Update on Timmy's Arm

What a long, long journey we have had with is arm. I am very happy to let you all know that he has completed physical therapy and no longer needs to visit the Dr. YEAH! Praise God!!

He will still need to work on his exercises at home to get his hand to turn over upright. I believe the degree is now close to 70 and a normal person is at a 90. So he isn't far off any more.

The muscle at his wrist wasn't used for 3 months; therefore it has become weak and doesn't want to turn. But with his at home exercises, the Physical Therapist thinks he should be pretty close to normal in about 6 months.

Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!

Timmy's Dr. Appointment Update

Well... Timmy's hand isn't turning like it did after the surgery. So we have to do exercises 10 times a day and he will start physical therapy 2 times a week after Christmas. The PT says she doesn't feel the blockage in his arm like before when she tried to turn it. Therefore her, and the Dr., feel it is just a little stiff and with working it, he will be ok.

Please keep him in your prayers that healing continues to improve and he is able to turn that hand palm upright in no time.

After Surgery Update on Timmy

Sorry this took a while to post. I just wasn't certain what I would say, how much to share, etc. Seems I got a little long winded anyways. *Ü*

We arrived at the hospital at 7am. Did a quick check in and then off to the surgery waiting area. The nurse Timmy had was wonderful! She made him feel very comfortable. And she made us feel comfortable too.

The anesthesiologist was a funny character. He was asking Timmy all kinds of math questions (converting pounds to kg) and Timmy just stared at the guy. I told him that Timmy couldn't even remember his name when asked a while ago, let alone be able to answer any questions like that. Then he told Timmy, "See you later Alligator." And then asked Timmy what he was suppose to say. Timmy just stared at him... again... The poor kid was overwhelmed. But all in all the anesthesiologist was a very nice guy and was just trying to make Timmy feel comfortable with him. He (the anesthesiologist) just struck me as a little odd. *Ü*

Surgery started at approximately 8:30am and was scheduled for 1 1/2 hours. Therefore he would be done and in recovery at, or around, 10 am. At 10:45 am I was wondering why we hadn't heard anything yet. At 11 am Greg went to the desk to find out the status of Timmy's surgery. They said all was well and the Dr. was taking his time and being very careful.

At 11:45 am we still hadn't heard anything. At 12pm Greg went to the front desk again to check on Timmy's status and he was told they just finished up, that Timmy was in recovery, and that the Dr. should be down anytime to let us know how things went. The total operation took 3 1/2 hours.

I can't begin to tell you the thoughts, worries, etc. I was going threw during those extra 2 hours of "unknown". I couldn't concentrate on anything. I brought my Christmas cards and filled out a lot of them during that time, but after about an hour I just couldn't sit any more. I was amazed that Greg could sit there and read his book. My mind was all over the place. There is no way I could concentrate on reading... I guess that is just another difference between us gals and guys.

My brother and sister-in-law arrived around noon to be with us and Timmy. I am so thankful they came. It really helped distract me from my woes. I really enjoy spending time with both of them and feel so blessed they traveled to come and spend the day with us.

What did the Dr. have to say you ask....? The Dr. said it took longer because there are so many nerves, etc and with how deep they had to go he just had to take his time to make sure not to damage any nerves, etc. He told us that at the end of the operation, he turned Timmy's hand and it went flat, palm up, no problem! Praise the Lord!!!

The Dr. did say he wanted Timmy to stay the night so he could have access to stronger medicine because of the operation. He also put a shunt in his arm as well and that had to be removed in the morning before he could go home. He also told us Timmy had a 4" incision in his leg and about the same size incision in his arm. OUCH!

Around 1pm we were able to head up to the hospital room and see our boy. Right way I started to get teary eyed. My baby looked so out of it. I felt so helpless... But I quickly sucked it up, thanked God for pulling him through this, put on a happy face. He didn't need to see me like that!

We all visited with Timmy a little while, he slept a lot that day. After some time, Greg, his brother and his wife left and went to our house. They picked up the other kids and took them out to dinner and then brought them to the hospital to see their brother. They are wonderful siblings!

Have you heard about pets visiting people in the hospitals Well it just so happens that on the day Timmy was there, a gal and her Great Dane were making their rounds. Boy that dog is BIG! Scooby Doo is a Great Dane. *Ü*

During the time Greg was away, my dear friend Lisa (Lisawa to some of you), and her DD stopped by for a visit. It was wonderful to see her. She was my rock that day. My mom was out of town and couldn't be there, therefore I called Lisa when I was feeling low/worrisome while Timmy was in surgery. Side Note: It also reminded me of a time several years back when Timmy was bit by my mom 's dog and had to go to the ER. Greg was out of town (in Japan), and Lisa and another friend Charlyn came to be with me and Timmy at the hospital. I thank God for the special friendships he has given me. *Ü*

While the kids were at the hospital, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a visit. Timmy was sure happy to see them too! *Ü* What a lucky boy to have so many folks stop by and wish him well.

After everyone left, I took the kids back home, picked up a couple things that I didn't tell Greg I needed for spending the night, and returned to the hospital. Greg then said goodnight to Timmy and headed home to be with the other kid-o's.

Timmy had a hard time shaking off the drugs that were in his system. He couldn't hold anything down that whole day. As I mentioned earlier, he slept a lot of the day away. At 1 am he wanted to go for a walk. So up we went, out into the hallway and walked around the floor (wing-area he was stying) of the hospital. I was amazed at his strength, determination, and his ability to bounce back so wonderfully!

I am pleased to say Timmy is doing WONDERFULLY! So much better than I expected. He moves around pretty good now and isn't in much pain. We see the Dr. on Thursday and I will let you all know how that appointment goes.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes! *Ü*

Dad and Son watching some TV:

At home recovering:

A gift arrived in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma:

Update On Timmy

Yesterday was the day we found out what the next step will be. Yes... he will need surgery. He is a little nervous about all this, but all and all I think he is doing fine. He knows it has to be done and there is no way out of it. It is scheduled for 2 weeks and he might be able to come home the same day, as long as he is doing ok.

They will remove the extra bone that connected the 2 bones together and will be taking some of his tendon from his thigh and placing it where they removed the bone to help stop new bone growth to form. Please pray that this works. If not, then the next step might be surgery again or radiation.

The bonus is that he also has a floating bone (isn't attached to anything, just floating in his muscle tissue) that developed during the healing process and they will be removing that as well. Man, this kid just has amazing bone growth!

After the surgery, he will rest for 2 weeks and then it is back to physical therapy. The Dr. feels he will heal just fine. He won't have 100% use of his hand (turning the palm upright) like before, but it will be much much better than what he has now. There is a possibility when he gets older he may need this procedure again.

Please continue to keep praying for Dr. wisdom, the hospital staff, and that Timmy heals properly and is given a sense of peace about the whole procedure.

Thank you for praying for him.

A picture of Timmy's hand for those visual folks. *Ü*

For more information/past posts click here: Timmy

Prayer Request AND Weekly Report: Week 10 1/2

Some of you may remember that Timmy broke his elbow back in Sept. We first reported about in a weekly report HERE, and then an update Here. And we shared little tidbits about Physical Therapy & Dr. appoints here in there in other Weekly Reports.

As of last week, we now know that physical therapy isn't working as they had hoped. He just is unable to turn his left hand upright. The Dr. feels that his bones grew together in the healing process and that is what is stopping him from turning his palm upright. Dr. called it, Heterotopic Ossification. He thinks surgery is the next step.

Things we take for granted that Timmy can't do right now is:

* Hold a handful of M&M's (or anything in his hand). He can hold maybe 3 M&M's max and that is with a lot of effort.

* Opening car doors with his left hand is very hard, unless he turns his body sideways.

* Tying his shoes laces is a lot harder

Timmy took a Cat Scan on Wednesday (11-21-07), and we will find out the results this Thursday (11-29-07). We are both anxious to see the 3-D image of his arm and find out what the next step is.

Please pray for: Dr.'s Wisdom, quick healing of his arm, and peace for us all (ok mommy a little more than dad at the moment), especially for Timmy if the next step is indeed surgery.

Timmy has been such a trooper through all of this, very little complaining at all from him, does his physical therapy exercise w/o any argument, etc. I am very proud of him.

Last week was a busy week for us and we only schooled Monday and Tuesday. Between Dr. Appointments, Cat Scan, and Physical Therapy Monday-Wednesday for Mr. Timothy school for 3 days was hard to get accomplished.

We did start a new writing program for Timmy called Writing Tales Level 1. WE (ok mom is a little over excited about the program), love this program. It is easy to implement, easy for Timmy to do, and very engaging. Here are some pictures of his completed work from this curriculum:

We did basics for everything else and there isn't anything really to share, except for a picture from one of our school days this week!