One of Caden’s big appointments for the month is behind us. The results were mixed from my perspective. The good news is that we misunderstood the severity of Caden’s diagnosis last year. It seems that the severity of the curvature was less than we had thought. The bad news is that the curvature has progressed and is near to the 40 degrees that we thought we were at for the past year. The change has been much less drastic, but none the less there are signs of progression. The readings from last year were nearer to 35 degrees and have increased by less than 5 degrees to almost 40 now.
What this all led up to was the doctor saying, “it is only a matter of time until surgery will be needed for Caden’s back.” He estimates roughly somewhere between two and five years before surgery would be required form his perspective. We talked about how a brace might help and the doctor said that a brace would only buy time before surgery would be needed. He said that braces are never the cure for a case like this. Ultimately his advice on braces was, “let Caden be a kid.” We like this attitude a lot. He does not believe the curvature is currently causing any problems with heart and lung growth. He also does not believe that there’s any pain associated with the curvature.According to him, most pain from scoliosis comes in older patients in the form of arthritis.
Caden did see endocrinology since my last post. This appointment was pretty much a non-event. Caden’s calcium has been decreased slightly and his feeds have been increased.
There have been several comments lately about Caden’s weight. Caden appears to be loosing weight to some folks. While Caden has not really lost weight, he has not been gaining any either. We believe that this fact coupled with his growth in height has him thinning out especially in the upper body. Caden has hovered around 30 pounds for about six months now while growing a good bit in height. I have some video footage of him playing without a shirt on that will give you a glimpse of Caden’s upper body and even a look at his back. I will post the video later.
We feel that we have made some ground on oral stimulation and speech lately even though Caden is in a transition between therapists. Caden continues to explore foods by tasting (not swallowing of course). He is getting his teeth brushed every evening. Allowing us to put a toothbrush in the back of his cheek is a big deal. He is also progressing quite nicely with his signing and vocal skills. I will be adding some more video very soon that shows a couple of different snippets is jabbering quite a bit. Sherry has been working with Riley on some explicit phonics. Caden mimics every sound that Riley makes and Sherry says that Caden is coming surprisingly close on many of the sounds.
Little Brother Update
Josiah continues to grow like a weed. I think the words of the pediatrician included “chubby”. The pediatrician loved the weight gain and was glad to hear we are nearing the “sleeping through the night” goal. Josiah has made it through the night a few nights this past week without a feeding. YEAH!!! The entire house is resting better.
Happy Birthday Big Boy Riley
Riley will reach his long anticipated 5th birthday on Thursday. Riley has wanted to be five years old for nearly three years now. The number five used to be his favorite number until I turned him on to NASCAR. Now he has about 43 favorite numbers every week. I usually get him up from his nap/rest time for the last 30-40 laps. He gets a lot of the cooking channel during commercials. His future bride is going to love his knowledge of the kitchen. 😉
Some other cools things going on with Riley is his ability to count to 100. I told Sherry that he had counted to a hundred for the first time a few weeks ago. She said that if I would get him counting to 100 by tens then she could start working on teaching him some math things that require that skill as a prerequisite. The next day he was counting to 100 by tens and a few days later I ask him if he could count backwards to zero from 100 and he did it on the spot. I think Riley has a strong dose of the same gifts I do in the area of math skills.
Prayer Request
Many of you continue to pray for us regularly and we are so grateful. God has surrounded us with an amazing collection of His saints. We need you as much as ever in this next week as we approach Caden’s cardiology appointment. Satan has tried to slip in and work off of our fears. The fact that cardiology would not allow a very simple outpatient procedure has opened the door for all sorts of thoughts. I won’t share the specific thoughts and conversations Sherry and I have had because there is no benefit in sharing that and we desire to speak words of life into this situation. We have been working to guard our own words now that we realize what is happening though these fears that have been cropping up for both of us.
This may sound weird to some, but bear with me. I shared with Sherry a couple of nights ago that I have had a very real sensation of Caden’s back being straight. I have felt his back as I prayed with him by running my hands up and down his spine. There have been a few times where his back has felt straight while praying. It has been so encouraging that it has brought tears to my eyes. To feel this and to know that this is what God is going to do in the future is wonderful. How or when, I don’t know, but Caden’s back will be straightened. I am sure of it.
I ask you to pray for God’s supernatural power to be shown through the healing of Caden’s body to the point that it even surprises you and I who already believe. Ask God to surprise us all with his response to our prayers. Sherry and I get surprised regularly with how God answers our prayers. Please continue to pray with us in this next week in particular as we approach the cardiology visit.
Answered Prayer
Caden has not one new 1-on-1 Shepard at church, but two. Well, sort of. One lady will be working with Sherry this coming Sunday to become familiar with Caden so she can be his primary Shepard. Another lady is taking over as the 1-on-1 program coordinator at Seacoast Summerville and wants to get familiarized with Caden’s care so she can serve as an alternate. Praise God!!!