Casting for braces!

I have my fair share of mom guilt for various things, but tomorrow takes the cake! Liam turns 3 tomorrow (woohoo!) and we're celebrating by having him casted for his leg braces. Well, not really: We're celebrating later with the cake and ice cream and gifts thing, but we do have the leg brace casting appointment RIGHT on his birthday. Great, eh? Friends tell me he won't know the difference. Hmmm...

I do take some solace in the fact that I really didn't have much choice of appointment times, because they had a cancellation. If I didn't take them up on this time, it was going to push it into September, so I snatched it while I could. At least it will only take an hour!

For those who have been asking, I should find out tomorrow when the actual braces will be in and ready for Liam to try. Please keep praying for smooth sailing! It was kind of dicey with insurance approvals there for a while, but persistance paid off once again.

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Braces, but not for his teeth!

Last week, Lisa, Liam, and his physical therapist went to talk with the folks that made Liam's helmet about the difficulty Liam is having learning to walk. His foot placement is wrong with both feet, but especially with his right foot. It looks like he will need an ankle-high brace on his left foot and a mid-calf-high brace on his right foot to correct the placement of his feet as he walks. We are hopeful this will finally help him walk. He has a nifty little reverse walker that his physical therapist loaned us, and he LOVES the mobility it brings. However, as he started cruising around furniture and began using his reverse walker, we quickly realized he needs the braces to correct his foot placement.

So, the wheels are beginning to turn on the insurance approval. We again ask for everyone's prayers. We hope this process moves quickly, because we are anxious to see Liam take his first steps without needing to hang on to something! These will be custom-made braces, so they will be expensive and will take a while to be made.

Prayer Requests:

1. Thanksgiving that Liam is enjoying good health this summer!
2. That the insurance company will allow us to use our local prosthetic company the way we did with his helmet, because is sure is nice not to have to trot back and forth to Vandy constantly when an excellent local treatment provider is available.
3. That insurance will pay 100% of the cost of these braces.
4. That the approval process and construction of the braces goes quickly.

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Prayers for Baby Madison

Liam is doing fantastic, which is why we never post any more! Our two biggest issues right now are his lack of speech (though he is picking up sign language pretty well) and the fact that he can't walk. He has a new reverse walker that he loves being in and we're looking into getting orthotics or braces on his legs to help him place his feet correctly.

Friends of ours are going to have Baby Madison on June 8 at Vandy. We'd appreciate your prayers for them, as Madison has spina bifida. Madison's parents are a wonderful Christian couple and we know they will be ok despite all the stress--we just wish they could experience Madison's birth without all the medical complications and the associated challenges.

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Liam's (hopefully) last surgery is behind us!

Whew! It's been a long 2 1/2 years! We are happy to report that Liam no longer has a hole in his tummy! His surgery today went very well. It lasted about 45 minutes start to finish and he is recovering nicely. Thank you to all of you who kept him in your prayers! We hope his recovery is fast and pain-free. We had a bump in the road this afternoon when he refused pain meds and all liquids by mouth, but Mama and his babysitter seem to have resolved that issue by jointly tackling it. He is now resting comfortably and snuggling with Winnie-the-Pooh on the couch. Codeine is great stuff!

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Surgery on January 26

Sad to report that Liam's feeding tube hole has not yet closed on its own, so it appears we'll be doing outpatient surgery on Tuesday. It should be a very fast surgery in terms of exposure to anesthesia, but all prayers are greatly appreciated.

A family at our church has been struggling for several weeks with their son's illness with Kawasaki Disease. Please pray for Baby Jack for recovery from this rare disease. It's been a long month for their entire family, and Baby Jack is experiencing cardiac complications right now.

Many thanks to our church family for so many expressions of support and concern this morning. You all make us smile and we appreciate that you help us face this (hopefully) final surgery with courage, knowing that so many of you are lifting our entire family in prayer.

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Happy, happy news!!

We are very happy to announce that Liam is now tube-free for the first time since birth! We took him to Vandy yesterday to check into getting his feeding tube removed. They pulled the tube out right there in the office and said the hole might close on its own. He is scheduled for surgery on January 26 to close it surgically if needed because it's very rare for the hole to close on its own after being in place for two years. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for God to step in and show us all once again Who is really in charge!!

In Christ,
Bill and Lisa

Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. Psalm 105:4