Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Updates

It's a beautiful thing to be at home alone with your three young kids and still be enjoying some peace and quiet. Michael's running a practice tonight at the church, so I'm on my own to do bedtime for the second night in a row. I don't mind much. Everyone's clean so it's just a matter of jammies, devotions, and hugs. Then bottle, diaper, and giggles.

Right now Brenna's working on a birthday card for Michael. His birthday is tomorrow. Daniel is playing on the computer and Carrie is taking a pseudo-nap. (Meaning she's not actually sleeping much up there.) I'm kind of wondering how long it can all last.

[For the record, it was about 30 minutes.]

Updates:

First on my Uncle Randy - All reports from the Cleveland Clinic are thumbs up. He seems to be doing really well. The kidney is functioning as it should and his pain level has dropped significantly. I've seen pictures of him smiling, sleeping, and grimacing in pain as he tries not to laugh. His oldest daughter, Emily, has done a superb job keeping everybody updated on what's going on. Today, his donor was discharged and will continue to recover from home. Much praise and thanks to God for answering our many prayers.

Second on swimming - I called the swim school office this morning and talked with the Manager. She agreed that the situation was not ideal and has offered us four free private lessons at a later date. Daniel and I practiced holding his breath and together we decided to go back today. We had a real heart to heart on the couch this morning, and I believe he genuinely wanted to try again. He didn't resist much at all when we arrived (which really surprised me). I watched the lesson from a window and saw that, about 20 min. in, he threw up again. After they had cleaned him up, I went in and ended the lesson. His instructor was very apologetic and we talked at length about what had gone wrong over the past two weeks. I did not leave angry. Only disappointed.

Daniel, on the other hand, left proud of himself. He got a ribbon for taking lessons and a certificate too. Plus, and this was the biggie, he finally got to see what the "boiling water" (hot tub) was all about - they used water from there to help rinse him off.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this (both here and on fb). It's been very helpful to have your thoughts and advice. In the end, I'm glad we went today for two reasons. One, it clarified to me that Daniel is not scared to death of the water. He'll still get in with someone he trusts. He has actually acquired some new skills...He just needs a lot of work on not swallowing air and water. (which he clearly is not learning the hard way!) Two, having talked with the instructor I am able to end this whole thing on a much kinder note. If I hadn't gone back today, I would probably still be mad. Yes, I'm disappointed, but I still think their program works when it's executed properly. I feel like we can move on from here and make progress on our own. I'll hold off on those extra 4 lessons a while.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Julie, Thank you for the update and the good news regarding your Uncle Randy. We will continue to keep Randy and family in our prayers.
Mary Ann & Jim

Heather said...

Glad to hear Randy is doing so well! And I'm glad you went back. But I'm bummed he puked again. That's no fun. We had to do a "take two" on swim lessons too.