Q & A's

Leslie and I seem to be getting the same few questions while we are in standby mode waiting for the surgery.  We felt now would be a good time to address them.

How's Henley Doing?
She's actually doing pretty well health wise.  She seems to have gotten over her bout with croup and has shown no signs of a snotty nose or cough.  It is most likely because we made the decision to pull her out of her school during the week and not put her in child care at church, for that matter Leslie has refrained from taking Henley just about anywhere.  We just bought a new juicer too.  We made the first batch this evening out of organic carrots, apples, & beets and she loved it.  We will definitely be pumping a lot of raw vegetables and fruit juices through her over the next 2 weeks in an effort to keep her healthy.

She is still walking funny, and some days are worse than others.  When I say she walks funny, I mean that it looks like her right leg is delayed just enough so that it looks like she is either limping or skipping.  Some days, her foot will drag behind her and on these days we see a lot of falling.  She almost always wants either Leslie or myself to walk down the stairs with her while holding her hand.  She also seems to be having more headaches because we notice her holding her head a lot more, however we could be dealing with these even after she fully recovers from the surgery.  Frequent headaches are just something people with Chiari have to deal with.

Here is a picture that Leslie took today of Henley's shoes. This is just one example of how bad she is dragging her right foot.

 

What are you hoping the surgery will actually accomplish?

We are hoping the surgery will relieve the pressure that is being put on her brainstem.  This pressure is most likely the cause of her chewing, swallowing, reflux, vomiting issues and her problems gaining weight.  We are pretty confident that the surgery will resolves these issues.  Her walking issues we are not so sure about, but we hope and pray that these will be resolved as well.  The hardest part about deciding to do the surgery is that there is no guarantee that it will work, which is why we tried to exhaust every other option before going ahead with it.

What will happen in the surgery?

That one question will require an entire blog post so stay tuned.

How are you guys doing?  Really?
Things are okay.  We definitely have our ups and downs.  Our bodies seem to be taking the brunt of all this.  We seem to be spending a lot of time working on each other's shoulders and back.  Both of us are tired a lot, but that could just be from having 3 kids 4 & under, one of which is currently cutting teeth (Geez, what were we thinking?).  It really feels as though we are about to have another child, especially as the surgery date gets closer.  We definitely want our house to be as clean and organized as possible and for all loose ends to be tied before the 31st.

Yesterday Leslie came home after being out with Haven and was telling me about how she felt as if some people would look at her and wonder when she was going to fall apart. Recently we have found that a lot of people have heard about what is going on in our lives through this site and Leslie's blog. It is truly a blessing to have a community of people praying for you and encouraging you. However, sometimes it feels like everyone is walking on egg shells around you and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Possibly it is the awkwardness of wishing they had something perfect to say that would somehow make it all better. We understand that most people don't know how to respond to us and we are okay with that. I suppose Leslie and I seem to have a different perspective on this situation as a whole.

We feel as though God has shown Himself throughout this whole process and seems to be saying to us, "This is not about you, it's about Me." Although this journey has had it fair share of moments where we felt like we might be drowning, God has always seemed to remind us that He has got this and we need not worry about what is next. We are confident that He is preparing us for everything, just in time for us to take the next step. Leslie and I both recently listened to a Matt Chandler sermon where he seemed to sum up so many of our thoughts along the way. One of the key statements he made was this:

"All conflict is predicated and built on the idea that the world is about you. The more the world is about you, the more angry and tired you will be. The more it is not all about you, the more free you will be."

We've realized in this that God can use our struggles for His glory so much more than he can use our blessings.  So, yes, there are days that are rough and happiness is hard to come by, but we are full of joy knowing that God is being glorified in the midst of our trial, which is what the world is really about.