Calm and Collected

 

 

Dear Prayer Warriors,

After communicating the 6 pages of discharge directions to our overnight nurse, Lindsey looks at me with a bit of fatigue showing and says "its been a blessed day." I certainly agreed. From the plans coming to fruition to the tortilla soup in the cafeteria, all of it was one peaceful step in front of another. Everything was completed an hour ahead of schedule and Anna woke up without needing any extra oxygen. Lindsey thought to bring the blankets from home for added comfort and by 6:30 we were home. Simon greeted us with an outstanding welcome, he had a blast with Aunt Christina.

With these full days the Spirit has been showing me what it means to press onward. In difficult situations when emotions can run high, I'm reminded of my access to Jesus' peace and how unique it is. "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid" John 14:27. We can only walk and deal with the things before us. Faith for today is not enough faith when our trials come quicker. We need that peace moment by moment. Jesus' peace is always available, alleluia. It is anchored deeper on something deeper than emotions and its not circumstantial like this shifting world, its been sturdy since eternity past. Its the kind of peace that is often accompanied by a biblical promise, a blessed dream or a verse that is perfect through our storms.

Praise God:

-For the replies of encouragement we received from you and daring faith you place in Christ. Your intercessions edify our steps. 

-For a great Bronchoscopy that showed a normal amount of saliva and no aspiration. Her condition of Tracheomalacia was improved to a less than 50% collapse when coughing. God is strengthening her lungs. Pray for healing because we suspect she has chronic partial Atelectasis.

-The endoscopy showed damage to the esophagus, he shared the images with us and we could clearly see how at the bottom the lively pink color was a dull matte pink. Pray for wisdom to treat this problem. We are waiting to change thing until the biopsy come through.

-The dental stuff went well, the tooth came out easily and clotted. they cleaned and found no other dental issues.

-The botox injections will take effect in the salivary glands in the next two days. Botox who knew.

The journey continues but we are grateful we have your prayers interceding to a limitless God.

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, Simon

Surrendering Surgery to the Savior

Dear Prayer Warriors,

As we draw near to the Lord in a time of need I am reminded that diligence in seeking Him is sweeter still! Thank you for your faithfulness in following Jesus, in reading and lifting our family up.

Praise God that Anna is in good health allowing the medical plans of the last two months to be at hand. Anna is scheduled for her eye surgery, a tooth pull, Bronchospy, endoscopy, and Botox injection into her saliva glands. She will be under general anesthesia tomorrow starting at 12 and lasting close to 4 hours.

I know from experience and from other special needs families that the only way to have a good night’s sleep leading up to surgery days is to surrender it all to Jesus. So here we are, it’s time to let go, to hold our thoughts and imaginations captive… Can you help us commit tomorrow to the Lord?

One of the heaviest things is the fact that this is most likely a complete surprise to Anna. Then she will wake up feeling quite different, may the Lord restore sweet Anna quick. These surgeries make me count on the omnipresence of our loving Faithful Father in a unique way, He is the holder and encourager of Anna because we can’t be in the OR. Lindsey and I feel a bit under prayed lately so tomorrow will be a chance for us to be united in prayer for an extended time while Anna is under. Auntie Christina will be with Simon the whole day!

Please Pray:

-For the effective removal of the remainder of her tooth (remember the crown she swallowed because it was not anchored enough on the stump).

-For grace, focus, love, and ability to the eye surgeon Dr. Steele and the various others doing the procedures.  

-For Jesus’ perfect peace to calm each nerve, accept what He gives us as results, and anchor our emotions in talking with the medical people.

-For the waiting to be faith building, like all good waiting on God should be.

-For Anna to increase her vision particularly her ability to track objects.

-For the reduction of saliva to cause her to have no upper respiratory illnesses this winter.

- For a good endoscopy report, showing supernatural healing and preservation of anna’s esophagus from all the acid reflux.  

-For Anna’s lungs to be free from aspiration evidence be it reflux, saliva or medicine.  

-That we go in God’s strength because He is always giving of His power amid our weakness.

-For aunt Christina to bond and bless Simon as she serves us! 

-For one of Anna’s dearest prayer warriors who became present with the Lord but absent from the body today. Praise God for Paul who completed his mission, and his dear wife Helen who is still missioning here with us. God’s Word and Jesus’ work comforts us as we miss him. What a godly brother, a giving saint. 

May we in all ways be a blessing unto the Lord,

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon

Thanksgiving for Many Things

Dear Praying Warriors, 

Anna’s 9 inch long G/J tube (feeding) came out today. I came home a little early from work to take her to the hospital. The procedure to replace it is so quick and I am so thankful for the skill that those doctors have in interventional radiology to thread that tube back through as they watch an x-ray video of it happening. Seriously less than three minutes. Anna cried but it was brief. I once again I am reminded of the quality of care offered to us and the coverage of two insurances to not devastate us financially. What providence that the Lord has orchestrated over Anna and all her needs.

Another answer to prayer regarding our night struggles at home is that we have a new night nurse! We went from having two nights covered a week to five! Do pray for her as she is new to nursing and the world of special needs children. This nurse has Anna’s approval I can tell by the coos and smiles. I’m starting to realize how important it is to Anna that someone dialogs with her. She loves being talked to.

A grace we have been witnessing is Simon’s actions towards Anna. Sometimes in haste Lindsey or I will set Anna down on the living room floor and forget to bring something for her to engage with. So she is just lying there kicking up her legs and chewing her hands. Then the next thing I see is Simon trying to hoist a chime rack above her so she can hit it and play. Often when we are outside we put Anna in her stander so she can enjoy her surroundings as she works in it. After a sifting through rocks a little while Simon will grab his favorite rocks and place them on Anna’s tray for her approval. What a little bro! His newest thing is to kiss her good night. If we forget to let him he will remind us.

We are at two new beginnings for Anna’s therapy. We are all set to do horseback therapy once a week which is great for core muscle strengthening. We are also in a speech therapy once a week that focuses on communicative devices to help Anna choose by button hitting -may the Lord use that greatly to help Anna express her cognition and needs to us. Another new group we joined is Hope Kids, they are a group for families with special needs kids that have life threatening hardships. They have dozens of free events each month for the entire family or just part of the family to go to like the Symphony, a movie, a service project, or a basketball game.

Please Pray:

-We also praise God for three weeks of ongoing health. She has been coughing a good deal tonight; please pray for it to pass over without knocking her out for weeks.

-For Anna to stop hand chewing so much, she has torn skin and sores that we are treating but can’t seem to get back to wellness.

-For her upcoming surgery at the end of the month on the muscle of her eye. Those little tiny muscles also get tone and spasticity. Her eye doctor is convinced that it would help her vision to do this minor surgery. Pray that we could also do an endoscopy to see the condition of her esophagus for the reflux battles. This would prevent another general anesthesia date.

-For our ramp van application to Medicaid. They will pay for the conversion of a vehicle up to a certain amount we are trusting for all our needs to be met regarding the many complications to correctly qualify for coverage. The car portion we pay for ourselves. We thank God His continued provision of means through savings and gifts. I thought my first $50,000 car would be a sports car, Lord willing it’s gonna be a minivan with a ramp in it.

-For this new “language” of hitting buttons and the time it takes to build up intentionality behind each click so we can have her choose activities to do or what to wear. And eventually learn to tell us “yes” or “no”.

Thanks for praying and believing in the good that God has for us,

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon