Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"


Saturday, September 15, 2007

Pictures before and After Transplant

Well the poor guy is trying to cut a whole bunch of teeth at once right now...Man oh man. But despite the teeth, he entertains. Everyone who has come in today says how good he looks. Our man has some big bruises on his legs from the Transplant but he seems to be in good spirits. They are trying to feed him again through his G-tube. We will have to wait and see how that works, as he was retching a lot when we tried feeds before his transplant. Retching (gagging) is the last thing you want right now as it would tear his Nissan wrap out and that would be bad as he could reflux again if the wrap comes out. So we have started at a VERY small rate, 2ml/hour (approximately 13cc less than a half ounce)-small huh?!?

Brian, Dad, Jean, and Ron left today to go back to WV. We already miss them so much. They were here for a week and it was very nice to have them here. It is so hard to be away from Brian for so long. We are trying to find a way to get him back down here in approximately two weeks. I love you babe and miss you very much already.

We know we will be here for at least a couple months, but there is the concern of what needs to be done to the house before we could bring Caleb home. Man the list of things that need to be done is overwhelming to say the least. The biggest priority is getting it 'clean' in every way to have it be a safe environment for Caleb. We are looking into ripping up his carpet in his room to have a more allergen free type of flooring, new windows in the house (as ours are very old and most do not have storm windows anymore), and a very thorough clean (especially-the basement and duct work) as we were flooded a couple years ago and I want to make sure no remnants are left. The list is overwhelming and with me not working and the market in regards to Brian's job (loan officer) isn't at its best right now....I will be trying to talk to several companies to see if they can help us out with this items and more as I am sure the list will grow. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. I had considered writing Extreme Home Makeover in the past, but not sure if there is time and if honestly we would get picked. I guess it is something to think about and how would you know if you don't try. But seriously, if anyone has any suggestions on who I could contact please let me know. I will be writing Lysol later today, as we use about 120 of their wipes in two days...CRAZY huh. Who knows if they would donate some, but it is worth a shot right?!?!?

Well again, I wanted to give you all a short update and let you know what is going on here. I have included some pictures below too and I should have some videos later in the week!! Enjoy.

God Bless Caleb!!

22 comments:

skeybunny said...

Caleb looks great! I'm so glad to hear the surgery went well.

Hugs,
Sarah, Jeremy, and Evan

Anonymous said...

Oh, he is so beautiful and has SUCH an amazing smile!!! We miss you all so much and it is so good to see you!!! Thanks for sharing. God Bless you all!!! God Bless Caleb!!
Love-
Aunt Jen

Anonymous said...

What a treat to see those pictures!!! I don't have any ideas yet about how to help with the house clean-up...but I definitely have lots of elbow grease to share!!

Love-
Chris XOXO

Anonymous said...

I think you should write a letter to Oprah. She might be able to help with your house clean-up. Just a thought.
God Bless Your Family and Caleb!!
Love,
Brian and Lorrie (Kobasko) Matusic

Anonymous said...

i am so on this house thing, i dont know, we will see what i come up with. these are the kinds of things that keep this insomniac busy....hmmmmm.
on another note, caleb looks amazing! thank you so much for the pictures... hes a sweet boy.
christie and fam.

Becky said...

Hi Sarah,
This is for every one who posts--Its funny that Sarah mentioned homemaker--For the past 6 months, we (everyone from Capital Funding Title Agency, where I work) have been emailing Oprah regarding Caleb-- and have looked into the
Exteme Home Makeover Edition. We have emailed Oprah every week, telling her of Caleb. Caleb is the perfect case for help from Oprah or Home Edition. We all need to bombard them with emails. LETS ALL BAND TOGETHER AND GET THEIR FAMILY THE HELP THEY NEED!!!
I know that if we were able, any one of us would give them anything--but this is a job for Oprah's Angel Network or Exteme Makeover--LETS MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
Sarah, Brian and Calel--ALL our love and prayers!!!
Becky and Bobby D.

Crystal M. said...

Caleb you look wonderful and I love all your chunckyness!! So does my mom as she watched the video with me. Glad all went well and I will continue to pray and hope everything works with the house, I wish we were closer so I could come and help (or at least send my husband to help ;)
hugs to all,
Crystal and Eva

Mark and Kels said...

I have been a lurker on this blog for months after discovering it through Mighty Max. I strongly encourage you to write to both Oprah (what a great idea) and Home Makeover. There is a downloadable application on the Home Makeover web page-
http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/casting.html
I pray for you and your sweet boy often. May God continue to encourage and strengthen you as you are faithful to care for this most precious gift He has entrusted to you in Caleb.

Anonymous said...

It was wonderful to see you all again...I miss you guys so much!!! I will definitely start writing to Oprah as well...that's a great idea...and I sure hope that if we all send lots of emails...she'll have to pay attention right??

I love Caleb's smile and hope he cuts these teeth soon!!

God bless and lotsa love...

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CorrieYoung said...

I can't tell you how good it is to see Caleb looking SO good WITH a new Thymus!!! We're so happy for you guys. I know your "to do" list must seem daunting so we'll pray for someone to take that from you. You don't need to be worrying about that right now. You need to focus all your resources on Caleb and each other!!

Caleb is as cute as ever and looks so happy!! Thanks for sharing photos with everything going on.

We'll keep you all in our prayers always.

Love,
Corrie

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Caleb on your new thymus.You look amazing and so happy for just comming out of surgery. I pray that everything goes well and that you get to go home soon and be a family again.

Lots of Prayers and love,
Bailey Payne(friend ot Tate)

lbug3000 said...

i was thinking this same thing, if everyone wrote the chances of getting noticed are so much better. there is a mother i know who has been writing oprah and she has gotten lots of responses from the crew there i asked her if she had any ideas and she said not only do you write to her general mail but you can go to her website and look through upcoming shows and see what they are looking for then bombard those particular staff members because they are looking for something specific... for example, they are looking for people right now who have had a serious illness affect their lives or i was also thinking of putting in some posts to nate911(nate being the home decorator on the show) since he lost his partner in katrina he has been putting his efforts toward helping people in need....
this is probably jumbled and ive got lots more thoughts coming but i will give you a break....
christie and fam

Britta said...

Hi there,
I have read your blog for months via Mighty Max and I am so thrilled that your little guy is doing well after his transplant.

In regards to the house I would ask Home Depot or Lowes if they have local grants through their foundations. Try putting together a letter with photos, etc of your story and talk to the management of the companies who could do the work for your house and see if they would be willing to donate materials, labor or at least give you a discount. Also, try your hospital social worker and/or Drs for suggestions of organizations that might help. Of course I would also talk to your church and ask if they would be willing to announce something at church. Depending on the size of your church you might have many people who have skills that you need or know people that might help you.

I think going local can be better at times b/c you can talk to a person directly and develop a relationship with them. Keep posting your needs and I'm sure people will help where they can. I will keep you in my prayers. Britta

Anonymous said...

Sarah is absolutely correct. It was nice to see Ron and Jean and absolutely wonderful to see our husbands. Once again Caleb proved to be the real soldier that he is. Now we play the waiting game for the biopsy and T cells. Everyone continue to keep Caleb in your prayers. It sounds like there are a lot of good ideas to help get the house ready.
GaGa Byrum

Anonymous said...

Found you thru Mighty Maxwell's blog and just wanted to let you know that my girls pray for your son every night! He is so beautiful and we wish him well in his recovery!

tammy t

Anonymous said...

beautiful precious spirited

Anonymous said...

beautiful precious caleb so great to see you all his smile is beautiful and his sprit shines through his eyes.
i willask around about help for your home but anything i could help with i will.
caleb you and your family are always in my thoughts and prayers continue to stay strong and keep smiling
god bless all of you
love alana

Anonymous said...

Praying for continued healing and strength. Such an amazing child with such an amazing will to live. So glad to hear that the surgery went well. Thinking of you and your family always.

Anonymous said...

Caleb looks so wonderful!! He has such a great smile. We have been waiting to see an update and I was so glad to see that his surgery went well and he is getting stronger. With all the love around him it is obvious why he is such a fighter. Best of luck with the house project. The Bolons friends of Eva

Anonymous said...

Awsome, awsome, AWSOME!!!!!!
GOD BLESS CALEB!
love and prayers to you,
Robbie, Drew & O

skeybunny said...

Hey Mr. Caleb,

Just checking in to see how you are doing. I'm hoping no new updates just means your mommy is super busy because you're feeling strong.

Hugs,
Sarah, Jeremy, and Evan