Working Hard

This is the gate trainer that Titus has been working in lately. The upper portion supports his torso and holds him at the right height where he can put some pressure on his legs and push himself along. One of these days we will get a video and show you how hard he works at therapy, but I wanted to show you some of the things he works on at therapy each week. And why we work so hard at home at putting him in the stander, having him roll around the floor, and playing with toys. All of this continues to stimulate him and his muscles. It's hard work for him, but he has come so far and I'm so proud of my little man.

National Coverage

We received a FaceBook message from a lady in Illinois this past week who had read the article on Titus and Special Needs Financial Planning. The article had appeared in the Dallas Morning News last month, but was released by one of the news services and has been picked up by newspapers all across the US. What a pleasant surprise to hear that the story has been reprinted by newspapers from Bend, Oregan, to Biloxi, Ms, to Saulk Valley, IL.

God is good and our prayer continues to be that people will be inspired and educated by the life of Titus.

Rock Star

Titus going for his rock star hairstyle - love it!

It has been a busier-than-usual week around the household. Tucker and Cade have had swimming lessons in the morning. Noah has had football camp in the evening, and Aidan is finishing up his lifeguard preparation class in the evening. Since the pool and the football field are not close to each other, it's been divide and conquer in the evenings - with most boys not getting to bed till after 10pm.

I made it down to the football field on Monday night (crutched down a hill and through about 200 yards of grass and back) to watch Noah. He's loving it, but I was paranoid a fire ant was going to crawl under my foot that was still wrapped up. Fortunately, no ant even came near me.

Tuesday, I stayed home with Cade while Becky shuttled boys around to both practices. At the end of the evening, as I was taking Jude outside to do his business, I fell in the house. And yes, it was one of those "I've fallen and can't get up" moments. I wasn't hurt and didn't fall on my leg, but once was I flat on the ground, I didn't have enough leverage to get back up. Cade was very calm, brought me the phone, and then stayed there and talked to me. Since I was flat on my back, I decided this would be a good teaching opportunity.

I asked Cade "what if Daddy was really hurt - who would you call?" And we talked about calling 911.

I then asked Cade "Now, they are going to ask you for our address - what's our address?" and Cade said "972-633-xxxx".

"Cade - that's our phone number - remember the little song we sing about our address?"

silence

"OK Cade, let's talk about something else you could do - you could run across the street and get the neighbor". And we talked about which neighbor to go to that he knows very well. And about that time, the doorbell rings, and there is talked-about neighbor. Becky called them to have them go over and check on me. John helped me get to my feet and then Becky was home in a few minutes.

But Cade was very brave during the entire episode. He remained calm and right by my side looking for ways to help.

Becky and I would appreciate your prayers for our health. We both have some health issues that we are working through and combined with the normal activities of life and the summer heat, these days have left us exhausted.

iPhone

Caught - red-handed! Now we know who's been sending out all the texts.

Monday, Monday

Life is somewhat back to normal this Monday. I am working from home, but actually doing quite well with relatively little pain.

Titus is one happy camper. He is loving his new play mats on the floor. He rolls all over them (and off of them). They provide a comfortable and cushy place for him to play. And the dogs are learning to stay off of them.

By the way, Jude is becoming quite the good dog. While still a puppy, he has really matured in the last weeks on learning his boundaries (although he is still on a leash a majority of the time). And Quita has accepted him as a playmate and they are quite funny rolling around playing on the floor. Of course, two 70 lbs dogs playing on the floor with tails wagging can cause a lot of things to be displaced.

Becky and the boys went waterskiing with Uncle George on Saturday. And Ashley K has been staying with us helping out with little ones while I've been out of commission. So, it was a fun day for them on the lake. Noah is learning to water-ski and is getting up on the water!  I believe he'll be skiing before end of summer.

Thanks for all the prayers over the last week on my surgery. I would say, it's been relatively easier than I expected, but then Becky would say - "yes dear - you were on pain medication the entire time". But I would appreciate prayers for quick healing. I really feel that Becky and I are a team when it comes to our marriage, our family, and our care for Titus. And with me being "benched", she has really had to carry the load - and I'm ready to getting back to playing the game with her. She is an incredible woman and a saint.

Surgery is DONE

First of all, thanks for all the prayers the last few days. I truly appreciate them.

I showed up at 11am yesterday for my 2pm surgery. They immediately took me back and test my blood for  my potassium level. And it was back to the normal range.

The last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist told me he was going to give me something to relax me as they wheeled back to the operating room. He stated it was fast-acting, and I remember saying "ROCK ON" and then I was out.

The last 24 hours have been an adjustment of getting all the anesthesia out of my system and adjusting to the pain pills. I slept most of the day today - and I can't even remember when I slept that much.
There is still a lot of pain , but it's bearable. I have moved from taking pain pills back to every 5 hours instead of every 4 and that's working good for me.

But honestly, I'm not too coherent - so I'm going to sign-off before I write something unintelligable. Thanks again for the prayers.

Surgery Update

I am scheduled for surgery at 2:00 today. I will show up at 11am for them to do a blood test and see if my potassium has come back up. I did find out that 3 weeks ago when I had my physical, my potassium level was in the normal range. So - who knows, but we'll find out this morning. The anesthesiologist did not seem to concerned last night when I talked with him. If we do cancel surgery, the next available surgey date is July 14 - which is not feasible since Becky and I will be attending/speaking at the Growing Families Conference in Tulsa that weekend. (And the last thing anyone wants is me on hydrocodone speaking at a conference - no telling what I would say, but it would probably be pretty funny since those pills knock me for a loop.)

Whatever happens, I am at peace. If it's postponed, I'll live. Just knowing there is a solution provides some comfort.

I'll update later today - but will state now - I am not responsible for anything I may say or post if I'm on pain pills.

Potassium

I received a call yesterday that my potassium level is low (3.3 when the range is 3.5 to 5.1). I am trying to contact my GP today to take the labs over so he can prescribe potassium. If it's still low on Wednesday morning, they may postpone my surgery.

Whilst this is one more thing to do today that I was not planning on, I do know that God has everything in control and will just go with the flow. But your prayers would be appreciated. It may be more pyschological than physical, but it does seem the pain in my feet has increased over the past month and I really just want to get this taken care of.

I also have a jam-packed, intensive day at work so I would appreciate prayers for clarity and concentration.

Titus is doing good. He just makes us smile. He had his annual cardiology exam yesterday and everything is fine there. He still has a very small ASD in his heart that has not closed, but it is not causing any concern. Last night, he was playing, laughing, reaching and smiling at us. What a blessing to have such a content boy.

Busy Week

Titus has had a good week at home. He has settled back into his routine, finished his meds, and his breathing is back to normal (well - normal for Titus). While he was in the hospital, his new play mat was delivered - and it's a wonderful thing to have a nice, thick mat on the floor for him to play on. But, the little man can roll himself off the mat if we aren't looking.

My surgery on my left foot is Wednesday morning. For some reason, I was convinced that a few days in bed is all that I would need for recovery, but after I looked at the list of heavy-duty pain pills that have been prescribed, I have the feeling this may be a little bit more intensive. The main concern I have is that I will be on crutches for a a few weeks - and this is going to make nighttime difficult since it will not be easy for me to get up and get to Titus' room - which means the burden is on Becky. A couple of nights of this is one thing, several weeks of this is another. Becky has suggested I just sleep in Titus' room as a quick remedy. She's already gotten the air mattress out.

Becky is also attending a Deaf-Blind conference at the end of the week. (And yes, I was suppose to go with her, but surgery kind of made a change in plans for us).

And last of all, I will be actively looking for a job over the next seven months. My company has been going through an HR Transformation project, and my job is being moved to India (but I'm not). Fortunately, they do not expect any changes till January 2011 which gives me plenty of time to locate a new position within my company or locate something elsewhere. (And based on how they are currently preparing for things, I could be around a lot longer). There are some new positions I can apply for, but will need to got through the entire interview process along with everyone else.

This Transformation project has been going on for the last several months, and the announcement did not catch me by surprise - frankly, I'm actually glad that the "mystery" is all over. The difficult part is that I work with some incredible people. We are one happy, dysfunctional family (but as we say, we put the "fun" in dysfunctional.) And that's what has bothered all of us knowing that we will all be going to new places - only a few are retaining their jobs in the USA.

So, if anyone is looking for an incredible, talented, (and humble) HR Director (or a whole HR Team), let me know! We do need to stay in the Dallas area, but any contacts or leads you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.