Caden is on the schedule for September 2, 2005 for his next botox treatment. We do not have a time, but this visit is going to be outpatient. They will have to sedate Caden but they are more comfortable with his recovery from anesthesia after his last two procedures with no complication with the anesthesia.

Follow up to last posting
I feel like it is necessary to give an apologize for sounding so down and out in my last posting. Sherry and I got many responses and most were apologies for reading but not contacting us. It’s okay. I really was not trying to put a guilt burden on anyone. As Sherry says it best, “It really is not other people’s responsibility to lift us up.”

My last posting is much like many of my normal everyday conversations. I really could have said things better. I much more of a thinker than speaker in most cases. Our friend Stephanie emailed Sherry and nailed my feelings pretty good. Stephanie is Emory’s mom and she knows exactly what I was trying to say even though I didn’t do as good of a job saying it as she did. Here is a piece of her email to Sherry:

I feel that some people in our lives feel like “Now what’s wrong?” about us too. It’s weird when people ask you how things are going because there’s never a simple response and you don’t know if they really want to hear all of the gory details or not!… …you have to worry about how much the people you’re talking to really understands about what you’re saying. It’s a mess…that’s just one more reason that it’s so great that we have each other!

Yeah…What she said, that’s what I meant to say. Stephanie is right. I never really know what to say when someone asks how things are for that exact reason.

Sherry has recently been talking to several other parents of children with unique health issues. These interactions with other moms plus some other things we have encountered recently have enlightened us to how thankful we should be for the circumstances we have. There are families with much worse situations than us. Sherry is also learning that the emotions and struggles we go through on a weekly basis are a VERY common theme among families with unique health concerns with their children. Sherry told me tonight that within a few short minutes of conversation with other moms she finds herself hearing her feelings being verbalized by other moms who are living almost the exact life that we are living on so many different levels. We are amazed at how many people are living a very similar life with some of the exact same concerns we face on a day to day basis. Maybe the fact that we share our feeligns makes it easier for others to share their feelings with us. Regardless of the reason, it is alarming to hear that so many people struggle with such similar emotions and problems as we do.

I hope that was not too heavy for you. Please don’t take my moaning and groaning too personally. I just get caught up in the emotions of all the things… See you were getting that deer in the headlights look that I see when telling people how I am really doing.

Anyway things are okay, really! Oh, and Riley’s leg problem seems to have disappeared as quickly as it came. Thanks to Stacey for reminding me to tell you about Riley. A co-worker who follows Caden’s Page suggested that it could have just been some growing pains. That sounds reasonable enough for me because nothing else made any sense.

Sherry got out of the house tonight for a while to go visit the Drake twins at the hospital. She got to hold one of them and came back glowing. The twins are both doing great and should be discharged soon.

I will probably not have time to post tomorrow and I wanted to remind you about Emory. He is scheduled for surgery on Friday. The surgery is up in the air right now because he got some test run at a pre-op visit today that has raised some concerns. Please pray for Emory and his family. They need clarity in what is wrong with him right now so that the problem can be cleared up and allow for him to get his surgery. Emory needs to get this surgery done so that he can move forward and maximize his developmental potential.

Thanks for all of your prayer and support for us and for our friends. Your prayers are being answered. You can read about the answered over and over again in these pages. Please praise God for these friends who have landed in our lives who give us a sense of understanding about our emotions. Thanks for the emails. Sherry and I both share the same love language and that is words of encouragement. Some of the emails we have recieved lately are just what the doctor ordered.

One other thing…I posted about 10 new pictures of Caden this evening.

Enjoy! God Bless!