I'll begin where I should have a few days after my last post. We saw Dr. Austin for our post-op visit and had some good news and some not great news. He healed quite well. Well, except that there's another hole that will need closing. I told Dr Austin that We really like him, maybe we can get together and have dinner sometime, meet his wife and kids. I'm sure they're great. We would just prefer to not have to see him, in the office, or the hospital, or operating room. It was quite a major surgery that he preformed, basically re-doing the original surgery, re-recreating the urethra. The hole is at the very bottom and, he says, it's an easy fix. otherwise, everything looks great. We'll return to Dr. Austin in August to take a look and schedule his next (and FINAL!!!) surgery. It will likely be in late August or early September. The recovery should not be super complex or long lasting. He won't likely need a catheter, but we might have one for a few days to help ensure nothing else stays open that should be closed.
Lucas' last weeks at school were pretty great. I think we have found a gait trainer (walking aid) that will work for him that we will be purchasing this summer. It's the first one he has not screamed through it's use. Moreover, he has even seemed to enjoy himself, on occasion. We are hoping to have our rep, Craig, come out this week and try it in the house. Once we begin the ordering process, it shouldn't be too long before we get it. One of the main reasons we wanted to get a larger, more open house is so that Lucas can move about more freely on his own. We are looking forward to the progress he'll make even through the summer.
He has also grown tremendously and carrying him about is getting more challenging. We were at the pediatrician's office about a month ago and he weighed about 51 pounds. I weighed him again about three weeks later and he was 54 pounds. Oy vey! I think at the beginning of the school year he was only 46 pounds. That's a lot of growth! My body has some issues and moving Lucas around recently has been bringing those issues to light. We are trying to figure out how I can have some help around the house so that I don't have to lift him as much while I recover from a treatment to strengthen my ligaments (which hold bone to bone; mine are loose and not doing a very good job). It's a long recovery (8 weeks) and I'm not supposed to lift more than 20 pounds in that time. Sounds a bit ridiculous to some, perhaps, but I've had it done a few times in the past and it has worked and been the only thing I've found to work. We were thinking about having a college student stay with us, but now we are looking into hiring someone. If we find a service or ministry or person who works well with Lucas and our family, we may end up getting a few more date nights too, which would be nice. :)
Lucas' growth is exciting too. He is healthy and getting stronger. We have started having him walk up the stairs using his right leg, which he does Not favor, to strengthen it. I found him some fantastic velcro high tops that prevent his ankles from rolling, so we can do some stuff a little more casually around the house without having to get out his braces and sneakers that fit over his braces. They are great shoes for our function and they look super rad. :)
We celebrated his 6th birthday in Brooklyn after a three day birthday extravaganza for his cousin Darla's first birthday. We did take pictures, but I am not going to get to that today. We have pictures of other things too, some more special olympics and maybe a few other school activities as well as some pictures of our new house. That's right, folks; we finally moved!!! Eight months and five days after we bought the house, we moved into it. It's amazing and big and beautiful. There has been such an increased ease in living since moving too, perhaps due to the simplicity of only living in one place, perhaps due to the fact that the television is in the basement and hardly gets turned on anymore. It's likely many things culminating together. Bottom line: it's good to be home!
We are on break this week and summer school begins next week. It will just be from 8-12, M-Th and he won't have music or art classes, but he will still be getting some therapy and, hopefully, get to work on riding a new bicycle the school is supposed to be getting this summer. If it doesn't come in time, he's going to certainly be on it when his first grade year beings in August!
I am certain there is more to say, but I need to feed the children and, perhaps, myself. We continue to thank God for all of you and pray that you would seek Him and know Him. He loves us so much and longs for us to realize it.
Blessings!
