This was one of those weeks where time was elusive as it simultaneously crept along and caught us up in a whirled. The Timeline Monday morning, May 6th, I awakened early and read a devotional entitled, “Do the Next Thing.” It perfectly resonated with my paradoxical emotions. I dreaded the 7th, I wanted to hurry up and get to the 7th, most of all, I desperately wanted to be on the other side of the 7th with my son in my arms. May 7th was so intense. In God’s mercy, Nathan was as cool as a cucumber, and the four of us had a small posse with us in the waiting room along with a swarm of texts, pictures, etc. of friends in red, bible verses, prayers and well wishes. To say we were being upheld is an understatement. The surgery was supposed to be about 5.5 hours, and we got the typical text updates the first few hours. When Jonny’s phone rang with a call from the O.R. after just over 3 hours, the conversations around me faded to the margi...
(It’s Jonny this time, so set your expectations accordingly - my wife's the writer!) My heart is full! Even though we are 4 days away from what will likely be one of Nathan’s hardest surgeries and certainly the most intense recovery - I witnessed something truly amazing this morning. Our brave son, Nathan, got up in front of 450 of his peers and shared a presentation he created about his upcoming surgery. The backstory is that Nathan loves making google slideshow presentations. He’s had to make a couple for school which is what got him going. But just for fun, he’s made one on the NFL and on the NBA and on various soccer players (feel free to ask him about them, he’d love to show you :)) So when Jen suggested that maybe he make one about his upcoming surgery to share with his class, he was all over it. Then after he made it, he shared it with the school principal and she asked if he would be willing to share it with the whole school during the morning assem...
Today is officially four weeks post-op for Nay, and the growth is quite remarkable! He turned the device on average 3 times a day for 3 weeks, which ultimately advanced his mid-face just over one inch. The kid’s pain tolerance must be super high because he never said he was above a pain level 3 or 4. For perspective, here are two pictures from May 6th, the day before the R.E.D. device went on, followed by two pictures from yesterday, June 3rd. In many ways, it feels like we have lived a lifetime in these four weeks and the range of experiences and emotions have been vast. Like everyone living under the sun, we have found ourselves holding significant pain, sorrow and difficulty alongside deep joy, exhilarating moments and even laughter. There have been gut wrenching moments as we watch Nathan suffer pain, struggle to do the simplest thing or miss out on so much. There have been beautiful moments where he has been embraced by friends, stepped int...
Thanks for posting this video Jen - she is an adorable little lady! -R&S
ReplyDeletelove the commentary :)
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