Update - 12 p.m. Thursday, May 10

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and encouraged us through this process...we are very grateful for the support that we've had from so many angles.

I wanted to update you on our little man now that we are a week out from cast removal.  He is doing SO well, and we are thankful!  He really is amazing, using his hands for so many things now!  His fingers and toes still have quite a few stitches in them, but those are slowly coming out as he bathes and soaks each day.  We started out with 13 band-aids and are down to 9, I think, so we are definitely making progress.  One at a time, his little fingers seem to be healing...he definitely has a way to go still, but he's getting there!

One of our concerns that remains is that Tom is walking with a limp, turning his right leg (the leg that was casted) out, almost as if he still has his cast on.  We called the doc, and he doesn't seem to be worried, but we are supposed to keep an eye on it and call next week again if it's not improved.  I'm concerned mostly because it seems to me that the longer he walks like that, the harder it's going to be to break him of the habit.  But the doctor thinks that as his toes heal and feel better, he will gradually begin to walk more normally again.

Would you pray for Tom in this way?  And pray for wisdom in case we need to be in contact with a physical therapist.

Otherwise, he's really doing great!  Gradually getting used to the idea that he's not the king of the world anymore.  ;)  He is feeding himself again, coloring, and holding my hand as we walk...I love that.  :)

Update - 7 a.m. Friday, May 4

I was SO tired when I wrote that post last night, but wanted people to have at least some idea of what was going on.

Now for some details...

Tom was a trooper and did really well during the cast removal until...the saw hit his leg.  At that point, he went from a giggling little boy to a freaking-out little monster!  Poor thing.  He was very scared and mad, and the scary part only got worse as the bandages were being pulled off and he got a look at his hands...which are scabbed and stiched and don't look anything like he remembers.

We had thought that 4 weeks casted would be the bulk of his care.  And I suppose it is, really.  BUT it turns out that there is more.  This way makes more sense, really...how could we have expected that the bandages would come off and all would be done?  He had major surgery on his apendages, and time is needed for them to fully heal.

So.....now we have entered the next stage, that of band-aids.  Yep, just band-aids...pretty simple, right?  :)  Tom now is very colorful in his camouflage, Dora, Cars, Spiderman, and Toy Story band-aids...all 13 of them!  Each day he will soak in the tub for an hour or so until the scabs come off, the wounds heal, and the stiches fall out/dissolve.  We go back to the doctor on May 31.

We are grateful.  Tears flowed when I looked down yesterday and saw my son's 5 fingers on his left hand, all separated and moving independently of the others...it was amazing.  BUT they don't look so good right now, and each time he accidentally rams them into something, it hurts.

Please continue praying...thank you.

Update - 1 a.m. Friday, May 4

There were good things and bad things about today.  The good thing?  It's done.  The bad thing?  It was kind of rough going there for while.

Please keep praying for our little Tom.  Thank you!

Update - 8 a.m. Thursday, May 3

Today is the day......we've made it!  Tom's appointment for cast removal/doctor's checkup starts at 10:30 this morning.  We are SO ready!

I must say, though, that besides the fact that I haven't been caught up on housework/laundry since before the surgery, we have been fine this month....Tom is amazingly resilient, and his bright smile and cheerful spirit was not hindered one bit by the 3 logs he's been lugging around on his limbs.  (Okay, maybe it was hindered for a few days, but that was expected.)

I get a little knot in my stomach when I think about today, but I just take a deep breath, cry out to the Lord again, acknowledging my trust in His plan, and move on.  After all, whatever is underneath those casts is unfamiliar.  The way his hands and foot have healed will determine whether we go through this all again in a few months, or if we will wait a year or so for the next surgery.  Also, we aren't planning for any therapy, but we have to see...his right hand is the most likely to need some help, and if he does need it, we've already met the Occupational Therapist that we would work with, and she's great!

One prayer request for the appointment is that Tom won't be scared...apparently, cast removal is loud (They use a saw?!), and when he gets scared, his little nose beads up with sweat, and he fights!  And he's very, very strong for a 3-year-old, so a scared Tom having to sit through 3 cast removals could be....interesting.  Please pray that he would be calm and that he could continue being the brave little guy that he's been through this whole process thusfar.  I love him!

Stay tuned....

Update - 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 24

It's been six days since I've written an update...where has the time gone?  We are down to single digits....just NINE days to go 'til the casts come off!

Tom is doing great overall!  We seems to be in a pattern of 2 or 3 really good days, followed by a day where anything sets him off and he's frustrated about everything.  Friday was tough, the weekend was good, then yesterday was rough again.  But today was a great day, with our little trooper full of smiles, hugs, and kisses!  :)

Please keep praying for our family....we are all ready to see what's under those casts, but we're doing fine while we wait!  Praise God for answering prayers!

A specific prayer request right now is related to finances.  We have been waiting to hear whether or not there is financial assistance available to us relating specifically to the physician's fees.  Today, the person I need to talk to called me, but I missed her call.  Please pray that I'll be able to talk to her tomorrow and that we will find favor with the powers that be.  So thankful that God is in control and that He is continuing to meet every one of our financial needs related to Tom's adoption and now this surgery....He is so faithful! 

Update - 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18

Hello, praying and caring friends and family!

It's been a good day on the Tom scene, and I have good news to report.  I am tired and should go to bed (Sorry, Mom, that I'm not in bed yet!), so I will try to be brief...

-After getting my schedule rearranged for the day (Thank you, Emily, for being so flexible!), I talked to Dawn this morning, and they were able to get Tom in today for cast reinforcement.  It went very well--the Occupational Therapist was great!--and Tom now has a very reinforced cast that this mama feels MUCH better about.  Run all you want, kiddo!  But please don't jump still.

-After said appointment, we came home, where Tom promptly decided that today was the day that he would crawl up the steps.  We have a lot of steps, people!  He's amazing.

-Late this afternoon, a scene that made my heart melt....Beth and Tom were playing "mama and daddy", just like they did pre-surgery.  It was the sweetest thing!  They were walking around, talking pretend and taking care of their "sweeties" just like they did before we entered Castland.  I thought to myself, "We are back to normal."

I am so grateful.  The worst (for this time around) is behind us.  The pain is gone, the cast is reinforced, the swelling is down, and the frustrations are manageable.

Praise the LORD, for He is good.  His love endures forever.  Goodnight.

Update - 11 p.m. Tuesday, April 17

Quick little update before bed.

Not long after writing my last post, I picked up our home phone and heard the familiar "beep beep beep beep" on the line, telling me that we had messages.

I can't believe that I missed Dawn's call yesterday!  Turns out that Dr. Daley's medical assistant had called back late yesterday morning wanting Tom to come in for a cast reinforcement as soon as possible.

Oops.

It's mostly good news, though.  She said that Dr. Daley isn't too concerned about the fact that Tom is walking so much (That's good, cuz he's walking a lot!).  He is concerned, however, that they are able to get the cast reinforced from the ankle down.  So more good news in that they won't have to remove the cast and start all over.  Hurray!  I'm assuming that reinforcing will be much more tolerable than recasting.

Tomorrow is nearly impossible for me to get him in because I keep my friend's son on Wednesdays, and I'm not hauling 3 kiddos in there for the procedure.  No way.  So we will wait 'til Thursday and hope that no more of the cast is ripped away during his near-acrobatics.  Today he was jumping--jumping!--on his cast, and he tried to climb up on the arm of the couch for a jump off.  Nope.  That's where I draw the line.  Not happening.

So we will likely go in on Thursday morning.  Dawn is going to call us back in the morning with a specific time.

Thanks for praying for this.....we have seen answered prayer!

Update - 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 17

It means so much to know that so many of you are praying and checking in on Tom....thank you.

Today is a big day around here because........it's Tom's BIRTHDAY!!  Last year on this day, I was at an HLIC intern training weekend with our new interns, and they very sweetly brought me a cheesecake (my favorite!) with a candle on top to celebrate the little soul I loved on the other side of the planet.  We wanted to be in India by then (and had thought that we would be), but God's timing was perfect, and we didn't meet Tom until May 20.

This year, May 20 will serve as our major celebration, mostly so that he can actually dig into his cake and rip open his presents with his own hands.  Last night (my mom's last night here visiting), we had cupcakes, and Tom blew out his 3 candles with much fanfare before opening the present from Grandma.  It was a perfectly small and appropriate celebration for a guy in 3 casts.

But wait 'til May 20.......it's gonna be fun!  A Gotcha Day/Birthday/Casts are off combined celebration......can't wait!

Yesterday was a better day, and today, Tom went down for his nap without incident.  Yesterday was the first day that he was medication-free...I won't hesitate to use it if he starts complaining again, but he seems to be doing fine so far.  I also called the surgeon yesterday about the cast situation.  Dr. Daley was in surgery, but his medical assistant seemed to think that he would probably want to recast Tom's foot, but she also told me that her call back to us would dictate the urgency.  She said that we would hear back by Wednesday at the latest.  So far, nothing.  So I'm guessing that it doesn't seem urgent, which is great!  Maybe it's fine so long as he's not complaining and isn't showing signs of an infection?

Again, thank you for your prayers and your concern.  I am incredibly grateful that my mom was able to be here for 5 days and for all of the friends and "family" that we have around here  You know who you are, those who have brought meals and done our laundry without being asked....thank you.

Update - 10 p.m. Sunday, April 15

I realize that as the days go by, my updates are less and less frequent.  Makes sense, I suppose...we are embracing our "new normal" and are trying to resume life with son and little brother in casts.  We have just 2 1/2 weeks to go before they are removed, assuming we make it that long.

Tomorrow I will be calling Dr. Daley because...Houston, we may have a problem.  This weekend, what began on Friday as a wobbly walk has turned into an almost-run in said cast.  Dr. Daley had told us that he had bent Tom's leg at a 90-degree angle specifically so that he couldn't walk on it.  He said that the more weight that is put on the foot, the more scar tissue.  Um, the bend is not slowing him down.

He can roll, and he can crawl.  But what's the point of all that if he can also RUN!  Did I mention that he caught his foot cast on something, and a large piece tore off of the bottom?  Yep.  To the point where I can now tickle two of his toes without trying very hard.

So I think we need a convo with the doc.  I certainly don't want to have him re-casted....I'm sure that that would be awful.  Not a fun prospect.  But even less fun is the idea that he is developing excessive scar tissue and/or that he is injuring his knees because of the weird way he is walking (He has been complaining about his left knee.).

Prayer requests:
-that we could get a clear answer from the doc about the leg cast situation.
-that the pain both in his right hand and at the circumcision site would cease.
-that any muscle spasms he's having in his right hand would stop.
-that Tom's frustration level would be contained.

Poor guy....it IS frustrating to go from being such an active guy to being told that you have to be carried everywhere; to want to play with your cars that you love but realizing that you can't grip them; to love to eat but have to wait for someone to feed you every single breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack and to not even be able to take a drink of water without help.

We love him so much............thanks for praying for him and for standing with us.  God is faithful and good and enough.  And we thank Him.

Here is a short video of Tom walking on wobbly legs late last week.....rest assured that he is wobbly no more!

Update - 7 a.m. Friday

It's 7 a.m., and I am waiting for the big kids to get downstairs so that they can eat breakfast before heading off to school.  The Littles?  I expect that they will sleep for another hour or so because.....they've been sleeping late every day since the surgery!!!  NICE!

I really think that Tom is just completely wearing himself out during the day and so is exhausted by the time nightfall comes, so he just sleeps away at night.  Fine by me!  I thoroughly expected that we would be doing middle-of-the-night wakeups with him for the first week or two....kind of thought it would be like having a newborn in that way.  Nope.

But in other ways, it actually has been.  One of the fun things about this week has been seeing Tom accomplish some "firsts".  Of course, we missed seeing his actual first rolling over, crawling, and walking.  But this week, we have celebrated each milestone with smiles, claps, and jumping up and down!  Yesterday, he almost RAN!  I actually am having to slow him down now and tell him to crawl instead of walk because 1) the doctor said that the less weight on his casts, the less scar tissue and 2) he actually tore a part of the bottom of his cast off yesterday!

THANK YOU for praying and for following along with Tom's story!  I know that the Lord is sustaining us, and I am confident that He is using the prayers of His people.

Yesterday, I made his appointment to get the casts off....we are at 20 days and counting.  Our sweet HLIC staff Tang and Bridget made a paper chain to count the days down--it took two people because it was so creative and fun!  He's doing great, folks!

(Maybe in another post, I'll write about the frustrations....because there are some.  But overall things are going so well that I don't want to focus on the negative for too long.)

Update - 10:30 p.m. Tuesday

I was not so naive to assume that it would all be roses, so in some ways, today wasn't a huge surprise.  On the other hand, it sure was nice to write all happy posts!  :)

This afternoon/evening was rough.  Real rough.  I think that I made a mistake in taking him off of the pain meds as quickly as I did.  I mean, I'm not sure if he's technically in pain or if he's just really uncomfortable.  Either way, his agitation level increased a lot this afternoon around lunchtime and really kept going for much of the day.

Could be pain and/or discomfort.  Or could just be a general frustration.  Today, he learned all sorts of new things!  And while that makes the mama very happy, it almost made Tom more frustrated--maybe like since he can figure this thing out, why can't he figure that one out, too?

For the sake of documentation, I should tell you that today, he let Beth put the goldfish in between his thumb and his cast so that he could feed himself.  He crawled into his "car" and on his "tractor" by himself.  Yes, by himself!  And he rolled all the way from one room to a far-away other one, just to get to where sissy was playing.  He's making great progress.

But tomorrow, the return of the pain meds.  Not the heavy-duty stuff, mind you, but at least some consistent medicine that doesn't completely wear off before the next dosage.

Sleep well...I'm hoping for another good night of sleep here, too!

Update - 9:30 a.m. Tuesday

Ten hours, folks.  He slept for 10 straight hours last night, all in his own bed.  And this morning, he says that his right hand is better, too!  God be praised....he is healing and getting us through these first few rough days.  WOOHOO!!!  So far this morning, he and Beth are enjoying their tv time today (Thank you, PBS Kids!) with very few complaints.  Hoping the day continues to go this well...

Update - 11:30 p.m. Monday

Heading to bed soon, but first, an update on our day/night.

Oh wait, before that, an update on my nap.  It. was. wonderful!!!

Today found some big progress coming Tom's way: 

-Today was his first day with only ibuprofen for pain (still on the valium for the muscle spasms in his right hand, but hopefully that will only be for a few more days).  I think that's pretty amazing.

-He ended up figuring out how to not only pick up goldfish crackers today, but actually get them in his mouth!  He picks up the cracker with his left hand and pushes his left hand to his face with his right arm.  The resiliency is astounding!

-Tonight, he decided that he would practice moving from one place to another by rolling.  And before we knew it, he was rolling all around the room!  And army-crawling a bit, too.  When he crawls, he mostly goes backward (It's easier that way.), and sometimes he says "beep beep beep" like a truck going backward.  Hilarious.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement.  We are grateful........and Kash, thanks for the meal tonight.  It was delicious!  :)

Update - 1:30 p.m. Monday

Just got Tom down for his nap (which he went to easily--praise God!), and I'm about to lie down for a nap myself.  But before I do, I wanted to quickly report that last night's sleep was wonderful...in fact, I'm kind of surprised I'm so tired still.  It's all catching up to me, I suppose.

Tom slept from 10 last night to 2:30, when he took his medicine, then again from then until 7:30 or so.  So good!

This morning, he figured out how to pick up cereal pieces by squeezing them between his thumb and his cast.  Problem is that becamse of the bend in his cast, he can't reach his mouth...but he could reach Beth, so he was "feeding" her.  It was great!  Then a friend of mine came over and entertained him for awhile, and I think she wore him out!  He is letting me feed him without a fuss, so that's good news....his favorite meal these days is soup with rice in it, so we're going with that for now.

He's still compaining about his right hand hurting, but he's taking much less of the pain medicine, so I think we are making progress there...keep praying--the little guy had so much work done on his right hand that it must be very painful.

And now--my nap...zzzz....

Update - 10:30 p.m. Sunday

We are home, and Tom is asleep in his crib!  Best part about the night was when he fell asleep on his floor while I was reading stories to him and the other kids.  Oh--and having his purple leg cast signed...that was a high point as well.

Other than that, a lot of the evening was tough...I lost track of how many times tonight he said "I can't do it!"  He is brave and strong and creative and curious, and I have no doubt that in very short order, he will figure it out.  But for a few days at least, I think it's going to be difficult.

I got word today that my mom is coming up for a few days starting on Thursday, so that will be wonderful.  And our team has taken over the task of providing dinners for us this week.  Praising God for our sweet little community here--our "family" in Milwaukee.

Getting home was challenging--I'm not gonna lie--on a bunch of fronts.  We are at the beginning of this long month.....we need perseverence for the task before us and patience with one another as we tackle it.  Thank you again for your prayers!

Update - 4:30 p.m. Sunday

I'm amazed at how little time there is here at the hospital to hop on here and give a quick update. Between feeding and changing Tom, giving him meds, interacting with the medical staff, and just the general doing-whatever-I-can-to-make-Tom-comfortable, there is simply not a lot of down time.

Today has been about 10 times better than yesterday...maybe 20 times better! I didn't get to sleep until 6 a.m., but was able to sleep til about 10, and since then, Tom has eaten 3 eggs (and lots of other stuff--his appetite is returning!), banged on some toys from the playroom, and even figured out how to stand on his left leg using his right cast for balance. We have his pain managed much better today, so that is good. The new challenge is that, with feeling better comes new frustrations that he can't do all the things he is used to doing, like getting out of bed on his own, picking things up, and feeding himself.

We are heading home in about an hour. The daddy came with the kids earlier today, and we had a nice little Easter lunch in the hospital cafe with just our family. Rex stayed with me to help entertain Tom while I packed up and Hoffbeast took the others home for the afternoon. Soon, he will return and pick us up...it'll be good to get home!

Update - 5:00 a.m. Sunday

It's nearly 5 a.m. He just fell asleep (Praise the Lord!) after being awake since midnight. I think I'll stay up to watch the Easter sunrise, and then I will sleep as long as he/they will let me...

Update - 8:30 p.m. Saturday

It has been a very long day. Tom was in a lot of pain for much of the day but is finally sleeping. First time he's slept since 9 a.m. We finally feel like we have his pain management under control, but we've decided to stay here one more night. This is The Long Saturday for us for a different reason, and I pray that God will continue to teach me of His love for me as I love on my little guy. The spiritual analogies are flowing here, people! I'm missing my other kids but feel really good about this decision. When you pray, ask the Lord to heal his right hand in particular....because there was so much work done on it, it is the one that is causing him the most discomfort. Thank you so very much!

Update - 6:00 p.m. Saturday

The daddy and I make a pretty good team...I hold Tom and comfort him all I can, and Hoffbeast tries relentlessly to entertain him and make him laugh. Looking like we will be here another night...pain is just not under control enough yet. It was a really rough day, but the evening is looking up. Keep praying...God is sustaining us.

Update - 11:30 a.m. Saturday

Okay, folks, pray us up, please! I haven't been able to be on here today because I've been busy being bossed around by my toddler. I certainly don't mind that part, but the reason he's bossing me around is because he is. just. so. miserable. It's pretty awful. And so sad for the mama's heart. Daddy is on his way, and I'm hoping that he will be able to comfort Tom. When he's sleeping, it's a beautiful thing, but when he's awake, he's so sad. We have had some small successes, so that's good.....it's going fine, but it's hard. Okay, this is the sweetest thing....the kids sent Tom a video text, and he is watching it over and over. He just looked at it and said, "I love you, Beth!" It's the ONLY thing that has made him happy so far today. Yay for technology!