More Summer News

Camping! We went camping up in the NC mountains. It was a wonderful, fun break for our family & Sam's first time camping. 

I had foot surgery. Here's how I currently look. I call this my "devil boot". Yeah, I don't like it! I am, however, excited to be able to wear shoes again & get back to hiking with my family.

We also met with a new specialist at the children's hospital regarding Sam. She said we will do his labs for two more months for a total of six consecutive months. If they improve...yahoo! If they continue to look crummy, he will have a liver biopsy. (Ouch! Poor baby!) That will be used to determine if chemo is needed at that time. If we ever have to begin chemo at least we will know we took all precautions & did our best to avoid it. We are thankful for his doctors & the hospital staff. They make being there as cheerful and as good an experience as possible. 

Sam is feeling pretty good and is having a fun Summer. He is speaking more recognizable words every week & can run fast! :D He thinks his brothers are hilarious and hogs the screen when we Skype.

We are focusing on truly LIVING every day & trusting our kind God to fill in all of our gaps. 

Our Summer...

...has been going great mostly! We've been busy with all the three big boys' swim practices and meets. They have had a good season and Mark & Luke are both considering swimming full time throughout the year. 

Luke's adorable relay team 

We have been gardening too. The boys each have a raised bed and have been enthusiastic about growing their own food. I love that they are so interested.

Sam Update

Sam's labs, which we have been doing every 4 weeks, have continued to show a slow decline. :(  We are going back to the children's hospital at the end of July to do more tests and to see a third specialist. I've heard she is very good so I'm preparing a list of questions to ask her. We have been told to prepare for chemo & transplant but I have no idea what the time line is. Hopefully years!!!! Perhaps the Drs don't know either, but I'm hoping for more info so we can try to process and care for our precious son the best way we know how. We are trying to support his overall health with meds for weight gain, probiotics etc. He is feeling good overall and is a happy, sweet heart. He loves his family, Veggie Tales, chocolate, fruit, playing outside and at the pool. He is a wonderful kiddo and we are begging our amazing God to heal him, all the while knowing He may or may not. That is hard stuff to understand but we KNOW our God loves Sam deeply and we are trusting Him and trying not to live in fear. I think we are succeeding most of the time. 

More Lab Results

We are on a schedule of labs for Sam every four weeks right now. The results come in two parts and the most recent ones have been good news so far! Yes! We should hear about the rest soon & are feeling optimistic that chemo is not in his near future (& we hope NEVER!) We are so thankful for everyone's care & prayer! 

Otherwise, we are having a pretty happy Summer. The big boys are all on swim team so we are at the pool a lot. Sam was very cautious with water last Summer but he loves it this year. It's so much fun to watch him play happily at the local water park. 

Good News

We are so thankful to share that we got good news today! There will be no harsh treatments for Sam for now. We will just continue to have his labs done every 4 weeks to monitor. The Drs want to avoid treatment for all long as safely possible and we agree. 

Thank You God!  

Now....back to concentrating on having a great Summer with lots of little boy fun! 

Waiting

We're still waiting on test results.

Oh My Heart!

Hello dear friends & family that read my blog. Thank you just for being there & for loving our family.

 Our story has been mostly up hill lately but I have decided to share it with you. 

Our dear little Sam had a rough start in life. Children are not always cared for well in orphanages. In spite of his past, he is a sweet, gentle (usually...he does have three brothers!) and charming three year old. He loves to create art, listen to music, play in the sand box and ride around on his Daddy's shoulders.

Sam also has a serious liver condition. Doctors thought it would not even be an issue for him (no symptoms, no meds needed) for several decades but we do routine blood tests every 6 months just to make sure. 

The last labs came back looking bad. Our hearts became like heavy awkward lumps that sunk down into our stomachs. Chemo-like meds. Transplant. Fear.

But God.....

 Seriously, we either trust Him or we don't. He gave us this little boy and He loves him more than we can imagine. We believe that even when our hearts are frozen with anxiety. We cling to that, to Him. 

So, we are re-doing all blood tests again next week. we want to make sure the bad results were not just an anomaly. We pray for healing. We trust. We also try to live every day, really live!  Like, go strawberry picking, play at the pool, bike ride. We don't want to let fear steal anything good from us and our boys. 

So, we hope and we pray for healing, for better results, for more time before we have to begin the harsh treatments. 

And we LIVE! 

Finally Back!

I am a severely non-skilled techie so my husband has saved me from the computer problems that were keeping me from blogging. 

So....the last three months...

Well, it snowed! A lot! Which isn't a big deal in some parts of the world, but is exciting here. 

Nathan and I worked on keeping Big Mac's fur tangle free (we are failing!) and gave him lots of snuggles. He is a very sweet bunny and isn't this picture CUTE!?

We, meaning John, are continuing the work on our home addition. Looking good! 

This sweet, tiny cat showed up. We didn't feed her at first, in hopes she was just visiting from a neighbor's barn, but when she appeared to be starving, we gave in. She has been named "Brook" and is as pretty as she is friendly. We're taking her to the vet next week and are seeking a loving indoor home for her. PLEASE contact me if you're interested. 

Sam impressed us with his artistry and understanding of symmetry when we discovered him with this get-up via crayola markers. Ha!