Well, not only am I going the way of mothers of many and starting to take less pictures of my youngest child, now it's going to be awhile before I have a chance again to take pics of Maxim with his walker. This week, while playing with my other son Joel, his right femur got broken. Poor boys.
Joel is kind of like Maxim's living Disneyland sometimes, giving him rides of all sorts. Joel had just been riding Maxim on his shoulders, as he had done so many times, and was going to gently flip him back down to the floor, hanging on to him the whole time. However, this time, when Joel quickly lifted Maxim up off of his shoulders, he heard a terrible crack and Maxim was immediately wailing.
I took him in to emergency and as he was saying his knee hurt, that's what the physician concentrated on and ordered x-rays for. However, once we got in there and slid his shorts up a little, we saw the swelling in his thigh. He has a spiral fracture. Then, because of his complicated orthopedic history, they decided to transfer him to Grand Rapids for treatment. So let's just say Maxim had a memorable field trip in an ambulance, surgery to set the bone, and will not be using his walker again until July, easily.
But I can still say God is good, God is good, God is good. When Joel heard that awful sound, he had the presence of mind to not let go of Maxim, so he didn't fall and get hurt worse. Joel immediately crumpled to the floor crying, apologizing and praying for his little brother. It gave me a window into his heart; that even though they sometimes irritate each other as will happen with siblings on occasion, he really loves Maxim and would never want to hurt him. I felt bad because when Maxim asked if he was going to have a big cast (spica) or little cast, I assured him that it would just be a little one, only on his leg. However, the doctor opted for the spica cast, to immobilize both of Maxim's upper legs, and I thought for sure Maxim would be angry when he woke up from surgery. He wasn't at all. He has had such a good attitude and has also been sleeping really well, a definite answer to prayers.
Joel was happy when I put Maxim on the phone to talk to him. "Maxim, do you still love me?", he asked.
Maxim just wanted to talk about the cool movie he was watching. TV is a big deal to him since we don't have one at home.
Joel said, "That's great Maxim, but do you still love me?"
"Yup." as the reply.
Joel was soooo relieved.
I would not wish this on anyone, but I see blessings in it already. I met and could pray for people I wouldn't have connected with otherwise. Nurses who saw Maxim before, at past surgeries, could see him again and hear about all the progress he's made over the last year. They don't often get to see kids again and know they've made a difference. In my prayer time during the surgery and afterward, God taught me about being patient even when I'm tired, and that it's important even in the thick of care giving to take care of ourselves. It's the first time I have felt at peace to just go take a shower after Maxim was settled comfortably in his bed, and lie down myself to sleep that night. At one in the morning, Maxim was awake and watching Shrek and I said, "Maxim, I have to go to sleep now. See you in the morning." He said, "Okay Mama; Maxim watch movie." I layed down in the bed next to his and he watched the end of the movie. Then we both went to sleep. He had a great sleep that night and last night as well.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for walking us through the unexpected and showing us bright spots within it.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Walker Is In the Building
Maxim's walker finally came! After a wait of about eight weeks, easily. I've explained it before, but our insurance for Maxim works in this manner:
A claim is first submitted to our primary insurance, which Daniel has through work.
Whatever the primary insurance will not fully cover is then submitted to our state insurance for disabled children. So more people involved equals longer wait. I don't remember such a long wait for equipment with Cyan and all of her CP paraphernalia years ago, but I guess I would rather have the state go over our claim with a fine-toothed comb to make sure we're legitimate than be throwing funds every which way without discretion.
So how is the little man with his new wheels? Wonderful! The walker was delivered by UPS this past Friday. We had guests over for Shabbat dinner (Uncle Timothy and Aunt Shannon who Maxim really likes to see). Maxim wanted to make extra trips to the bathroom during the meal just so he could use the walker.
On Shabbat, we took the walker to church with us figuring he would enjoy it part of the time. He used it all day long, with the exception of lunch time after the service and inside Grandpa and Grandma's house in the evening, since they have white carpet and Maxim had already used it outside.
On Sunday, he spotted Daniel's Uncle Roy and Aunt Laurie out for a walk with their dog. They came over for a moment as he was walking up the sidewalk and agreed he should walk right over for a visit when they returned. He sat outside watching until they were finally back and made the trek across the street with me. They presented him with a little beach chair they thought he would enjoy and he sat their eating hot buttered corn in a bowl while informing them that he really likes their blue house and is going to come live with them. He still believes that if he tells enough people what he wants that he will always get it. So much for that plan. He will still be living with Papa and Mama.
I know it's pitiful that I don't have a whole slew of photos for this occasion. It really is exciting to see him standing his tallest and taking off. Today, for the first time, I had to tell him to slow down and just walk. He already has the desire to take off running toward whatever appeals to him. So I guess you can say we're off and running.
Praise God, the Most High, our Heavenly Abba Daddy! Thank You for some wind in our sails!
A claim is first submitted to our primary insurance, which Daniel has through work.
Whatever the primary insurance will not fully cover is then submitted to our state insurance for disabled children. So more people involved equals longer wait. I don't remember such a long wait for equipment with Cyan and all of her CP paraphernalia years ago, but I guess I would rather have the state go over our claim with a fine-toothed comb to make sure we're legitimate than be throwing funds every which way without discretion.
So how is the little man with his new wheels? Wonderful! The walker was delivered by UPS this past Friday. We had guests over for Shabbat dinner (Uncle Timothy and Aunt Shannon who Maxim really likes to see). Maxim wanted to make extra trips to the bathroom during the meal just so he could use the walker.
On Shabbat, we took the walker to church with us figuring he would enjoy it part of the time. He used it all day long, with the exception of lunch time after the service and inside Grandpa and Grandma's house in the evening, since they have white carpet and Maxim had already used it outside.
On Sunday, he spotted Daniel's Uncle Roy and Aunt Laurie out for a walk with their dog. They came over for a moment as he was walking up the sidewalk and agreed he should walk right over for a visit when they returned. He sat outside watching until they were finally back and made the trek across the street with me. They presented him with a little beach chair they thought he would enjoy and he sat their eating hot buttered corn in a bowl while informing them that he really likes their blue house and is going to come live with them. He still believes that if he tells enough people what he wants that he will always get it. So much for that plan. He will still be living with Papa and Mama.
I know it's pitiful that I don't have a whole slew of photos for this occasion. It really is exciting to see him standing his tallest and taking off. Today, for the first time, I had to tell him to slow down and just walk. He already has the desire to take off running toward whatever appeals to him. So I guess you can say we're off and running.
Praise God, the Most High, our Heavenly Abba Daddy! Thank You for some wind in our sails!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The View from Today
After a long hiatus, here I am writing again. It's good to be back.
So what might you find in a home that is now one year and three months down the pike from an international adoption?
Here's a snapshot of our home at the moment. Maxim is holding his own and gaining in every way. He has gone from 31 pounds when we brought him home in January 2009, to 40 pounds today. He continues twice weekly physical therapy sessions to build up strength, endurance and flexibility. He has learned how to ride a trike and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his walker. He has been working really hard with the one available at therapy and the order is taking a really long time to get through all the insurance hoops. Having said that, I feel so blessed that we are where we are. Michigan has a very generous state insurance for kids with disabilities up to at least age 17, depending on the severity of their condition. Whatever our primary insurance does not cover completely, the state insurance takes care of. It is, I believe, one example of a good use of taxes. It saves many families from having to choose whether or not to provide a special needs child with what they really need or not. At the same time, the state does not want to waste the money so they take a long time to evaluate orders so only real needs are tackled.
Anyway, we are in the wait for Maxim's wheels. He is also making good progress in his schooling now. The day before yesterday, he read to me for the first time. He is very good at word searches, I Spy, and Where's Waldo? type things. I'm excited, as well, that he is getting up and crawling in a good pattern, when walking is not an option. I know that patterning is very important, even for a child who can't get on his feet at all, because it's intricately connected to how we process all kinds of information. For example, it has been proven that children who don't learn the proper patterns of movement for crawling have greater difficulty with reading later in life.
Cyan continues to grow too. She is eighteen and still finding her way with CP as part of the picture. We are experimenting with making videos of her worship dance for YouTube. I can't find much in the way of special needs dancers out there, but I know that it's an inspiration to watch Cyan. It's one of the times she feels most free and it touches others to see how physical limitations don't have to hold us back from praising the Father. As Cyan enters adulthood, I find myself second guessing myself a lot regarding choices we've made for her education and care over the years. I know all parents second guess themselves along the way, but maybe we parents of special needs kids are worse about it. I can only say, it crosses my mind more often in the last few months that maybe we didn't make all the best choices for Cyan, so what is best now? To her advantage now, I am more focused these days on not only looking at the options available for her, but also (and more importantly) asking the Heavenly Father for wisdom and actually expecting Him to lead us. He really is faithful to direct us beautifully when we acknowledge Him in everything we do. That's what He promised He would do. One of Cyan's favorite things to do besides dancing, is making videos. She bought a Flip video camera a couple of months ago, after looking for a long time for something easy for her to use with only one easily functional hand. I recommend this camera highly. Anyone can use it with one hand and the flip-out drive makes is extremely simple to load video on your computer. She has really enjoyed it.
Brina is on the mad dash to finish up this school year which has been very full for her. She has blossomed in her fiddling, her braces are a thing of the past, and braved debate class, even though she never would have chosen it. It's been a good way to stretch her, as she is definitely the most shy of all our kids. She is also finishing up College Plus Prep, which is a great Christian organization which coaches high school students to CLEP out of as many college course as possible so they can get their degrees sooner and at a lower cost. At this point, Brina is not sure she wants to actually go away to college, but this allows her to further her education at that level in the mean time.
Joel continues to thoroughly enjoy the trumpet. The concert band is in will be participating in will be at State Festival at the end of the month, as will Symphony Orchestra where Brina plays violin. Their Spring concerts are on back to back evenings next week. Too bad Daniel has to be in Germany for a show, so he'll miss it this time. Joel bought a camera too and is clicking away at anything and everything. His camera also impresses me, as Cyan's did. It takes both video and still shots; especially good for arranging panoramas and a terrific zoom. Joel is also doing College Plus and is now the tallest individual in our household. Daniel was especially bummed to find this out right before his travels. Seems such a short time ago (no pun intended) that we were peering down at all our children. Oh well, such is life.
We are all excitedly anticipating the year ahead. God has opened the door wide for us to buy a ten-acre parcel of land about thirty minutes south of our present home, with a vision to grow good food, raise some animals, bond even more thoroughly as a family, and stay completely open to any way God wants to bless others through the place too. We close on the land May 12.
Daniel has more international travel ahead after Germany. Canada in May and Israel in June, as it stands right now. The teens and I are looking into an opportunity to serve in Haiti while Daniel is away in Israel. Maxim will most likely spend that time at Grandpa and Grandma's house, as he loves being there (anticipating a ride or two on the tractor) and the sights and sounds of Haiti at the moment would be too much for him to process yet. It may be for us too, but God has been impressing on us that it is important for us to see what others experience from day to day so we can learn from them, help them and also more fully appreciate all that we have.
The icing on the cake, as far as travels, will be seeing my oldest niece, Naomi, walk down the aisle out in Washington State on August 8.
Wow, what a year this will be!
So you see, life post-adoption is about much more than adjustment and surgery recovery and such. That is just one important thread in the giant fabric of our family and all that God is doing in it and through it.
So what might you find in a home that is now one year and three months down the pike from an international adoption?
Here's a snapshot of our home at the moment. Maxim is holding his own and gaining in every way. He has gone from 31 pounds when we brought him home in January 2009, to 40 pounds today. He continues twice weekly physical therapy sessions to build up strength, endurance and flexibility. He has learned how to ride a trike and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his walker. He has been working really hard with the one available at therapy and the order is taking a really long time to get through all the insurance hoops. Having said that, I feel so blessed that we are where we are. Michigan has a very generous state insurance for kids with disabilities up to at least age 17, depending on the severity of their condition. Whatever our primary insurance does not cover completely, the state insurance takes care of. It is, I believe, one example of a good use of taxes. It saves many families from having to choose whether or not to provide a special needs child with what they really need or not. At the same time, the state does not want to waste the money so they take a long time to evaluate orders so only real needs are tackled.
Anyway, we are in the wait for Maxim's wheels. He is also making good progress in his schooling now. The day before yesterday, he read to me for the first time. He is very good at word searches, I Spy, and Where's Waldo? type things. I'm excited, as well, that he is getting up and crawling in a good pattern, when walking is not an option. I know that patterning is very important, even for a child who can't get on his feet at all, because it's intricately connected to how we process all kinds of information. For example, it has been proven that children who don't learn the proper patterns of movement for crawling have greater difficulty with reading later in life.
Cyan continues to grow too. She is eighteen and still finding her way with CP as part of the picture. We are experimenting with making videos of her worship dance for YouTube. I can't find much in the way of special needs dancers out there, but I know that it's an inspiration to watch Cyan. It's one of the times she feels most free and it touches others to see how physical limitations don't have to hold us back from praising the Father. As Cyan enters adulthood, I find myself second guessing myself a lot regarding choices we've made for her education and care over the years. I know all parents second guess themselves along the way, but maybe we parents of special needs kids are worse about it. I can only say, it crosses my mind more often in the last few months that maybe we didn't make all the best choices for Cyan, so what is best now? To her advantage now, I am more focused these days on not only looking at the options available for her, but also (and more importantly) asking the Heavenly Father for wisdom and actually expecting Him to lead us. He really is faithful to direct us beautifully when we acknowledge Him in everything we do. That's what He promised He would do. One of Cyan's favorite things to do besides dancing, is making videos. She bought a Flip video camera a couple of months ago, after looking for a long time for something easy for her to use with only one easily functional hand. I recommend this camera highly. Anyone can use it with one hand and the flip-out drive makes is extremely simple to load video on your computer. She has really enjoyed it.
Brina is on the mad dash to finish up this school year which has been very full for her. She has blossomed in her fiddling, her braces are a thing of the past, and braved debate class, even though she never would have chosen it. It's been a good way to stretch her, as she is definitely the most shy of all our kids. She is also finishing up College Plus Prep, which is a great Christian organization which coaches high school students to CLEP out of as many college course as possible so they can get their degrees sooner and at a lower cost. At this point, Brina is not sure she wants to actually go away to college, but this allows her to further her education at that level in the mean time.
Joel continues to thoroughly enjoy the trumpet. The concert band is in will be participating in will be at State Festival at the end of the month, as will Symphony Orchestra where Brina plays violin. Their Spring concerts are on back to back evenings next week. Too bad Daniel has to be in Germany for a show, so he'll miss it this time. Joel bought a camera too and is clicking away at anything and everything. His camera also impresses me, as Cyan's did. It takes both video and still shots; especially good for arranging panoramas and a terrific zoom. Joel is also doing College Plus and is now the tallest individual in our household. Daniel was especially bummed to find this out right before his travels. Seems such a short time ago (no pun intended) that we were peering down at all our children. Oh well, such is life.
We are all excitedly anticipating the year ahead. God has opened the door wide for us to buy a ten-acre parcel of land about thirty minutes south of our present home, with a vision to grow good food, raise some animals, bond even more thoroughly as a family, and stay completely open to any way God wants to bless others through the place too. We close on the land May 12.
Daniel has more international travel ahead after Germany. Canada in May and Israel in June, as it stands right now. The teens and I are looking into an opportunity to serve in Haiti while Daniel is away in Israel. Maxim will most likely spend that time at Grandpa and Grandma's house, as he loves being there (anticipating a ride or two on the tractor) and the sights and sounds of Haiti at the moment would be too much for him to process yet. It may be for us too, but God has been impressing on us that it is important for us to see what others experience from day to day so we can learn from them, help them and also more fully appreciate all that we have.
The icing on the cake, as far as travels, will be seeing my oldest niece, Naomi, walk down the aisle out in Washington State on August 8.
Wow, what a year this will be!
So you see, life post-adoption is about much more than adjustment and surgery recovery and such. That is just one important thread in the giant fabric of our family and all that God is doing in it and through it.
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