Sunday, October 24, 2010

Update from Daddy

“Both abundance and lack of abundance exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”
This quote was given in a Talk by Thomas S. Monson entitled Finding Joy in the Journey

I decided to take a few minutes to write some of my thoughts today.  We are currently in Lincolns room, and I am looking at Lincoln and his mom as they snuggle up in a chair.  One of the best feelings in the world is to see such a strong bond that has been formed between Lincoln and his mom.  Even when I am not here, I can be comforted knowing that he is with his mom, because then I know he is happy.  He loves being in her arms and hearing her voice.  Even when his eyes are closed, his mom will say something to him, and his eyebrows will raise and you can see that he is instantly happy.  He has learned to hold his head up, and as you can see in this picture, when we talk to him he tries to look up at us.  I love Kim so much and am so thankful to have such a wonderful wife.  I really don't know how she does it, but it is true what people talk about a mothers instinct, I can see it already.  She knows exactly what to do and Lincoln sure is lucky to have her. 
 
It has been a crazy week with many ups and downs, but it has been so nice to be able to spend time together as a family.  I have had the week off school, so we have taken advantage by spending as much time as possible with Lincoln.  He is such an amazing boy, and he has really taught us all so much. We feel so blessed to have such a strong little boy.  I really enjoyed bonding time and holding him as much as possible.  We even watched our first Giants game together.  He loves the Giants already, and is apparently good luck for them as they are going to the World Series.  Go Giants!!

I love that he is more active now, and even after we may have had a hard day, he will look you deep in your eyes and seem to say: "Don't worry, everything is going to be all right."  

Kim and I often talk about all of the little things that he does which make us so happy...his little noises, his faces, and even his little whine.  I never thought I would be so excited to change a poopy diaper, but I can't help but be proud of him for every little thing he does.  He started eating from a bottle this week, which is definitely a work in progress, but he is doing so well.  He works so hard at it, he is definitely not a quitter and will chug, chug, chug...and then take a few deep breaths before resuming his chugging.  He still has bad reflux, so much of it comes back up, but we are hoping he can overcome that soon.


Over the past few weeks we have had days when we did not think we could survive.  Yet somehow, we manage to wake up the next morning, and feel like everything is going to be OK.  We have been so blessed and know that God is lifting us up just enough to carry on.  Lincoln's heart surgeon will walk by our room and stop, then come in just to say "Hi."  He said that every time he walks by he sees a smile on Kim's face and then has to come in and talk to her.  Many other doctors and nurses say the same thing, they don't know how she does it.  All we can say is that we know everything is in God's hands, we have felt his love not only for us, but especially for Lincoln.  I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers.  They mean so much to us and we just can't thank you enough.  We continue to be amazed at how many people are aware of and concerned with Lincoln.  We are truly humbled and grateful to have such wonderful friends and family.  We love you all so much!




Well, to finish up I will leave you with a brief summary of events:  As you know, Lincoln had his right leg amputated below his knee at mid-calf.  The doctors are optimistic that with a prosthetic he should have 90% functionality (but if there is anything we've learned, it's that Lincoln is good at surprising the doctors, so we are confident he will function at closer to 100%).  They had to take away all of the dead tissue, so right now he has no skin on the front of his leg.  He has to wait for a skin graft, which may take 4-6 weeks.  Unfortunately, some more tissue (skin) has died around his thigh, so he needs to go to the OR again on Tues. so they can remove it.  In the mean time they have a wound VAC on his leg which keeps him comfortable and covers everything very well.  So he can still be held and even sit in his bouncy (which he loves). 
     This is what his leg looks like wrapped in the wound VAC.  It looks shorter than it really is because of the way it is wrapped.  The wound VAC dressing under the ace bandage is a sponge that helps to keep his leg tissues healthy and protected.  The tube connected to it is basically a vacuum that drains the site and keeps it sealed. 
We will keep praying for our little fighter, just know that we love you all and feel blessed to have you in our lives. -Dave

2 comments:

Jenny said...

Love these pictures! You and Kim are so good at expressing what is in your hearts, I feel like I am right there with you! And we are in spirit! I love the picture with Lincoln's hair sticking up a little at the top, so adorable. He is amazing, what a strong little man, I can't wait to follow him through life and see all the GREAT things he does. You and Kim have an inspiring amount of strength, love, and faith. I believe Lincoln is the same way, he has your genes!! What a perfect family. We love you guys. Thank you for your words and for inspiring us!

Freeman Family said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to update us! I love seeing Lincoln he is the cutest! You and Kim are truly amazing, I don't know very many people that can go through everythng you guys have a still smile and be so postive. We love you. You guys are always in our thoughts and prayers.