Rearview mirror

Last week jsut was a bad, bad, very bad week!  We were under such spiritual warfare, I came to my breaking point - you know the one where you ugly cry in public. . . yeah that was attractive and gave those who carefully watch us, even more conviction why not to adopt.

But we are back to our cheery selves loving life, our family and God.

Sunday started with our annual church in the park - we all love it ~ and who wouldn't listening to the wind blow through the pine trees, sitting with our family and friends praying.  It changed my bad attitude of reviewing the wrongs in my life.

Cav had surgery to remove the rods yesterday morning.  I dropped Cav off and ran back to the room to checkout while he had his 1 1/2 hr surgery.  Not even 10 min later I get a call from the hospital (which I missed . . . BAD mom!) that the surgeon needed to talk to me.  I was panicked that Cav was going to need a skin graft over his amputation site that has been infected and jsut plain nasty.  NOPE - he was done.  All that prayer healed his site and there is jsut a little bit left unhealed.  The rods came right out and we left the hospital at exactly 10 am - the same time he was supposed to get out of surgery.  This boy is a rockstar!!

And he is thrilled the only color they had for his wrap was PINK!

Although I am pretty open here I have not mentioned the issues I have had with extended family (ok except the perfection post.)  Anyhow this summer has been hard, harder than I have experienced in the past.  I have had to realize that boundaries I have let slide for years, need to be put into place.  I am typically a pushover - um but frankly when you have a little boy who has lost everything in the world, not acknowledging him on the day he loses his legs is incomprehensible.   Ok, I only tell you this because truly God's grace was magnificent yesterday.

Cav received this darling little tiger from a grandma (an AP's mom) in New Zealand.  I got it last week so I kept it for his surgery and he loved it!  So amazing to see people who have met our son once love on him.  Anyhow, in recovery (as I was checking my phone in hopes that the illusive text might appear this time) in came Cav's nurse.  I jsut laughed at God's humor when she opened her mouth.  YEP, she was from New Zealand!  Can you see the Godwink?  Maybe, jsut maybe we need to acknowledge the love from those around us instead of looking in the rearview mirror and hoping.

Blessings, grace & humor

We spent Monday and Tuesday in Denver - I'll post later about our awesome crazy adventure LOL!  BUT most importantly we met with the Amputee Clinic at Denver's Children.

We met with NINE . . yes . . 9 people in one tiny exam room plus part of our family.  We let the other kids play in the waiting area and little man went back and forth between the two.  We have learned along the way that having everyone meet all together means everyone is one the same page.

A Blessing

We met with the orthopedic surgeon and his PA.   They also do all of the orthopedic oncology surgeries and we could tell by the time he spent with us and his overall caring demeanor.

Truly a blessing.

This was the man who looked at Cav's 3 pictures of his little baby legs contained in his original file and accurately diagnosed the Tibial Hemimilia which is a 1 in a million birth defect.  This allowed us the opportunity for our family to discuss caring for an amputee BEFORE accepting his file.

We also met with a Rehab Dr (we have met her before at little man's skeletal dysplasia clinic.) and she is wonderful.  She was so nice and also confirmed she wouldn't touch Cav's hands.  She said he was so functional.  She also said, as they were trying to figure out if he needed a wheelchair, that he would master it in no time, but she feared for everyone else's safety LOL!

Humor!

Little man and Cav are like two puppies and they were tossling all around her and I was mildly embarrassed while trying to listen to the surgeon, but she was so nice.

Grace!

We also saw 3 prosthetist and low and behold one visits down in the Springs.

Truly another blessing.

He said we can come by and he'll show all of the kids what Cav's new legs will look like.

Another blessing!

Sooo, we will be doing surgery June 4th

He will stay in the hospital for a few days to help with pain control.

He will probably NOT be casted since he is a bit . . um . . wild!  They will just use soft wraps.

This means he will be able to go swimming with the other kids by about 3 weeks.

He will fitted for his legs by 6-8 weeks.

By the time school starts HE WILL BE WALKING!!

Matthew 15:31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Shriner's decisions

I am sure i have mentioned that Cav will be a double amputee - and that the orthopedist here said we needed to wait until he is completely bonded and trusting.

Hmmmm, and how do I gauge that!!

ANyhow, Cav must have gained 5 lbs since coming home.  He is just getting so heavy to carry everywhere.  I mean he walks on his knees but the one thing we didn't anticipate is the SNOW and wet muddy ground.  Also the concrete and pebbles to a terrible number on his poor little knees.

When I picked up Cav from preschool yesterday the teacher handed me a balloon doggie.  Apparently, a shriner handed it to our school physical therapist during a meeting to give to our teacher for Cav.  

Of course a balloon in the wind with a child who has never actually had a balloon equals . . . um . . . a screaming crying little boy ugh!

Anyhow, this has made me think that I might need to reevaluate our decision to have his surgery at home.  We unfortunately live in the no man's land of Shriner's - go ahead look at the map, Shriner's everywhere except near Colorado.  BUT there are 3 all about 12-15 hours away - hmmm Road Trip!!

Seriously, Cav's disability is a 1 in a million birth defect and his is bilateral.  Anyhow, this tells me no one will be the leading expert.  But this will affect his mobility and fit of prosthetics, so I have been fretting over making the right decision on the team who will perform the amputation and create his first prosthetics.

When we first saw his file we spoke to all three Shriner's - Utah, Minneapolis, and St Louis as well as Denver Children's.  THey of course all said they would LOVE to care for him - Ugh such a life changing decision - and so hard to make.

Hope for Cavanaugh

During a coffee meeting today a friend brought me a newspaper article.  If you have been following our blog then you know that our sweet baby Cav will most likely be a double amputee.  HE is our story of hope, of taking the proverbial leap of faith.  All we have are pictures of his severely deformed legs, but we also have pictures of his perserverance and determination.  Our baby boy walks on his knees but also can stand up while holding on.  This is amazing since we believe he is missing the tibias (weight bearing bone ) in both of his legs.

The world of an amputee is foreign to our family.  But this story of Nikolai Louritt brings me hope.

I hope to contact this amazing young mans mother.  But even if we never speak the legacy of her daughter and her son will flourish in ours.