Whispers, A Funny, and a Little Bit of Normal.

Hey everyone! Boy have we ever been blessed with some BEAUTIFUL weather here in East Tenn. now if we could get rid of the pollen that would be excellent. I wanted to share a couple of our "surgery trip" stories with you, and then give you another update on Ty in this post.
Remember how I was talking about when you really feel like you can't make it another moment, God knows this and He will either flat out drop something in front of your face or He will whisper something to let you know that He is there? Well we had four little whispers while on this trip. One happened to me, and the rest of them happened to Andy, but since I consider us a team they trickled over to us both. I already said how we stayed in NJ this past time, and how we had to spend the night in the hospital after Ty's surgery. Well of course I had nothing with me because I never intended to stay there. So off my sweet hubby goes back to NJ to grab me a toothbrush, clothes, things for Ty, and my all important phone charger. My battery was just about dead. So I knew it would take him a couple of hours to get back, and I had told him I was gonna turn my phone off to save power. So in walks Ty's nurse. I love to educate the nurses about Port Wine Stains, Sturge-Weber Syndrome, and glaucoma. Most of them have NO clue. Neither did I though. Even being in this NYC hospital where there are quite a few cases of it, most of the nurses during Ty's hospital stay didn't know what was going on with him. We started talking about it and just general conversation led to the fact that she was from the exact same area that we were staying in NJ. She gave us very helpful information for future use about the buses. NYC transportation info to a southerner is like gold. Cabs can be expensive. So having info about bus routes, subway routes, etc. is great.
My whisper came in the form of Ty's nurse. I was kind of stressed about my phone dying and me not being able to contact Andy. Yet, I didn't like having it turned off to save the power either. My nurse happened to look down and see my phone. She said, "I just got that type of phone and I love it dont' you?" I said, "Yes, I do, but I forgot my charger and I have it turned off right now b/c the battery is dying" She then says, "I have mine with me and I am here until 11:30pm, I"ll let you use it to charge your phone". Wow! I was so excited. God provided something so small as a phone charger to let me know He was meeting our needs.
Andy's whispers happened while Andy was on his way back to NJ. He hopped in a cab, and it turns out that the cabbie had on Praise and worship music. NYC is very diverse and the chances of him catching a cab with a Christian driver are almost impossible. Nothing is impossible with God though because not only did Andy catch one cab with a Christian driver, he caught two cabs with Christian drivers. God whispered to Andy twice. Both cab trips brought forth talk about our trials with Ty and about God and trusting Him. It was a wonderful refresher for Andy and also a wonderful moment for God to show us that He will never leave us nor forsake us even in a NYC cab. The last whisper for Andy was when he drove down to catch the ferry. You have to pay to park your car and then you can catch the ferry. The attendent struck up a conversation with Andy, and when she found out what was going on she didn't charge him to park. I know these things sound little, but they certainly were our Whispers from God. Our encouragement during our trials. He amazes me! Did He have to do it? No, he didn't. Did He want to do it? Yes, because He loves us! Just remember those truths when you are facing trials of your own.
Now on to my funny! It is actually on Andy. I am sure he could find plenty on me, but since he doesn't write this blog- AH HA HA! I get to tell the funnies. Andy is the king of tickets in NYC when we drive there. You put a country boy in the big city, and I guess it just comes out. Most of ya'll that know Andy will agree with me when I say that he is always on the phone. Well guess what folks? Ya can't talk on the phone in NYC or NJ while driving. It is against the law! So Andy had a traffic cop pull him over. The cop asked Andy, " How do you all do it in Tn. with the cell phones when you drive" So Andy says, "Well, in Tn. we are coordinated and can talk and drive at the same time" The cop just laughs and says, "Well since you are in NJ now and it is against the law to talk and drive what are you gonna do" Andy says, "I am gonna hang up my phone and put on my seat belt and drive away" The cop says, "Then go on and get outta here". Whew! Andy was saved from another traffic ticket. We found out later that cell phone tickets are a pretty pricey ticket. We were so blessed that Andy had a cop with a sense of humor. Not everyone can appreciate Andy's humor at times! Another cool thing that happened. The lead singer of the group U2, Bono, was in the office at the same time Ty was. Dr. R was going to introduce us, but I told him Ty had no clue who he was. I am not a big U2 fan. I don't dislike them, but I just wouldn't run out and buy a CD. They did however say that Bono was extremely nice. So to all of you U2 fans out there, I thought that was kind of cool.

Ty is doing really well after his surgery. We had a post-op visit with his Knoxville doctor this past Monday, April 12. The pressure was at 28 that day, but Dr. M wasn't too concerned. He felt that it would come down. On Tuesday, I took Ty to school so that he could eat lunch with his buddies. He did just that, and then we went out to swing on the playground with his friends and then to library. He had so much fun, but he was exhausted afterwards. He has been sleeping around 2 hours each afternoon. His body needs the rest, and honestly it makes me feel less anxious when he and Evan are sleeping at the same time. Trying to keep those two from wrestling and playing is making me a nervous wreck. His little buddies at school were so excited to see him, and he was just as excited. He misses school. Hopefully by the last week of April he can go back for a bit each day. Andy and Ty made the trip up to NYC this time without me. I stayed home with Tristan and Evan. They left on Wed. and Ty's appt. was Thursday morning 4/15. We got awesome news! Each day Ty's sight has been improving. By Wed. he could slightly see the t.v. and by Thursday morning at the doctor his vision was 20/50. He can now watch t.v, play his nintendo, and see large numbers and letters. It should improve more and more as his swelling goes down and the healing continues. The best part of the news was that his pressure was down to 18!! The doctor would like it to come down to 15. We are getting closer. His doc also discontinued one of his glaucoma drops and the antibiotic drop that we were giving him. So now he is on 1 drop three times per day, 1 drop every three hours, 1 drop at bedtime, and liquid medicine 1 tsp 4 times a day. The hope is that we can discontinue all of these medications and still have low pressure. Dr. R wants to see Ty back up this coming Thursday on 4/22. This time I will go with Ty while Andy stays home to work. This will be my first solo trip to NYC. I am confident that it will be fine though. We are continuing to have good news and see Ty come back to being that mischeivious, rowdy little boy. God is so good! Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. We could not go through this without the awesome support we have received. I will continue to keep everyone posted. Until next time.....

Now....We Wait!

We arrived back home last night around 11:30pm to the beckoning of our beds. Whew! how I missed my Select Comfort mattress! As with all of our NYC trips we have some interesting stories to tell. Many of them in the form of "God's little whispers". You know the moments when you just need Him and think you can't do it another minute, but then He lifts you up to new heights? We got a few of those blessings to encourage us. Oh yes, and thank goodness for Blackberry technology and Facebook, which allowed me to keep informing our many prayer warriors. Your prayers were certainly felt. So this will be long, but I want to start from the beginning. Pull up your chair and get your popcorn- Ha!

As I stated before we had decided to stay in Edgewater, NJ this time to help cut some of the costs of staying in Manhattan. The room was really nice and we could ride the ferry boat over to the island. The morning of surgery we did just that. We had some glorious weather for NYC. In fact, it was a record high of 92 on surgery day. The ferry ride over was so neat. The Manhattan skyline was neat to see from the river, and Ty thouroughly enjoyed himself. The whole ride on the ferry was around 10 minutes, but from the hotel to the hospital in took an hour to get there. Much longer of a commute than our usual Manhattan 7 minutes. Once we arrived at the hospital it was business as usual. We checked in, and prepared for our wait. It was 9:00am and surgery didn't start until 11:00am. Oh, and mother of the year here forgot Ty's Nintendo DS at the hotel. Luckily, I had some Bakugans in my purse and all was saved. We tossed the Bakugans back and forth for HOURS!!! Oh what kids never get tired of doing!!!!

Dr. Ritch was running a little behind so finally at 11:45am Ty went down for surgery. It is really neat in NYC because the parents are allowed to "suit up" and go into the O.R. with their child until they go under general anesthesia (GA). As we go to the room the nurses all were so excited to see Ty. The last time they saw him he was 3 1/2 years old. They couldn't believe he was so big. Neither can I really. Time sure does go fast. So the nurse anethesist put chocolate flavoring on Ty's GA mask and showed it to him. He was so funny. He was like, "Yummy! my favorite" and he pretended to lick the mask. It did smell good. I am sure he was hungry too because he had not had anything to eat or drink since around 8:00pm Tuesday night. He fell right asleep, and I was escorted out to wait. The surgery took around 2 hours to perform.

Dr. Ritch called me when it was all over and told me that things went "technically really well" and that he was on his way to recovery. Oh yes, and that he had videotaped the surgery and we would get a copy. Now I realize that sounds probably disgusting to some of you, but I think it is too cool. I love to watch stuff like that.

They had given Ty morphine so he was out of it for a while. In the recovery room we learned that Ty was going to stay all night at the hospital. Remember we were staying an hour away in NJ. With all of Ty's surgeries we have never had to stay overnight. This was a first for us.

They moved us upstairs to a semi-private room to let Ty recover. Things went well until they moved another family in who spoke Indian. Let's just say they didn't speak quietly, and I am not really sure they knew much English. Welcome to NYC, a diverse melting pot!

Ty woke up to a foreign language and no vision. To say he was frightened was an understatement. He cried out to me and reached for me! Oh my, it was so hard to watch. He started to cry and tell me he was scared. We prayed together which helped him calm down, and thank goodness I brought his I-pod. I plugged his earphones in and turned it to Chris Tomlin. He finally fell asleep. Later the Indian family left, and no one else was placed in our room. Thank goodness.

He slept in and out for a few hours while Andy had left to go get me some clothes and other things for our overnight stay. At this point we both were really wishing we had stayed in Manhattan. Ty woke up again and this time he really felt bad. He threw up twice. It turns out he was having a reaction to the anesthesia. This was another first for him. He has been under GA so many times that I have lost count. He has never thrown up before. He was ordered some meds and was able to sleep through a LONG night. I had the chair beside him. The next morning he threw up two more times. So we had to stay at the hospital all day long to make sure he stopped vomiting and also to monitor his glaucoma pressure (IOP). All day long the docs were giving him IOP checks.

Now I want to give you a little background on his surgeries. He actually had two things done. The first one is the shunt tube, which some of you remember that he had in his left eye. The shunt is our backup method. The other procedure is called a deep sclerotomy, or "window" as I call it for short. They basically make a window in the eye to make a drainage port for the extra fluid, which is causing Ty's increased IOP. They are hopeful that this will work. The waiting game is on now because in order for us to know if it works will not be evident for 1 to 2 weeks. After the "window" surgery the IOP tends to go high. This is normal the docs have said. They were impressed by the fact that Ty's IOP never climbed above 29, which is what it was running before surgery. So they put him back on all of his meds in order to bring the IOP down again. Also he has major swelling in his eye, which is contributing to the high IOP. They have told us as his swelling decreases then the IOP should decrease too. If it works, then they will slowly wean Ty off of his meds. The docs goal is to have his IOP at 15 and to not be on meds. This would be awesome!!!!

As far as his vision is concerned it is very blurry. He was able to open his eye Wed. night briefly and see me and Andy. This was a huge praise. The eye is extremely sore and feels as if he has sandpaper in it. This is from the stitches and the swelling. He kept it closed most of Thursday and Friday, but this morning has opened it a little bit. He has to wear a clear plastic shield over it. This is what it looks like. His lips were also extremely swollen from the GA.

He will continue to regain his vision as he heals. It sure is hard to keep an active 6 year old boy still! That is another of my prayer requests. Also for WWF between Ty and Evan to be on hold for a bit, or in other words no wrestling matches. Ty will see his Knoxville doctor on Monday, and then he and Andy will head back to NYC on Thursday for a recheck. We pray that we continue to see healing and also decrease IOP. I am gonna wrap this post up b/c it is soooo long that ya'll are probably tired of reading it. First though, I want to thank all of our prayer warriors. I especially want to thank the staff and students at Grace Christian Academy and Grace Preschool for praying so hard and for loving our boy!! There are many more too that I have on my heart to thank. In the next few posts, I would like to share some of our "whispers from God" and also a good funny that Andy did. Before I go I would just like to encourage you to really get to know GOD!! All things are possible with HIM. We could never go through this without HIM. Also search out the different names of GOD. If you didn't know He has different names, well you do now. Although they are all specific to us the one that stands out the most is The Lord Who Heals, or Jehovah-rapha!! I encourage you to get to know all of His names. A great book for this is Kay Arthur's, "Lord, I Want to Know You"

Until next time...

He makes all things new

Well we made it! After 12 hours in the car and getting lost in New Jersey, we arrived at the hotel tonight around 8:40. Our plan is to ride the ferry boat into Manhattan tomorrow morning, and then catch a cab to the hospital. We need to be there at 9:00am and Ty's surgery is scheduled for 11am. We had a good drive up today. It really wasn't that bad. I always find it amazing how God works. I was rather dreading the long trip up, but I had an unexpected moment during my turn to drive. First of all, there is not much to do when you are driving and everyone else is sleeping. So I figured that this would be a perfect time to pray! I had been having just a bit of anxiety about Ty's surgery today, but God is so sweet that in this quiet, driving time while Ty and Andy slept he showed me a couple of things that I would like to share with you all. First he brought to my attention this verse from Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things" So in that moment when I heard these words I chose not to be afraid! To trust on His truths. Will this trial be the outcome that my heart desires? I am not sure. Will this trial be the outcome that God desires? Absolutely!!! He also showed me along my drive the promise that He makes all things new, which is evident in His creation. It sounds so simple that I had a profound moment while driving, but I literally drove along looking at the red bud trees blooming, the forsythia ( those yellow bushes), and the blue, cloudless sky. I just had to praise the Lord that He is in control of making all things new. The flowers, the grass, the trees, etc., which are all evident as we are beginning our springtime. Most importantly, He is perfectly capable of making Tyler's eye new if He so chooses to do this. It was a wonderful worship moment for me in the midst of a time of unknowns. I may not know what lies ahead for Tyler, but I do know God's Word. That my friends, is a refreshing feeling.

I hope to update everyone as soon as I can. Surgery will last around 2 hours. Please pray for a miracle for surgery and for Ty's vision. We certainly serve an awesome God! Thank you more than words can say. We love you all!
Until next time.....