Trials and Triumph

I know this has nothing to do with Jordan's healing, but it does have lot to do with Jordan's family and friends. I haven't posted to Jordan's blog in over month and I apologize. This last month has been like a tailwind of turbulance in my life, as well as that of our friends and family. It began with an undiagnosed illness that was plaguing our dear friend and pastor, Brother Glenn Weekley. To the best of our knowledge, he began battling this illness only nine weeks ago. He has been a dear friend, as well as the servant-leader of our church. He has seen my husband and I through the loss of our Laura in a car accident in 2001 and been a huge support to us during Jordan's accident and recovery. I have never known anyone who exemplified more Christ-like behavior than Brother Glenn. His life's goal was to "go to Heaven and take as many people with him as possible". His life has been an inspiration to our family and countless others. On Tuesday, September 11, he lost the battle to that illness, which turned out to be a form of cancer. He did triumph in that he accomplished his life's goal. And I have no doubt that he heard the words that every Christian longs to hear from Jesus Himself, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!!!"

Exciting, but Scary

Jordan is finally moving toward having the trach removed. Today, August 13, the ENT Specialist placed a scope down the back of Jordan's throat to get a better idea about Jordan's healing progress. The ENT was encouraged enough to replace his trach with a much smaller one. If all goes well, the trach will soon be capped and he will begin the process of moving toward trach removal. This is both exciting and scary at the same time. This is something that we have prayed for diligently. At the same time, if we have it removed too soon, he could require having another tracheostomy. We do not want that. We pray for huge success for Jordan in this area. He greatly needs an increased amount of succesful swallowing and a greater ability to handle his own secretions. He has a strong gag reflex and a good cough. He can sneeze and sigh. He can swallow somewhat, but not enough for complete removal yet. We will be doing a lot more aggressive swallowing therapy in the days to come. We will be doing the VitalStim therapy if all goes well, among other things. We are hoping for Jordan to be able to have the trach removed as early as Spring 2008. Please pray for Jordan's success

Back to School!!!

Jordan met all his goals for summer break, according to his summer school teacher. She was very proud of Jordan's accomplishments. He worked on making eye contact with people who are speaking to him and acknowledging his understanding of their words. For a child who perpetually looked upwards to the point of rolling his eyes almost completely back into his head, these are huge accomplishments. Answering "yes" and "no" questions with switches is a recent addition to his previous method of clucking his tongue and/or using body language to communicate. Relearning communication skills has been an ongoing process during the last several months. Jordan has done amazingly well to learn to communicate as well as he had done. Remember he only turned three years old in April 2007. Following directions is also an area in which he is continuing to make progress. Jordan can understand a series of commands and often make his body follow the commands. He also worked on his fine motor skills by playing with small toys. He continues to perfect these skills by grasping and releasing objects upon command. Jordan's hands were continually locked into a a tight fist only a few months ago. Being able to play with a toy without a switch is a huge feat for him. Little movements that we took for granted prior to Jordan's acident take on a miraculous air after seeing how hard he has to work to regain that control. Over and over again, we see Jordan start to develop a new skill in painstakingly small increments. He steadily works on his new skills at what seems like a snail's pace until he is able to really put it to use. We are so proud of him.

Trip to the Creation Museum and Cracker Barrel

Jordan had such a wonderful time at the Science Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, near our home in Hendersonville that we decided to venture out and see if we could go on another "field trip". We all love Ken Hamm's creation vs. evolution series and books about dinosaurs and Noah's ark. I had even read the one about Noah's ark to Jordan before his accident. It was one of his favorite stories. Brandon, Jordan's twin is absolutely crazy about dinosaurs. All the children in our home absolutely love Bible stories, even the so-called adults. My husband, Bobby, got on the internet and discovered that the Creation Museum had just opened near us in Kentucky. We were all thrilled but unsure of taking Jordan that far for a "day trip". Bobby was excited about it and began to make plans anyway. He even worked overtime to save the money so that it didn't come out of our already strained budget. With that kind of determination, we could not say"no". So we set out for the Creation Museum.
Pictures could say so much more than I could ever say about it. Everyone had a fantastic time. It was absolutely wonderful. If you get a chance, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. There is something for everyone there.
On the way home, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. We don't often get to eat out anymore. Bobby had also planned for the family to get a treat on the way home... a lovely dinner for the whole family. I was hesitant about taking Jordan into a restaurant. With the wheelchair and loud suction machine, I worry about the reception that Jordan might get in some places. Sometimes people just aren't very thoughtful of handicapped people. He is a very sensitive little boy and we try to protect him from any unkindness. Boy, was I in for a shock! Not only were they kind and thoughtful of Jordan, but they rolled out the red carpet for our family. They made us all feel special and even loved. I will never forget that day or their compassion for Jordan. No one could have treated us any better. It warmed our hearts. If you all are reading this update, I want to thank you so much very for making that day so special for all of our family, especially Jordan. May God bless you greatly. Hopefully we get to stop by and see you all again sometime.