Walkin'

I think it's safe to say we have a “walker” on our hands. I am so completely thrilled with the progress Caden has made with walking. He is quite a super star! He took his first steps on October 18. Since then, he has been working so hard to improve his skills. He still needs encouragement to walk, but is doing it more and more on his own. He is so much more stable and is able to change directions now without falling down, which is a huge accomplishment. In every session, his physical therapist is amazed at how much he has progressed. It has been 6 weeks since his first steps and he has come so far. What an amazing little man! Praise the Lord for the blessings he has given us.

Check him out – and watch for his cheesy grin at the end! :)

Two-Wheelin' It!

I posted a video of Kyler learning to ride his two-wheeler bike a couple months ago. Since then, he has not ridden his bike very much. However, despite the lack of practice, he has improved significantly in his skills. He still has a little trouble starting and stopping, but once he's going, he does a great job. And, he goes fast! I love watching him ride and am so proud of him; he's not even 5 years old yet. :)

Here's the most current video of him riding:

Thankful!

Thanksgiving is the time of year when we focus on the things we are thankful for. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

-My incredible husband Greg, who works so hard to provide for our family and allows me to stay home with our children.

-Kyler, who is so bright and inquisitive and challenges me to be a better mom.

-Caden, who has gone more than a year without a hospitalization – that alone is pretty huge. But also that he is doing so well, he is developing every day and works so hard to be better at everything he does.

-Loving family who are always there for us.

-Amazing friends.

-Our wonderful church family.

-A loving God who gave his own son to die for each and every one of us!


When I asked Kyler to tell me 3 things he was thankful for, this is the list he gave me:
"My birthday parties"
"My brother"
"Jesus, because he never stops loving me"

My heart overflowed with joy when I heard Kyler say he is thankful for Jesus. It means we are doing something right in teaching him the love of Jesus! Kyler, you are right! Jesus never stops loving any of us, no matter what we do. Definitely something to be thankful for!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Greg's sister and her family in Walnut Creek. It was nice to spend the day with family. We are so incredibly blessed in so many ways! I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well.

Greg watching football while Caden "cheeses" for the camera

Kyler watching Dora with Aunt Natalie

The pumpkin pie I made

Mmmm, ready to take a bite!

49ers!

Greg has been a 49ers fan all his life but he had never been to a game... until last weekend. :) On Sunday, November 14, we attended the 49ers vs Rams game at Candlestick Park. Some friends of ours have season tickets and we were able to get their tickets to this game. The seats are amazing! We were 6 rows behind the 49ers bench on the 30 yard line. It felt like we could practically reach out and touch the players.

And, boy, are the season ticket holders a rowdy bunch! One guy in the row behind us was quite the heckler! He would heckle anyone about anything and at a very loud volume! Made for a very interesting game.

It actually was a very exciting game with lots of penalties and two 49ers touchdowns taken away. 49ers led 20 to 17 in the last seconds of the game. The the Rams kicked a field goal to tie it up, sending the game into overtime. Rams won the coin toss but thankfully the 49ers were able to stop them and get possession of the ball. Once they got down the field, they were able to kick a field goal for the win: 23 to 20. There was a lot of energy in the crown and overall was a very good experience. Never a dull moment.

Greg's sister was a huge help by watching our boys for the day. It turned out to be a very long day indeed and we couldn't have gone to the game without her help.

We had such a fun day and it was so great to be with Greg as he experienced his first game. :)

MRI Ortho Results

On Tuesday I took Caden to Shriner's for the follow-up appointment after his MRI. I had no idea what to expect so I just waited to hear what they would have to say.

Once we were in the exam room, the first person to come in was a pediatrician. She introduced herself and asked me a bunch of medical history questions and as I answered them, she seemed very impressed at my knowledge and understanding of Caden's medical issues. I told her that was my job; to know everything about him and his medical concerns. She even made sure I got to see the actual MRI images so they could describe to me what they saw because she could tell by my detailed medical history of Caden that it would be something I would be interested in. I that that was really thoughtful of her, and she's right. It is something I wanted to see!

She went on to tell me that the MRI showed no hip dysplasia. This was great news because the x-rays we had taken a few weeks ago showed “borderline” hip dysplasia. I tried not to get too caught up in what that could mean if he had it. But I didn't realize how much it stressed me out until I heard her tell me they were fine. I could feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders!

She also told me that she was happy to be the bearer of other good news: the brain also looked great. Now, we still have to have a follow-up appointment with Caden's neurologist to get the official detailed report from him. But it was very nice and reassuring to get that little bit of information.

Then, she said she needed to go get the orthopedic doctor so they could go over the results of the MRI of the spine with me. When she left the room, I figured it meant that there was probably bad news and she didn't want to be the one to tell me since she had already shared with me the good news on the other two areas. So when the orthopod came in the room and told me things looked great, I was surprised.

There were a few things to note. His neck looked good. There was some concern about it because he appears to have a very short neck and/or very low hairline. So they didn't know if there was something going on there to be concerned about but after the MRI, he said things were fine.

The T11 vertebrae has a slight defect (they call it a “butterfly”), but again, it isn't causing any other issues that they can tell. But the new thing they found is that his tailbone is malformed. I think there are 3 or 4 vertebrae that don't have discs between them. And, the whole tailbone is curved at a strange angle. But apparently this shouldn't be a problem for him. And the good news is that the spinal column itself looks great and there is no impingement anywhere.

Based on all that information, at this point, he said he doesn't think Caden will need to have surgery to correct the scoliosis. That is great news! Because if he did need surgery, they would do it between the ages of 3-5. But it doesn't appear that will be necessary. So for now, we will follow up with them once/year and they will see how he is progressing.

I am so thrilled with the results of the MRI. I couldn't have asked for much better news. It truly was better than I expected. :) I am praising God for the good report.

Go Kings!

On Saturday, Kyler & I got to attend the Sacramento Kings vs. Memphis Grizzlies basketball game. We received tickets through Mended Little Hearts of Sacramento. It was a great night to spend with fellow heart families and have a “date” with Kyler.

There are a couple kids from Kyler's preschool class who were with our group as well so he had a lot of fun playing with them and it made the game more fun for him. I wouldn't say he is exactly a basketball fan. But we went for the experience and it was good.

About halfway through the game, Kyler turns to me and says, “Mommy, why does everyone keep saying, 'Jesus'?” I told him, “They're not saying 'Jesus', they're saying 'Defense!'” Hilarious! I can easily hear how he might have misunderstood what they were chanting since he doesn't really understand how to play. But it was so adorable all the same. I love that kid!

The Kings lost the game, but it was still fun. As we were walking to the car, Kyler told me he had a really good time. But, he said he doesn't like how they played basketball. He only likes how he plays! :)

Kyler with his preschool classmates, Tommy & Ava

Cheering for the Kings!

Mommy enjoying her "date" with Kyler!

MRI

On Monday, Caden had an MRI to look at several things: spine, brain and hips. The initial order was for the spine from his ortho doc at Shriner's. He needed more complete imaging in order to determine whether or not Caden will need surgery for his congenital scoliosis. The brain was added on to the order because his neurologist said since we were doing an MRI anyway, he would like to have the data. However he said if Caden wasn't already going to have an MRI, he wouldn't have ordered one just to look at the brain since Caden is doing so well.

The hips are a whole other story! When Caden started the treadmill study, we could see that his left leg turned out quite a bit when he walked. Our PT was monitoring it to see how it would progress. Since it didn't seem to change much, she thought it would be best to have an x-ray done to “rule out” an ortho problem. She really thought it was a weakness of his muscles and not an ortho problem. But in order to be sure and make sure his therapy was appropriate she thought it would be a good idea. Our pediatrician had no problem ordering that for us (because he's great!). But everyone thought the x-ray would show nothing unusual. Well we were all wrong. The x-ray report showed “borderline” hip dysplasia. :( But since this wasn't a definitive yes or no, more imaging was necessary. Since Caden was already scheduled for the MRI, it only made sense to get it added on to the order so he could have it all done at once. After all, they have to sedate him for it so I don't want to have to do more than one!

It took a lot of phone calls back and forth with the nurse at Shriner's and the Imaging department at UC Davis before I got that resolved. In fact it was only at 4:30 pm Friday afternoon that it was taken care of and his MRI was at 10:30 on Monday morning. But I got it done and I was relieved!

On Sunday I was laid up in bed all day long with a stomach bug. I was hoping I would feel better Monday morning. But unfortunately I still was feeling miserable. I took Caden down to UC Davis to get him checked in for the MRI, but Greg came down and met us there and took over. After going over Caden's extensive medical history with the anesthesiologist, I left and went home and slept for several hours.

Thankfully Greg took some pictures for me so I have the experience documented. Overall it went well. The scan time alone was over two hours. They did thorough imaging of all areas. When Caden woke up in recovery, Greg said he got back to his sweet personality very fast and was flirting with all the nurses. I was really happy to hear that because that means that he is becoming more relaxed in a clinical environment. This has NOT always been the case.

We have a follow-up appointment scheduled with the ortho doc at Shriner's on Tuesday morning. So hopefully at that point we will have a full report. I'm hoping that we will know how to proceed with the hips. And, the bigger question is whether or not Caden will need surgery for his scoliosis. I appreciate your continued prayers as we prepare for the appointment.

Ready to go in for the MRI

Waiting with Daddy

A little loopy with versed

Completely out now

It's all over and getting ready to go home!

Trick-or-Treat?

I had really been looking forward to Halloween and taking the boys to the Fall Festival at Christ Community Church where Kyler attends preschool, and then doing some trick-or-treating to a few close neighbors. Unfortunately things did not turn out as planned.

Sunday morning I woke up very sick. I was completely laid up in bed all day and unable to keep any food/liquid down. I honestly haven't been that sick in years! Needless to say we were not able to take the boys to Christ Community for the festival there. I was so disappointed.

However Greg did take the boys to a couple of our neighbor's houses so they could trick-or-treat. If I could have gone, I would have put Caden in his walker and had him walk on his own, but when you only have one adult for two children, that's a little riskier, especially in the dark. So Greg opted for the stroller which I completely understand. At least they got the experience. :)

Hopefully next year we'll all be in good health and able to enjoy the day as a family.