry to make this so long, but it really just scratches the surface of our day.
Thank you,
Lisa
When we got home from the hospital, I was running fever and feeling like crud. Until I'm well I won't be back down at the hospital. (Just last week I had kids with strep, cutting teeth, unsually cranky for no reason, and a lot of hard work bringing in less $$ than expected for Byron)
Today Dad L. did get the endoscope once the doctors were able to bring his blood levels up a little and get his potassium levels down enough. He does have ulcers in his stomach, duodenum, and esophagus, but none of them are bleeding. He is not strong enough to run both tests in one day, so he will have the colonoscopy on Tuesday as long as his blood levels and potassium are good enough. If the bleed is not in his lower GI either, then we are looking at something even more serious. We are all just taking one day at a time and one test at a time.
It seems we as a family have just had one thing after another happen either health or financial in nature for over two months. We know God is in control, but it is all still quite physically and emotionally stressful at times.
On a fun note...Samuel started yesterday trying to stand on his own. He will use something very low to the ground to start out and then will slowly rise to standing. He wobbles there for 2 or 3 seconds and then plops on his rear. He is soooo proud of himself.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Austin's Day
You know, it's great to always do things as a family, but having "alone" events is so nice, too.
Saturday Austin got to go to a friend's birthday w/o having to share the event with his siblings. He would have been fine with them there, but I think he REALLY enjoyed getting to have his own day. He told me over and over how much fun he had.
The girls didn't exactly get left out. They got to spend the day with Mamaw and Papaw. Mamaw planned a lovely, fun tea party for the girls. They were thrilled! Actually, they had so much fun that as we were leaving for church tonight, Leah brought along her back pack just in case she got a chance to go to Mamaw and Papaw's again. =)
I've decided that maybe at least a couple times a year each child should get a "special day". It doesn't have to be anything costly, just something they get to do without the others. Something to make them feel special. We spend so much time building unity and I think we are really doing a pretty good job teaching them to get along and share things and time. I think this idea will turn out to be a big memory building venture for our family. I'm already thinking about what to do next with whom!!
Saturday Austin got to go to a friend's birthday w/o having to share the event with his siblings. He would have been fine with them there, but I think he REALLY enjoyed getting to have his own day. He told me over and over how much fun he had.
The girls didn't exactly get left out. They got to spend the day with Mamaw and Papaw. Mamaw planned a lovely, fun tea party for the girls. They were thrilled! Actually, they had so much fun that as we were leaving for church tonight, Leah brought along her back pack just in case she got a chance to go to Mamaw and Papaw's again. =)
I've decided that maybe at least a couple times a year each child should get a "special day". It doesn't have to be anything costly, just something they get to do without the others. Something to make them feel special. We spend so much time building unity and I think we are really doing a pretty good job teaching them to get along and share things and time. I think this idea will turn out to be a big memory building venture for our family. I'm already thinking about what to do next with whom!!
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