October 28 - surgery day

(It was Nathan's first time to ride facing forward. At first he looked really scared and held on tight to the car seat. After a little bit he seemed to enjoy it)

Friday morning we arrived at Children's Hospital of Alabama at 9:00 am. It was nice to not be here at 6:00 am, as we usually are with Nathan's surgeries. After waiting at registration for a little over an hour we were placed in our room for One Day Surgery.(Nathan gets a little tired while waiting)

Once in the room with met with our doctor, a nurse, the anesthesia doctor and nurse and a chaplain (he was very nice and brought Nathan some books, a stuffed animal and prayed with us).

To pass the time we played some tickle games with Nathan. Nathan loves to be tickled.

Next they came in and marked his ear.
At noon Nathan was carried back for surgery. Around 1:00pm the anesthesia nurse called and said that Nathan was now asleep and they would begin the procedure. Around 3:00pm Nathan's doctor came in to tell us the surgery was a good success and he was able to get the devise probe in all the way. He then came back about 15 minutes later and told us he wanted to move the processor back on his head a little more. He felt it was a little too close to the ear and may bother Nathan. We are very glad that he was working to make everything perfect now and not just wait until a later date to see if it bothered Nathan. (From what I saw on the board he had 11 surgeries Friday). He was very easily able to make the adjustment. Nathan was still under anesthesia so he did not know any different. About 4:00pm he came back and let us know all went well. Nathan's processor will stick out of his head, under the skin, a little....but will soon be covered by hair. His skull is only 6mm thick. They recessed it about 2mm but did not want to get any closer making a weak point in the skull and doing anything to harm the brain. Again thankful for a very careful doctor.

At 5:30 One Day Surgery closed and we were moved out of our room to the regular surgery waiting area (this is for people who have rooms in the hospital). We did have a room in the hospital, that was ready, but we were not going up there until Nathan was ready. We got a call on the surgery waiting room phone around 5:45 that Nathan was doing well, just still very sleepy. Around 7:00 Nathan was ready to go to his room. His nurses got us from the waiting room and we all headed to the new room.
Nathan was on 1ml of oxygen for a while but they were able to completely take him off by the time he went to sleep. So far, he has not wanted anything to drink, but is getting nutrition through an IV. He has rested pretty comfortably. He got some pain medication last night and has slept pretty well through the night.We will be discharged around 9:00 this morning and then Nathan will need to recover at home for the next two weeks. Thanks to everyone for their prayers for the surgery and we ask you continue to pray for his recovery. Also thanks to Oma for taking good care of Owen and CiCi for taking good care of Logan and Jason & Sarah for bringing us dinner and some movies last night.

The Big Day

We are headed to the hospital in about 45 minutes. Nathan's surgery will probably actually start around 10:30 and it will take a couple of hours. We will spend the night in the hospital. He will have about a 2 week recovery time. I will post more as things progress. Thank you for praying for the surgery this morning.

Visiting the Watts

Friday afternoon we headed down to Enterprise to visit Ranae, Philip and Cooper. We all had a wonderful time together.

Saturday morning Cooper got his haircut.While Nathan and Owen were napping late Saturday morning, Cooper, Logan, Ranae and I had some fun on Cooper's new swing set.
After lunch we headed down to the square for the Fall Festival. Preston enjoyed a funnel cake.Logan enjoyed all the inflatables, getting a new pet turtle and playing in the hamster ball.Cooper enjoyed watching Logan in his hamster ball.
Logan and Cooper had fun playing together in Cooper's ball tent Saturday night.

Lots of stuff

Last week Nathan and Owen's friend Mason came over for a play date. Nathan and Owen just love playing with him. Mason is their first friend, back from the days in the NICU.

Owen has a new chair. He enjoys sitting in it to read books and sing songs.
Last Sunday we participated in a walk to raise money for a Down Sydrome Clinic in Birmingham. The Clinic is in full swing and is helping so many people. We walked with our friend Grace's team.
Last Saturday we headed to Atlanta to spend some time with our friends, Jennifer and Michael. While Michael and Preston were out doing "man work" fixing the lawn mower, Logan was busy painting their closet.


Everyone needed a haircut; JunCheng, Logan and Chen.

God Granted a Miracle

Nathan's cochlear implant surgery is scheduled for October 28th!!!! Once again God is providing in a wonderful way for Nathan!!

What we were up against: Our Medicaid runs out at the end of October. The surgery is $50,000 out of pocket. We just finished our 1 year process at the HEAR Center for Nathan to be approved for implants. Medicaid takes a minimum of 45 days for approval and only approves people who have a 90dB or great hearing loss (Nathan's loss is 72dB). Our Blue Cross does not cover the procedure.

Now: Praying, Praying, Praying is what we were doing. The only way to overcome all of these obstacles is for God to intervene to make it happen.

This past Monday, Preston called the doctor's office to follow-up on their submission of Nathan's case to Medicaid. On Wednesday (yesterday), they called and left us a message telling us they were submitting a letter to Medicaid. Today, Preston called Medicaid and talked with his contact. They were planning to deny Nathan because his hearing is better than their 90dB requirement. Our contact agreed to talk to the Medical Director to review Nathan's case again keeping in mind he only has one hand and can not learn sign language. Preston, myself and several friends were praying for this review. This afternoon Preston called me and Nathan was approved!!! I talked with the nurse at the doctor's office and scheduled the surgery date!!! We praise God for the wonderful, amazing way He worked in this process.

This is very exciting for Nathan because this allows him to receive his implants 3 months earlier, which is a huge amount of time for speech and hearing development.

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday afternoon we loaded our van and headed to Heflin. Bennett Farms has a wonderful Pumpkin Patch that we really enjoyed last year. So, we decided to make the hour plus drive out again this year. Everyone in the family had an absolutely wonderful time. Logan's favorite part was playing in the Corn Crib. Nathan loved running through the Hay Maze. Owen seemed to enjoy everything. Chen and JunCheng also came along and really enjoyed the scenery and environment out in the country.

Magic City Mile....preparing for Mercedes

Last year I ran the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon. It was my first 1/2 Marathon and I ran it with my friend Sarah. We had lots of fun training for and running the race together. This year I will once again run the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon but this year running the race is about so much more than just having fun...though I intend to!!

This past summer the boys started at The Bell Center. A center providing physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and special education for children with developmental delays. The boys absolutely love going and seeing their therapist and friends twice a week. The Bell Center is a special place for them to enjoy themselves while receiving additional therapy.

Though we pay tuition to attend The Bell Center, family cost only makes up 10% of their annual budget. The additional 90% is made up through fund raising. One of their biggest fund raising events is the Mercedes Marathon. Anyone participating in the Marathon is offered the opportunity to become a Bell Runner. A Bell Runner is someone who agrees to run in honor of a child at the Bell Center in order to raise money for the programs of the Bell Center. This year Nathan and Owen will have two Bell Runners running in their honor, myself and my friend, Elizabeth!! Thanks Elizabeth!!
To start off the training and fund raising season the Bell Center held the first annual Magic City Mile. This mile run offered a great way for Bell Runners and Bell Center families to meet along with a nice family outing for anyone in town. Our family and some of our family friends ran the race with us!!




We had some supporters to cheer us on. The Joynt's just happened to be passing by, so we were able to talk to them for a minute. CiCi and PawPaw Bill came and were able to see Logan cross the finish line.
If you are interested in donating to my fund raising page in honor of Nathan and Owen please click here

Halloween Shirts

On Thursday our friends Sarah, Gracie and James came over to play. For something fun we had the kids make their own Halloween t-shirts. They really enjoyed creating their designs and decorating their shirts.
They came up with some really cute ideas. I'll get a pic up soon of the kids wearing their finished products.