Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Success.....Finally!

Success never seems to come easily to the members of our family. None of us really stand out in the crowd, having a great talent or achievement. Sure, we all are fairly good at one thing or another. For example, Nolan has a great memory and school seems to come fairly easy to him. Jacob is a fairly good artist. And, Caleb has always been very agile. Otherwise we all have to work fairly hard to get to a level of success. This can be frustruating some times. It always seems like getting from point A to point B takes so much effort!

Take for example, yesterday. I dropped the older boys off at Vacation Bible School and left to have Gavin's blood drawn down the street. I figured that I would be back within an hour. Wrong! I got back just in time to pick them up, 2 1/2 hours later! I was told that an order had been faxed to the clinic to draw Gavin's blood. I had talked to our doctor's office 3 times to make sure that it was, but when we got there.....there was no order! So, we had to wait for almost an hour for the order to be faxed over. Then, we got back to the phlebotimist and he said, "I hate drawing blood from little ones." I should have taken this as a sign to just leave and go to another clinic, because usually when they aren't hip on drawing his blood, then they also aren't good at doing it! Gavin was SO good! The first 2 pokes he didn't even flinch or make a noise at all! He just sat there looking around and tolerating all the annoying things this guy was doing to him. The guy missed to first stick, and the second one he moved and lost the vein! And, he would'nt even attempt a third poke, even though Gavin was tolerating it VERY well!

So, we were sent to another clinic to have them try. I only had 40 minutes left to get there, have his blood drawn and get back to church to pick up the boys! We got there and thankfully got in right away! We were told that we came to the right clinic, because the girl there was "the best!" Her first try didn't succeed either and by then, Gavin started to complain a little. (I don't blame him!) Her second attempt worked, but Gavin was ANGRY!!! I felt so badly for him. But, after 2 1/2 hours, we got success!

Last week was the same for us, at the cardiologist's office. An hour visit turned into over 2 hours, because they couldn't get a good EKG reading on Gavin., The blood pressure cuff wasn't working properly and they had to get 4 readings from each of his limbs!, And, the echo of his heart took FOREVER! But, we finally got success and we were told that Gavin was doing well. He still has a moderate leak in his Mitral Valve, but his heart and body are tolerating it for now. Often times when you have a significant leak in a valve of the heart, your heart can become enlarged. Thankfully, Gavin's is not at this time, so we are very happy about this!

Gavin has also had a tiny bit of success in regaining some of the weight that he lost. He has only gained about 3/4 of a pound since we increased his calories, but at least he isn't losing any more weight!

The biggest success that our family has had in the last week is that Caleb learned to ride his bike! Our children have had a difficult time learning to ride a bike. In fact, Nolan still hasn't mastered this skill! (I feel so badly for him! He is very smart mentally, but physically he has always had to work hard. He crawled late. He walked late., Etc.) He is getting a little better at the bike thing and hopefully he will taste success by the end of the summer! Then there is Jacob, who does fairly well with physical attributes, but he struggles grasping things in school. He has to work harder than his brother, Nolan, and this really bothers him. But, when he does really well with something in school, he feels so good about it, because he had to work so hard to find success! Anyway back to Caleb, he decided that he wanted to try out the bike at Grandma's house last week and within 1/2 an hour he had great success! He is so proud and we are too! Here he is learning and mastering his bike. (His 2 favorite things lately are his bike and the football uniform that he got at a garage sale last week! He's so cute!)






Then, there's Gavin. Success has always come hard for him! He has been through so much in his short life and so much has been taken away from him, due to the stroke that he had. He lost his sight. He lost most of his brain function. He lost his smile for the longest time. But still, he finds success sometimes. Look at him! He's happy and he's alive! And, because it takes so much more time and effort to get to progress, success tastes so much sweeter and it means SO MUCH MORE to us when it comes!



I just wish that it wasn't so tiring in the process! I need a nap and I just woke up a couple of hours ago! :)


"If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success." Ecclesiastes 10:10

13 comments:

Princess Abigail said...

that is a very brave, cute little boy you have there. What a winner of a smile! And he has come such a long way! A tremendous achievement!

Anxious AF said...

We too work hard here for success. Baseball, soccer, eating chunks, we have to work hard. Why does it seem to come so easy for others???

Lacey said...

yeah for bike riding. Thats always a great sucess, expecially when you can ride it with a helmet on. LOL

Michelle said...

I think I would have slapped that phlebo guy or at least thanked him for his "sensitivity". UGH. DO people think before they open their mouths to speak??

Ahh, well, it took my girls a while to learn to ride bikes. It always amazes me to see little bitty kids on bikes.

Love the football uniform/bike pic!

Hope you can squeeze in a little nap today!

Cathy said...

Yea for your son who loves to ride his bike. glad that your children have a mommy that helps them be a success. And the great mommy you are is a huge SUCCESS!

Alicia said...

Here's to success!! I have always struggled too, but it does make success a lot more satisfying.

Wow, the blood draw story and the heart EKG/Echo/Blood pressure story sound so familiar! That happens to Marissa way too often!

Lovin' the football uniform while riding his bike. He looked like he was having so much fun.

Lacey said...

Sometimes I think the napnanny is up to high, and sometimes its perfect. It just depends on the night and Jax attitude. So sometimes he sleeps with it and sometimes not.
I need to the doc up there again. What was it? Edward? I emailed them last week and never heard back from them.

Lacey said...

Bove, thats right. I need to look him up again, I emailed him last a couple of weeks ago and never heard anything back from them but I don't know were I put his email so I'll call them again tomorrow.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Way to go Caleb! As hard as it can be I am thankful that we all have successes in life in different areas. It makes life more interesting. As for long doctor's apointments, we know all about those in our household. People don't seem to realize when I say we have a doctor's appointment just how long those appointments usually are and how exhausting they can be for both Isabelle and her mommy. But what a blessing to Gavin to have a mommy who loves him so much and who loves him and comforts him during those long and painful appointments.

HennHouse said...

GREAT JOB!!!

And I LOVE the bike helmet!

Heather said...

Jake,our 8 year old still says "Bikes aren't his thing".Interpretation:I'm scared to try.I'll have to show him Caleb.Inspiration goes a long way.Just like sweet Gavin.Who continues to smile despite it all.I remember when Zoey lost her smile due to seizures.Saddest days for me were those where her face no longer lit up for us.Gavin's smile lits up the world.He is one amazing little guy. And,just caught up on the last post ...OH MY GOSH ... is that letter written and sent yet??

Inspired said...

Ride Caleb Ride!!! Great job!
Love,
Julie