Fracture Update...GOOD NEWS

We finally received a call from Nate's Orthopaedic Surgeon (only after calling their office to remind them that the x-ray was taken 10 days ago and we still hadn't received a report!).

Dr. Holderness said that Nate's fracture is healing nicely and that it looks much better than it did several weeks ago! He said that we should continue to avoid the stander but that we can do anything that Nate tolerates. He'll order another portable x-ray in about 3 weeks to make sure everything looks good before giving us the OK to resume normal activities.

We hope that everyone has a great weekend and thanks for checking up on Nate!

Picture of "Mr. Cool" Driving His Power Chair Today

He loves to go either backwards or in circles over and over (it makes me dizzy watching him!). So, we're still practicing!!!!

Pictures from Halloween and Nate Sleeping During School

Halloween 2006

Happy Halloween everyone (one day late!). We had a great time! Nate passed out candy to all the kids, and we had a LOT of kids! He loved seeing all of them in their costumes, especially the little girls! Dr. Nate was a hit - he was the only one dressed up as a doctor. Trey took him to two of our neighbors houses to trick or treat. It was the first time he had actually been "trick or treating" instead of passing out candy. I almost cried! Of course, he can't eat any candy, but it's the fun of it and he loved it. But his favorite part is seeing all the kids and getting attention!

Nate's sleeping habits are still all messed up. Monday, he had school at the house, and within 5 minutes of the teacher reading a story, he fell asleep...sitting up! So, they left and today he was supposed to have school again. But, he only slept like six hours last night and didn't take a nap today, so I canceled school again because I knew he would either be cranky and cry the whole time or fall asleep on them again! Hopefully, he'll get back on track by sleeping at night and taking naps!!!!

Picture of Mom and Nate on the Patio

October 28, 2006

This week has been an uneventful one, meaning no major crises and nothing really exciting happened. Monday, we went to Story Time at the library and Nate fell asleep within two minutes. I hope the librarian doesn't take it personally b/c he's fallen asleep the last two times we've been! His sleeping habits are still all messed up...he stays up half the night, doesn't take a nap, or naps in the evening. Anyway, we decided to leave the library and went out to the van and the automatic ramp was broken. So Sue and I tried everything (we even tried to lift Nate & his chair into the van - like we're superhuman and can lift all that weight safely!!!). Finally, I called Trey and then he helped me figure out how to manually get the ramp to work. Nate slept through the whole thing! Thankfully, it was a beautiful day outside and we made it home! We've had to use the ramp's manual crank for the last couple of days until we can get the van into the Service Dept. next Tuesday.

Tuesday, the mobile x-ray company came out to do another x-ray on Nate's femur. We haven't heard the results yet but we're hopeful that the femur is healing quickly. He still acts as if it is a little tender if you move his leg a certain way, but we have pretty much done our normal activities except the stander and the ceiling lift.

Today, we "attemped" to go to Brady's 4th birthday party. Nate seemed to be doing fine and just after we loaded him in the Kid Kart to get ready to go, he started struggling. Too many secretions?, a plug?, congestion? ...we just weren't sure. We thought that once we got into the van, he would calm down and do better since he LOVES to go for rides. Unfortunately, the whole way to the Nelson's house, he struggled. Even with his bi-pap on and with oxygen, he had very labored breathing and his heart rate was very high. Ultimately, I took Brady's present into the party and we just came home. He calmed down after a we got him in bed and he was given a breathing treatment. We were very sorry that Nate had to miss the party....The Jenks Fire Dept. was coming for a visit plus there were lots of kids and it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. But, such is life and we know we made the right decision to take him home -- He took a four hour nap this afternoon!

That's it for now.......

Kyle's Birthday Party

Today, Nate went to a friend's Birthday Party which was also a Halloween Costume Party. Like Nate, Kyle Gundy has SMA Type I and this afternoon we celebrated his 2nd Birthday.

Here are a couple of pictures of Dr. Nate, SMA Specialist...

Nate and Mommy taking a few whacks at the pinata... (It's kinda hard to tell who is having more fun here!!!)

Nate & Kyle in the Halloween costumes...

Pictures of the Kids Painting Pumpkins

Friends Over for Playtime

Yesterday we had the Gundys and the Nelsons over. Jana has two children (Tyler, 3 years old, SMA free and Kyle, almost 2 years old, SMA Type I) and Shelley has three children (Hayley, 6 years old, SMA free, Brady, almost 4 years old, SMA Type III, and Colby, 8 months old, SMA Type III). They painted Halloween stuff, watched movies and played. It was a lot of fun! Tomorrow we will be going to Kyle's 2nd birthday party, which is a Halloween party also, and Nate is going to be a doctor. I will attach some pics from the party on Sunday.

It's such a blessing to have met these families, as we have something in common. Unfortunately, it is SMA. But, it means so much to have friends that understand and can relate to the life we lead and the challenges we face.

Missing pictures

Nate & Mommy...

Nate relaxing in his TumbleForms...

Still Doing Better...

Well, we found out Nate has a fracture. It is referred to as a "buckle" fracture. He seems to be healing very well and is tolerating moving his leg, being picked up, getting in his chair, etc. The Dr. said to just keep doing what we're doing, but be careful and go by how he is feeling.

The Prednisone seemed to do the trick on his wheezing and his lungs have been clear and he has spent more time off his bi-pap the last couple of days, which is great!

Nate is really enjoying school. His teacher is wonderful and so are his therapists. We are looking into going to the school gym once a week so he can practice driving his power chair. His physical therapist and occupational therapist were impressed on how well he could drive and said all he needs is practice, practice, practice! He can't really drive it in the house yet (I'm trying to save our walls!) plus with the weather getting cooler, the gym will be great!

Nate has been going to Preschool Story Time at our local library every Monday. He loves it! There is a different theme every week and he enjoys seeing all the kids. The first time we went, I had a hard time b/c all the kids were staring at him and some seemed to be scared of him. It took all I had not to just yell out "He's a normal boy, has normal feelings...he just can't move or breathe like you do!". But I realized he does look different and that is going to happen. It just takes time for kids to get used to him and I explained to them his situation and then the kids were fine and now they talk to him, open the doors for him, and at the end of story time, they all say "Bye Nathan". It's too cute!

I've attached some recent pictures - one of Trey and Nate watching baseball together, doing some male bonding; one of Nate and me spending quality "close" time together (it won't be long until I can't hold him anymore - he's huge!); and, one of Nate in his chair.

So, things are going well and we're staying busy. Nate is so happy and loving life!

Doing Better Today

We finally heard from Dr. Holderness and it's good news. He said no "acute" fracture could be detected. We are still not sure what is wrong - could be a stress fracture, hairline fracture, a nerve, muscle, but...he's doing much better today. He had a great bath and didn't seem to be in much pain when I picked him up. Dr. Holderness has ordered another x-ray for next Monday. He said to just take it easy and go by how he's feeling as to moving him, sitting him up, etc. We will try and get him in his power chair today. His physical therapist and occupational therapist will be here at 4:00. Also, his lungs sounded clear today and he's breathing much better. More good news! Nothing is worse than seeing your child in pain or not being able to BREATHE!!! Something we all take for granted.... He seems to be comfortable and feeling well and he's very happy today, which makes MOM extremely happy!!! I've attached some pics from today's bath and also of him tasting my birthday cake over the weekend. Naturally, he loves sugar! And he LOVES his baths. He moves so much in the water and I hate when he has to miss a bath or has a short one because of pain or respiratory issues. But, not today - today he had a great bath and made his cute sounds and kicked and wiggled for about 45 minutes!!!

Today is a good day................

How long does it take to read an X-ray????

Apparently, A LOT LONGER than one would expect!!!

Late this afternoon, I was told that the X-ray would be read tomorrow morning and we would get the report shortly thereafter. Let's hope so...

Nate is his normal tough self. The swelling has decreased and his right thigh is not warm to the touch anymore. We are hopeful that it is not a fracture but we're pretty sure that something else is wrong. He still has some pain when we move his right leg certain ways and he can only bend it outwards a little bit.

His respiratory situation is so-so. The wheezing has decreased and we have started to taper him off the Prednisone. He does much better when he gets moved around more during the day but given the situation with his leg, he's not getting out and about much.

Thanks for your thoughts, messages and prayers for the Little Man. We'll update again when we FINALLY hear back from the Orthopaedic Surgeon.

Trey

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nate in his Power Chair.

What a night!

Well, it's 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning and boy, have we had a rough day! We spent the evening (4 1/2 hours to be exact) at St. John Emergency Room. Something happened to Nate's right leg and we were worried it was ANOTHER break. He was in a lot of pain today and his leg was swollen and hot to the touch. So, we figured better safe than sorry and took him to get x-rays. The radiologist said he didn't see any breaks, but was comparing his x-ray to the last one taken at St. John in March, when he had the major fracture in his femur and it hadn't healed yet. We will have our Orthopaedic Dr. take a look at the x-ray on Monday to make sure Nate's leg is okay. Otherwise, it appears to possibly be a slight stress fracture or a contusion. All we know is it really hurts Nate, but we were happy to get good news tonight. They also did a chest x-ray at our request because he has been wheezing for the past four days and has had a terrible time breathing. He was prescribed Prednisone yesterday and that seemed to kick in today because we could tell a big difference. And the chest x-ray came back clear - more good news! So, as we say, another "bump" in the road of Nathan's rollercoaster life and we just pick up and get back on track. Of course, Nate was the perfect patient. He handled everything with strength and, unless he was in pain at that time, he was smiling and his happy self. What a guy! Every time, I started to get frustrated or tired or mad, he would smile at me and I realized, what do I have to be upset about! The lessons he teaches us all.....

1st Day of School

On Wednesday, October 4th, Nate has his first day of school! The Bixby Public School System has a great Special Education Program and after meeting with the teachers, therapists and administration officials, we decided to do home-schooling program. We would love to have him in a classroom setting but the risks of catching a cold or flu or worse were just too great. Nate will be able to go to the school for various activities and the first visit will be next week when the Bixby Fire Department visits his elementary school.

Jen set up our middle bedroom as a school room for Nate:



Nate and his teacher, Miss Kathy:


Another one:

Oct. 1st Pool Time

Who would have thought we would be getting in the pool on October 1st??? Well, we did and here is a picture of Nate and Roxy to prove it!

Our visit to the Tulsa Zoo

On Saturday morning (Sept. 30th), we went to the Tulsa Zoo. Nate loved being outdoors and his eyes were moving constantly...looking at all the animals and activity. We visited 4 of the main exhibits and also went to the Children's Petting Zoo. As you will see in the pictures, it was lunch time for the animals so they were too busy eating to pay much attention to the kids!

It was a pretty hot morning so we look forward to going back later in the fall when it is cooler to see the rest of the exhibits.

Here we are in the Tropical Rainforest exhibit:

Nate & Mom in the Petting Zoo:


Nate & Mom check out a Black Bear:

What is this blog thing?

Some of you may be asking....What is this and why are you doing it?

The reason we have created this blog for Nate is that it will make it much easier and faster for us to 1) keep everyone updated on the Little Man and 2) post pictures in a more timely fashion. There is also a big benefit for YOU...this method will allow you to check up on him from any computer via the internet. You won't have to have access to your e-mail any more...just a connection to the internet. The web address for Nate's blog is http://nate8303.blogspot.com/.

I got the idea from another SMA family and I think it is a great way for us to send out our updates and let you know more about Nate's daily life. We hope to be more timely with updates and pictures so check back here as often as you like!

Enjoy...

Trey

Nate & Jen's 1st Picture Together

This is one of my favorite pictures - It was taken about 20 minutes after Nate was born.