Happy Birthday!!!

On April 14, 2008, Jordan and his twin brother Brandon, celebrated their fourth birthday. What a blessing that were able to celebrate yet another year together. We often don't realize how special each moment is until there is a possibility that we might not get to share the next one with the people that we love. Jordan's accident made us keenly aware of what a gift that each new day is. None of us are promised tomorrow, so we need to live each day as if it were our last. Live fully, love unconditionally, and laugh as often as possible. Most of all, we need to remember to thank God for our many blessings.

More pictures!!!

Jordan can sit up and play for the first time since the accident without the aid of a wheelchair or someone holding his head and trunk upright. It still requires a lot of effort on Jordan's part to maintain this position, but he gains strength every day. He is sitting up with the aid of only a soft foam booster chair-like seat called a "Bumbo" and a standard child's tray for holding toys. Jordan's therapists have said the chair supports Jordan just enough to help develop further head and trunk control while supporting his lower spine in the correct position. This is such an amazing breakthrough for us and Jordan. If he can do this, he can do so many more things...like continuing to make progress with his "walking" therapy. We are very hopeful.

Jordan's speech therapist has also been very encouraged by Jordan's improvements lately. He has greatly improved his adeptness at wearing his passey-muir for vocalization. He has been able to go longer periods of time without suctioning even while awake. His eye contact has improved as well as his ability to find and follow objects with his eyes.

Wow!!!

Another time when pictures convey the message so much more than mere words. Look at that head and trunk control as well as his bent knees! Way to go, JO-JO!
We are so happy to report that Jordan has recently (since his trip to see Dr. Tennant 2-04-08 through 2-08-08) gained head and trunk control that he has not had since his accident in June 2006.
I will be doing a full update on Jordan's healing progress very soon. Jordan's mom and nurse just walked through the door to report that he had an awesome day at therapy and they have pictures to prove it. I will post them soon.

and now...Back to Dallas!!!

Four generations of Jordan's family made the trip to Dr. Tennant's Dallas clinic recently. Jordan, his mom, his granny and his great grandfather all were blessed to be together for Jordan's recent Dallas visit. Going to the Tennant Institute for Integrative Medicine is always a great blessing. Jordan continues to make great strides toward recovery each time. However this time was just ---spectacular. Jordan's mother and grandmother had accompanied him several times, but Jordan's great-gandfather, Rip Benefield or "Daddy Rip" as he is affectionately called, had never met the doctor who had played such an important role in the life of his young relative. This was a special trip in many ways.
Dr. Tennant was pleased to be able to see Jordan's progress in person, as always. Jordan was even feeling so chipper that he actually kicked his physician, playfully of course. For a TBI near-drown child like Jordan to be able to move at all is a huge feat, but to be able to maneuver a sideways kick in response to playful stimuli like that was a huge milestone.
When Jordan first came to Dr. Tennant, he was totally incapable of ANY movement. He was totally unresponsive, locked in his own little world, unable to communicate or even be put into a carseat without a struggle. We were literally afraid of breaking bones if we tried too hard to reposition his "gingerbread boy stance". His eyes were almost continually "rolled back into his head". It was heart-breaking. We believe that Jordan could very well have remained in that condition, if it had not been for Dr. Tennant's integrative medical approach to Jordan's care. He began to make changes in Jordan's care immediately and within a week Jordan had quite literally ''awakened from his comatose state". Jordan has been making steady improvements ever since that time.
As always, the week was not over, before we had seen new therapies and treatments added to Jordan's regimen along with remarkable changes in Jordan. How blessed we are to have been able to experience this great week together as a family and with our wonderful friend and doctor, Jerry Tennant. He and his staff helped to make it a very special week for all of us.

This Bittersweet Holiday Season

It seems surreal that the holiday season has come and gone so quickly this year. It has been filled with both immense blessings and immense sadness. I feel badly about not having posted to Jordan's blog in so many months. It's not that I haven't had things to report about Jordan's healing, I guess I just checked out emotionally. I let the busyness of life just carry me through while being essentially disconnected from my first holiday season without my mom who passed away last January very suddenly and unexpectedly. My mom's favorite time of year has always been the holiday season. The firsts of everything are always the hardest. We learned this lesson well following our precious daughter Laura's fatal car accident in 2001. This has also been our first holiday season without our beloved friend and minister, Brother Glenn Weekley. Just knowing that he was available when the need arose was a great comfort to us as a family. He has always been such an encourager. Knowing that we can no longer just pick up the phone and speak to these very special people has been difficult not only for me but for our whole family. That probably sounds very selfish, but we all do miss them very much. The holidays seem to make us all acutely aware of the absence of those we love no matter what the circumstances. However, we do take great comfort in knowing that for believers, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".
I want to make sure that while I continue to sort through my own feelings of grief that I do not let it color my entries on Jordan's blog and it has seemed that each time I tried to post an entry that was just what did actually happen. It was either much ''too up" or much "too down" and none of the "just right in the middle". As a family, our lives have been so touched by other caring people that have reached out to us so very many times, that I have finally decided to start posting entries again despite my personal struggles. It had been easier to cover my lingering feelings of sorrow in brief encounters, but when you attempt to get real and "bare your soul", it is much more difficult to not let the true emotions show. I keep thinking that I should be able to just "get on with my life". Intellectually I know what I need to do, but "my heart just ain't listening". I hope that those who read this will just bare with me.
Despite everything, God has been patient and kind to me personally and to our family as a whole. He has generously showered us with gifts...dedicated prayer warriors who DO NOT QUIT, financial gifts to help ease the burden of caring for a chronically ill child, numerous gifts of the much needed "home repairs" that continually get put on the "back burner" in order to provide for other needs, and the most wonderful Christmas blessings that left every one of our family feeling completely speechless and overwhelmed with His love. Last but not least, God has walked with us every step of our journey and reached out to encourage us daily through His word and His people. Never underestimate the power of a hug, an e-mail, a phone call, a card, or even a simple smile to brighten the day of someone else. And I thank God for everyone of YOU who diligently care about Jordan and our family.

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