Category Archives: Uncategorized

January 28, 2014

UPDATE (1/28/14)

Quick update:

First, we had another follow-up appointment yesterday in Indy with Beckett’s Cardiologist and GI Doctor. Long story short…Beckett is looking great! Those are certainly the words we wanted to hear. Beckett behaved so well, and charmed nearly everyone he met.

What’s the phrase?:
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
I’m hesitant to post this, but we THINK we might have gotten requalified for Medicaid. If so, that is a huge blessing! Anyone who’s spent any mildly significant time with me these past few months have known that my mind is always on a million things…but the one thing that was almost always on my mind was getting requalified for Medicaid. It isn’t official, so it’s probably very unwise and foolish to even post this, but we recently received news that we are approved for the Medicaid waiver…and if that’s true, we should get Medicaid Disability for Beckett automatically. Yes, we do have primary insurance, but if you knew the kind of medical bills we’ve racked up with 8 months of living in an intensive care unit with numerous surgeries….we maxed out the primary insurance coverage of 2 million with Beckett within a few months last year. …..crazy. So with that being said, having secondary and even a third tier insurance is very valuable. We still have a lot of meds, doctor appointments, therapy, and even another open heart surgery to go. We need to be “covered.” So, if you think of it, please pray that this “chicken hatches”. This would be a huge answer to prayer.

I’ve been spending my mornings, getting up when Beckett needs his 6:00am meds, and reading the blog we’ve kept since day-1 last year. Needless to say, the month of January was like reading a very suspenseful novel…however, it was OUR day-to-day life. It has been wildly humbling as I recall the events of last year…the pain, the tears, the fear, the insecurities, the doubt…but also the joy, the love, the faithfulness, the testimony, family, friends….it’s kinda hard to properly reminisce upon. So much happened. But I truly cannot help but think about all the joy the headaches lead us to, or the faith the doubt inspired, or the love that washed away our insecurities. Family, friends, and even “strangers” being so very consistent, encouraging, and wilding generous. What an amazing journey this has been…and no matter what the outcome will be, or has been, we are thankful that we have strived to give God the glory throughout the good and the bad. For it is not our will, but His be done. (Luke 22:42)

Furthermore, and on a much lighter note, we did not win the Gerber Photo Contest. Yes, Yes…the winners were cute…but Beckett had to have come close. 😉

Also, months ago, many of you helped us out by providing meals for us while we tried to somehow get our feet back under us. Well, we’ve noticed that we do still have some of your dishes. Please do not be shy in stopping by to pick up what is rightfully yours. Some of them are quite nice! 🙂 I just wanted to take a brief opportunity to throw that out there.

Lastly….we officially have some fantastic 1-year-old photos of Beckett we are dying to post. My friend did such a good job, it’s just been hard to narrow down which ones to share with you all. We promise, we will post some soon.

Thanks everyone. Again, your prayer, support and encouragement is astounding! Oh, and Happy 13 Months Old Birthday today, Beckett!!

#GoBeckett
#ODAAT

January 17, 2014

Ah….now this is how you take a #nap!
#MaxinAndRelaxin #BabySuave #BabyCardigan

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January 15, 2014

UPDATE (1/15/14)

You all deserve an update, so here we go:

First, a quick update on the Gerber Photo Contest. WE WON!!!! $50,000!! Just kidding. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Honestly, I haven’t heard a thing. Part of me wants to think that “no news is good news”….but, I doubt it. I actually just emailed them for any news or results and haven’t heard back yet. We will certainly let you all know if/when we hear anything.

I hope you all have been enjoying all the pics we’ve been posting. I think they are super cute. Beckett is certainly not camera shy and he loves to smile. He really is a really good “baby”…but not so much a baby anymore, I guess by being a year old already, he’s pretty much a toddler now. Anyways…you may have seen the pic of Beckett with his birthday cake. Unfortunately he still doesn’t really know how to eat orally (though we’ve certainly been working hard at it). It was still fun for him to smack the frosting around a little. Beckett is still “tube-fed” through his G-Tube, and this will probably be the case for quite some time. We were warned, and now we are living it…the struggle of learning how to eat when he totally doesn’t understand it at all has been very challenging. This could possibly take us years to fully accomplish. BUT, these were the struggles we were longing for, rather than the struggle of fighting through the battle of life and death. We have a lot to be thankful for.

A good friend of mine (Corey Grunewald) came down from Michigan earlier this week and volunteered his talent in photography, and took Beckett’s “one-year-old-pics.” I’m excited to see how they turned out, and will certainly post a few once we get ’em. Speaking of, we hope to also possibly post a good ole family pic sometime too.

Beckett really is doing well. We are slowly-but-surely…and finally…lining up more of Beckett’s therapy sessions (PT, OT, ST, etc…). This is really REALLY good for him, and I am very optimistic that we will continue to see more and more catch-up progress from him.

Lastly, please pray for us as we are anxious about getting requalified for Medicaid. We really need this to help cover Beckett’s millions of dollars in medical bills. It’s hard not to get too nervous about this, but there is really nothing more we can do one way or another. We’ve definitely done our due-diligence, and are just hoping and praying that this works out for us again this year (as Beckett has yet another upcoming surgery possibly later this year).

Thanks y’all. You guys are so very amazing, and so very encouraging!

#GoBeckett
#ODAAT

January 11, 2014

#TooCute #GoBeckett #ODAAT

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January 11, 2014

Caption please…..

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January 11, 2014

A very happy lil birthday boy!
#latergram

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January 11, 2014

Happy Birthday Beckett!
#latergram #birthdaycake

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January 10, 2014

Beckett at Christmas!
#latergram #nofilter

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November 25, 2013

UPDATE (11/25/13)

Just got back from two different doctor appointments today….and Beckett is doing GREAT!! This news is still hard to process at times. We are so very blessed and thankful for how far we’ve come. It has been a wildly challenging year, but so very rewarding.

If you haven’t noticed yet, I recently posted a new video of Beckett and his journey throughout this past year. It was truly sobering to watch, yet amazing none-the-less. I think both Leah and I have seen it a few times already and have cried each time. So, if you get the chance, check it out. (oh, and a big thanks to those who helped put it together….Logan, Keith and Melvin)

These past few weeks have been crazy for me. Within the last week or two, I’ve written 7 papers, and still have 4 more to go before Thanksgiving break (I should probably be working on that instead of doing this). But needless-to-say, it’s taken a lot of my time, and unfortunately it has been extra challenging to properly balance life. Leah has been very gracious and understanding of my time, but I will be looking forward to when work/school/family life finds some state of normalcy once again.

Also, please pray for Leah and Beckett as I will be out of the country for a few weeks in December. This is the definition of bittersweet. This trip is going to be fantastic (and is partially a requirement for my schooling), but it will undoubtably be difficult to be away from both Leah and Beckett. They need prayer, I need prayer…don’t we all? Christmas will be a blessed time this year of some much needed rest and memory-making family-time!

That’s about it for now. Don’t forget to vote for Beckett (see below), cause I think we only have until December 1st!

Vote for Beckett!
https://gerber.promo.eprize.com/photosearch/gallery?id=265400

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

#GoBeckett
#ODAAT

November 22, 2013

If half my heart
could make yours whole,
I’d be repaying the gift
you’ve given me.

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