Carter's Journey: July 2013

A Taste of Heaven...

We got the ok from Carter's Urologist to remove his knee immobilizer and allow him a few hours in the pool. He finally got to swim in his Nana and Papaw's pool. He was a little unsure of his legs being unwrapped, but had a GREAT time!!! We are SO thankful to be home and we are enjoying every minute of it! We can not wait for August 2nd when we can say bye bye to Carter's knee immobilizers for good!! Here are a few pictures of Carters first swim of the summer. As always... To Him be the Glory!!!

What are these things?!?!

Beep! Beep!!!

Soaking up some sun.

He had such a good time. He was asleep within an hour of getting in the pool!

We are Home...

We have finally made it home!!! There were multiple flight delays yesterday. We arrived at the airport around 2:30p.m. and did not arrive home until after midnight! Carter did great through it all. He really is a great baby. He never cried and was completely content the entire time.

Our plan for the next two weeks is to allow his legs to adjust to having the brace on. Although it does not allow a lot of movement it allows more than the cast did. His pin sites and incision will also continue to heal. On August 2nd the brace will come off and he will begin to adjust to having his legs free! His legs have been wrapped, in traction, casted or braced since March. We are ready for August 2nd!!! We know Carter has a long way to go, but are thrilled that he is finally on the road to recovery. Even if His pelvis has to be redone in a year. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and love for our family. To Him be the Glory!!!

Working on head control and getting use to laying on his stomach again! :)

Taking a nap at the airport!

Answered Prayers...

Today has been full of answered prayers. The prayers that you and so many others have prayed for our Carter and our family. Carter's casts, external fixators, catheter and stitches were removed. His incision stayed intact and his bladder has not prolapsed out. His urological health is great right now! His pelvis... well, it is going to need some work. They placed a knee immobilizer that goes from his hips to his toes. I can remove it to give him a bath, but he needs to wear it for the next 2 weeks. The purpose of it is to keep him from opening his legs (which could cause his incision to open back up), and to keep him off of his feet. His bones are extremely weak. If he tried to walk right away, there is a chance his bones could break.

Carter's legs have been immobilized since March, so they are extremely sore. I plan to give him a good warm bath tonight and clean and massage his legs. Although he still has the knee immobilizers on, it has been absolutely wonderful holding him. I can actually turn him towards me!

There are still a lot of unanswered questions that only time will tell. We are not sure if he will be able to walk with his pelvis like it is right now. If he is able to walk, he will more than likely have a limp. Due to all of the damage from the screw, Carter's bone needs to heal. We are going to let it heal for a year and then return to see if he will need to have his osteotomies redone. Brandon and I both fully expect for them to need to be redone. We are praying he will remain comfortable and have no pain in his pelvis until they are redone.

We are so happy and thankful for the news today. It feels like the storm is finally starting to let up. It is almost unimaginable to think of him having go through all of this again in one year, but we are extremely happy to have a break. Brandon needs it, I need it and most of all Carter needs it. Carter still has a long way to go. We will gradually start working on head control, sitting up, crawling and eventually walking. We are in no hurry for any of these things and plan to take it slow. We will be flying back to Mississippi tomorrow afternoon. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and continued prayers for our family. Please keep them coming! As always... To Him be the Glory!!!

Since Carter's fist surgery in March he has put nothing in his mouth. Today he ate a piece of bread at dinner and sucked on a sucker! This is a BIG deal for Carter! His speech therapist would be so proud!

Looking SO cute with his new knee immobilizers!

Change of Plans...

Change of plans...again! We originally planned to travel back to Johns Hopkins next week to have Carter’s casts, ex-fixators, catheter and stitches removed. We received a phone call Monday stating that our plans would be changing. We will be flying out tomorrow! Yes… TOMORROW! Carter will be going to the operating room Friday to have everything removed. We really have no idea if we will stay one night or 10 weeks. It depends on what Carter’s body does once everything is removed. Our prayer is that his incision will remain intact, his bladder will not prolapse and things will remain stable enough for us to come back home and have a break!

I have to apologize for the lack of updates. We knew our days at home were limited, and we wanted to enjoy each and every minute of it. We are also physically and mentally exhausted. Once we got home and somewhat settled, we realized what all had just happened. We took our child to one of the leading medical facilities in the United States with a lot of hope. We hoped that things would go smoothly. We hoped that Carter’s body would be healed. We obviously did not get those results. God had other plans. Brandon and I are realizing it is our job as parents to stay strong and go along with God’s plan.

I have to admit that this is hard! Watching the daily pain Carter is going through is tough. Not knowing what the outcome of all of this is going to be is tougher. We are ready for this to be a memory. We are so ready to hold and love on Carter without his casts and ex-fixators. His ex-fixators do not allow him to sit up more than 30-40 degrees, which makes it nearly impossible to hold him. As you can imagine, his cast also make it nearly impossible to hold him. Brandon and I are both so ready to just hold him. Hold him with no equipment. He has been so strong through all of this, but we can tell that this whole ordeal is starting to take a toll on him. His body is tired and needs rest. Pray for rest for him. Pray that his incision stays intact, his bladder does not prolapse out and everything is stable enough for us to come home! Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and love for our family. Please keep them coming!!! As always…To Him be the Glory!!!

Telling everyone how he is going up in the air on an airplane tomorrow.

Enjoying Every Minute...

First, I have to say sorry for the lack of updates. We have been busy, and we are enjoying every minute of being home. Carter has been doing well since coming home. We are all still adjusting to our new "normal" right now. He still has fixators on and casts, so he is not able to sit-up more than 30 degrees. Thankfully, he is content sitting in our loving room floor watching Veggie Tales. He is still on a lot of pain and sedation medications, but he is much more aware and alert than he has been in months. His silly and happy personality is starting to peek back out.

We return to Johns Hopkins in 3 weeks. Carter will go back to the operating room to have the fixators, casts, catheter and some stitches removed. They will also scope him to make sure his bladder is not trying to prolapse and everything is intact.

We are praying that the damage caused to his pelvis will be healed. We are also praying his pelvis will be stable enough to hold his bladder in. We are praying for a miracle. Our dream would be for his pelvis to be rotated to the correct position, stable and for all of the damage to be repaired. I know that may not be God's plan, but we hope he is stable enough to come home where Brandon and I can start looking at other options. We were told "It's as good as its going to get!" By Carter's orthopedic Doctor at Johns Hopkins. Brandon and I both agree it's not as good as its going to get until God says it's as good as its going to get. No matter where we have to go, Brandon and I will make sure Carter has the best care possible. It's crazy the damage one loose screw can cause, but we know God has a perfect plan. Right now we feel like we are in the midst of a flood. As soon as we think its starting to clear up, we are hit by another storm. We will continue to have Faith. Faith that God will heal Carter. Faith He will lead us to where Carter needs to be, and faith to give him all of our needs. Thank you all so much for all of your continued prayers. Praise Him and keep them coming!!! To Him be the Glory!!!

Playing in Mamas fountain. We're we suppose to keep the cast dry? Whoops?! ;)

Dada and Carter caught a fish!!! Carter wanted it back in the water!