Yesterday we packed up James' things but didn't have much energy to do anything else.
Today was much better. We were able to pick up and tidy the house and have finalized all the funeral details. It was a very nice day out and spent time outside for part of it. Family arrived for supper and we are all in better spirits.
Abby was having a great day until she slipped on the front porch steps. She managed to hit and scrape her chin, lip, gums around her latest tooth and her forehead. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it's changed her outlook on the day.
Even if we don't bandage her wounds, they will heal and disappear in a few days. Of course our minds will almost always realize that to her brothers, this would be a disaster. We have to balance between being overly protective and concerned for our only child and being under sympathetic and concerned because we have seen the worst.
We are both looking forward to the services so we can move and dreading going through this a second time. It's a rare event that parents have to bury a child and we will do this now for the second time. We also look forward to celebrating James' life and giving glory to God.
Please continue to pray for healthy grieving for our family and safe travel for all.
Comforted by the only One who truly understands,
Stu, Tashia and Tough Girl
PS - we forgot to leave the webisite for Abiding Savior, the location for the reception on Wednesday. We should arrive around 11:45
www.knowingthesavior.org/
Again all are welcome to come to one or all of the services/receptions.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Details
Going through the arrangements during these times isn't easy or enjoyable. However, it's a necessary step in the process. Even though Abby keeps us busy, we are still tired and weary. We know by experience that it does get better with time.
Below are websites with information for this week. The link feature still doesn't work for me, so you will have to cut and paste.
Hills of Rest (burial) - www.hillsofrest.com/
Arthur Evengelical Free Church - www.arthurefc.org
Ida Grove accomodations - www.idagroveia.com/Resources/pages/aboutig_business.html#Anchor-44867
Funeral Home Site www.christensenhuffman.com/
That's all for now, keep visiting for more.
Stu, Tashia and Abby
Below are websites with information for this week. The link feature still doesn't work for me, so you will have to cut and paste.
Hills of Rest (burial) - www.hillsofrest.com/
Arthur Evengelical Free Church - www.arthurefc.org
Ida Grove accomodations - www.idagroveia.com/Resources/pages/aboutig_business.html#Anchor-44867
Funeral Home Site www.christensenhuffman.com/
That's all for now, keep visiting for more.
Stu, Tashia and Abby
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tuesday and Wednesay
It's a bit lonely and sullen even with the family around. We thank God that we have Abby to give us a lift. She is going to keep us active for sure. Her two top front teeth have broken through, but they are still making her a bit restless at night.
Nights are especially lonely since we had to have James between us in bed at night to make sure we heard him cry and breath. Our sleep has been sound and eventually we will be back on a normal schedule.
We were dissapointed to find out the casket has to be closed. Besides kissing him goodbye one more time, we wanted everyone to see him that haven't had a chance.
Services will be Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday there will be visitation from 9-11 at the Arthur church with a service at 11 and reception following. Wednesday we will have the burial service at 11 am at Hills of Rest in Sioux Falls, followed by a reception at Abiding Savior.
All are welcome and invited at any of the services. Please pass this on to those you can. We will provide directions and other information in the days to follow.
Missing our Little Dude,
Stu, Tashia and Abby.
Nights are especially lonely since we had to have James between us in bed at night to make sure we heard him cry and breath. Our sleep has been sound and eventually we will be back on a normal schedule.
We were dissapointed to find out the casket has to be closed. Besides kissing him goodbye one more time, we wanted everyone to see him that haven't had a chance.
Services will be Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday there will be visitation from 9-11 at the Arthur church with a service at 11 and reception following. Wednesday we will have the burial service at 11 am at Hills of Rest in Sioux Falls, followed by a reception at Abiding Savior.
All are welcome and invited at any of the services. Please pass this on to those you can. We will provide directions and other information in the days to follow.
Missing our Little Dude,
Stu, Tashia and Abby.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Home with Jesus
James passed on to his Heavenly home at 3 am this morning. He proved to be quite the fighter.
Check back for information on the services.
Please keep our family in your prayers.
Resting,
Stu, Tashia and Abby
Check back for information on the services.
Please keep our family in your prayers.
Resting,
Stu, Tashia and Abby
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Final Moments with our Son
We checked back into the local hospital Monday afternoon. James was back to about 6lbs and none of the meds have stopped his fluid loss. His fever did break.
All of our attempts to get him fluids at the hospital failed and we have decided that He is ready to go home. This was Monday night and amazingly he is still with us. He is a very strong little guy if only his skin were so...
We are expecting him to leave us at any time and the family is all at the hosptial with him. It may not be right away, but we will still update this site with the news and information to follow.
Weary and relying on God's strength and peace,
Stu, Tashia, Abby and precious Little Dude
All of our attempts to get him fluids at the hospital failed and we have decided that He is ready to go home. This was Monday night and amazingly he is still with us. He is a very strong little guy if only his skin were so...
We are expecting him to leave us at any time and the family is all at the hosptial with him. It may not be right away, but we will still update this site with the news and information to follow.
Weary and relying on God's strength and peace,
Stu, Tashia, Abby and precious Little Dude
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Rolling with the Changes
Go figure, it wasn't even 30 minutes after typing the last update that the Little Dude decided to start throwing up. It was only a few meals yesterday. Today proved much tougher for him. Since 5am he's had over 15 diaper changes and his stools are totally runny.
He also has been running a temp and hasn't slept for more than 10 min straight. So around 6 we took him to the ER. There's no acute care here, but we got service right away. We did take him home with the plan of giving him the Tylenol with Codine every 4hrs along with continuing the stronger doses of Imodium AD. He also was started on some oral antibiotics this afternoon. They started one bacteria culture from the stools and are trying to collect more. However he's only had one right after getting home, so that's good news.
James is also looking a bit better. He was looking really rough at 6 and still is pretty wiped out. Good thing he's been gaining weight. Hopefully the next dose of Codine will knock him out and give him some good rest. The bad side to that is it's tough to wake him enough to eat.
Needless to say it's been a rough day. This is why we are reluctant to give such raving reports like the last because we know days like this are right around the corner. Since this has come on fast we think it is likely an infection either viral or bacterial. His wounds haven't looked infected so we are surprised to see him like this. We are hoping he turns the corner on this so we don't have to have an IV as we doubt there is much experience here giving 7lb kids IV's. That and we saw how hard it was with Tony.
That said, the weather has been great and we both slept well because one Grandma took care of James and the other Abby. And of course we still felt tired in the morning. We hit two quick rummages before giving our nickel tour to some friends visiting from Sioux Falls. After that we spent a few hours at the park with the kids. Surprisingly our daring Abby is scared of the swings.
Dad is well into his project of installing an underground dog fence. Reina should enjoy her expanded territory and it will be easier on us. The cat has been sneaking out quite often with all the company and Dad had to climb out on the roof to get her while installing a window AC unit.
Even with the extra sleep we are quite exhausted from the the emotional drain today. Even though we know he would be in total peace in Heaven we are scared to have to let another child go. It seems like well over a month that we have been out of the hospital the last time, but he's just over 3 weeks old and still seems to be progressing much faster than Tony.
We are continually strengthened by your prayers and request them even more for endurance, wisdom for decisions and most of all comfort and healing for James.
All we can do is trust, pray, praise and do what we can for our family.
Stu, Tashia, Abby and James
He also has been running a temp and hasn't slept for more than 10 min straight. So around 6 we took him to the ER. There's no acute care here, but we got service right away. We did take him home with the plan of giving him the Tylenol with Codine every 4hrs along with continuing the stronger doses of Imodium AD. He also was started on some oral antibiotics this afternoon. They started one bacteria culture from the stools and are trying to collect more. However he's only had one right after getting home, so that's good news.
James is also looking a bit better. He was looking really rough at 6 and still is pretty wiped out. Good thing he's been gaining weight. Hopefully the next dose of Codine will knock him out and give him some good rest. The bad side to that is it's tough to wake him enough to eat.
Needless to say it's been a rough day. This is why we are reluctant to give such raving reports like the last because we know days like this are right around the corner. Since this has come on fast we think it is likely an infection either viral or bacterial. His wounds haven't looked infected so we are surprised to see him like this. We are hoping he turns the corner on this so we don't have to have an IV as we doubt there is much experience here giving 7lb kids IV's. That and we saw how hard it was with Tony.
That said, the weather has been great and we both slept well because one Grandma took care of James and the other Abby. And of course we still felt tired in the morning. We hit two quick rummages before giving our nickel tour to some friends visiting from Sioux Falls. After that we spent a few hours at the park with the kids. Surprisingly our daring Abby is scared of the swings.
Dad is well into his project of installing an underground dog fence. Reina should enjoy her expanded territory and it will be easier on us. The cat has been sneaking out quite often with all the company and Dad had to climb out on the roof to get her while installing a window AC unit.
Even with the extra sleep we are quite exhausted from the the emotional drain today. Even though we know he would be in total peace in Heaven we are scared to have to let another child go. It seems like well over a month that we have been out of the hospital the last time, but he's just over 3 weeks old and still seems to be progressing much faster than Tony.
We are continually strengthened by your prayers and request them even more for endurance, wisdom for decisions and most of all comfort and healing for James.
All we can do is trust, pray, praise and do what we can for our family.
Stu, Tashia, Abby and James
Friday, May 16, 2008
Scheduled Chaos
This week we have been doing much better at getting into a rythym and schedule. Our sleep schedule seems to be at a sustainable level and we are both able to care for James and spend some time with Abby. Grandma has been a big part of this and the question is can we do it without extra help next week.
Abby is teething her center top teeth. She already has the next set of upper teeth and center bottom teeth. It hasn't been as bad at night as in the past, but she has been more cranky overall.
James is gaining weight. How much exactly is tough to tell. We are confident that is at least 6lbs 13 oz and possibly 7lbs now. His feeding was outstanding at the beginning of the week, but has struggled the last few days. This is partly due to the fact that we tried Tylenol with Codine, which knocked him out too well. This made him too lethargic to keep up his appetite. We will either try a half dose or save it when he is in more pain. Maybe we can just drug our kids at night to get our rest!
Little Dude continues to heal, but also continues to have new blisters. There have been a few that have appeared on newly healed skin on his legs which is always dissapointing. We continue to try new methods to heal and prevent blisters. We still hope that we can get the healing to outpace the damage of skin. Time will tell on this.
Other than a hoarse voice, his insides seem to be stable. No gagging episodes since we went to the hospital and breathing seems ok. Sometimes there is gunk in or behind his nose that can affect eating.
His stools might be getting firmer. This is nice because instead of many runny diapers we hope to keep it to just one or two a day. We have doubled the does of Imodium AD and the Codine may have helped this also. We have stopped the breast milk as the pumping is done. We do have a few days supply in the freezer in case we need to loosen things up.
We urge you to read an article by cutting and pasting the address below: (can't get the link feature to work)
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20080511/lifestyle/805110325
This article may help explain the hope of miraculous healing that we have for James. What it doesn't mention is that parents in situations like these have other options. Ones that we honestly never for a moment considered. We could have finished the gentetic testing and determined that James had EB before birth. We shudder at the thought of the options that follow. Either playing with lives by deciding which embryo's get chosen or even worse killing a life in the womb. Unfortunately this does often happen and with children that have non-fatal diseases or even none at all.
Also understand that even without a miracle, we have a hope that drives us everyday. That if James passes on before us, he will have full healing and total comfort in Heaven with Tony. The fact that James is now comforted and cared for by the same Loving God as us gives us comfort everyday.
Please pray that his wounds would heal at a faster rate than his skin is damaged, that we would find a schedule and pattern of life that would work long term and for miraculous healing for James.
Stu, Tashia, Chompers and Larger Dude
Abby is teething her center top teeth. She already has the next set of upper teeth and center bottom teeth. It hasn't been as bad at night as in the past, but she has been more cranky overall.
James is gaining weight. How much exactly is tough to tell. We are confident that is at least 6lbs 13 oz and possibly 7lbs now. His feeding was outstanding at the beginning of the week, but has struggled the last few days. This is partly due to the fact that we tried Tylenol with Codine, which knocked him out too well. This made him too lethargic to keep up his appetite. We will either try a half dose or save it when he is in more pain. Maybe we can just drug our kids at night to get our rest!
Little Dude continues to heal, but also continues to have new blisters. There have been a few that have appeared on newly healed skin on his legs which is always dissapointing. We continue to try new methods to heal and prevent blisters. We still hope that we can get the healing to outpace the damage of skin. Time will tell on this.
Other than a hoarse voice, his insides seem to be stable. No gagging episodes since we went to the hospital and breathing seems ok. Sometimes there is gunk in or behind his nose that can affect eating.
His stools might be getting firmer. This is nice because instead of many runny diapers we hope to keep it to just one or two a day. We have doubled the does of Imodium AD and the Codine may have helped this also. We have stopped the breast milk as the pumping is done. We do have a few days supply in the freezer in case we need to loosen things up.
We urge you to read an article by cutting and pasting the address below: (can't get the link feature to work)
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20080511/lifestyle/805110325
This article may help explain the hope of miraculous healing that we have for James. What it doesn't mention is that parents in situations like these have other options. Ones that we honestly never for a moment considered. We could have finished the gentetic testing and determined that James had EB before birth. We shudder at the thought of the options that follow. Either playing with lives by deciding which embryo's get chosen or even worse killing a life in the womb. Unfortunately this does often happen and with children that have non-fatal diseases or even none at all.
Also understand that even without a miracle, we have a hope that drives us everyday. That if James passes on before us, he will have full healing and total comfort in Heaven with Tony. The fact that James is now comforted and cared for by the same Loving God as us gives us comfort everyday.
Please pray that his wounds would heal at a faster rate than his skin is damaged, that we would find a schedule and pattern of life that would work long term and for miraculous healing for James.
Stu, Tashia, Chompers and Larger Dude
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)