Up!!

Caden said "Up!" He only said it once after I had said it. So, we have heard him say: Mama, Dada, Baba, More, & Up. Those are the ones that we are sure that he has said at least once. There have been people who thought that they heard him say other words, but were not sure if they did or not. So, I'm not going to list them.

On the sidebar, there is a map now. This way Caden's family and friends can put themselves on the map and he will be able to see where you are.

There is also a box on the sidebar so that you can put your e-mail address, so that when a new posting is up, you'll automatically recieve an e-mail letting you know this.

Caden got some pictures taken at Sears with his cousin Cameron on Saturday. They are the last photo set on his website, http://vermule.brinkster.net/caden/.




Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

My Son the Movie Star

Everybody knows that Caden has therapists that come over and work with him, but over the past couple of months, they have been bringing along a student with them. She is learning and doing an internship.

When they were over last, the student asked if she could film the session for her class. Holly said that it was okay.

The student called Holly today and said that her teacher had asked if the video could be used as a training video. They want to use it as a part of their course. Holly had told her that it was okay.

Imagine that, he's only a year old and already a movie star.



Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

Caden's Surgery

Holly woke up around 5:45 AM and I woke up around 6:00 AM. The doctors told Holly we should be there at 7:00 AM since his surgery was scheduled for 9:00 AM. I had the initial times that they gave us on my schedule. They had told us to be there at 6:00 AM, and that his surgery was scheduled for 8:00 AM. I suppose they changed the times. Such is life, I guess.

We brought him in around 6:50 AM, and they got his registration done right away. After asking us a long string of questions, we got to take Caden to the playroom to play for a little while. (See the pictures.) he was liking some of the toys that they had in the playroom.

They have this fire engine that the kids sit on and push with their feet. They even get to steer the wheels with a real working steering wheel. He got a trike from Uncle Josh, Aunt Amy, & family for his birthday, so he will probably be on that more.

Caden was doing good in it. He was slightly pushing forward, but he was pushing backwards pretty good. His therapist said that children tend to go backwards first. I'd move him forward to me, and he'd push back to mommy.

The nurse came to get us so that we could get his pre-op vitals and other things done. They had came to get him about half an hour early. They said that they were running a little ahead of schedule. They gave Caden a mild sedative so that he'd be a little more reluctant to go with the nurses without mommy and daddy.

So, for mommy and myself, we were stuck with the Waiting Game. We decided to go get some breakfast down in the cafeteria. They asked us to be back in the room around 9:00 AM. Even though they came to get him around 8:30, and the doctor said that the surgery would take between 1 and 1 ¹/₂ hours.

We were back in the room at 9:00 AM and no answer yet, which we had expected.

Around 10:00 AM, the nurse had came in and told us that the operating room had just called and that Caden was doing just fine.

The doctor came in and told us that his testicles were in his abdomen, and that they did the first of two operations to get his testicles to his scrotum. He had said that they found them pretty quickly and that they appeared that they may have been on the verge of descending. But, they had moved his testicles down a little and they had cauterized an artery so that it would grow and strengthen for his next operation.

Caden didn't get back to his room until around 11:15 AM. So, we waited for over an hour when it was communicated to us that it would be 20-30 minutes. We started to get very anxious and worried.

When they brought him in they said that he had had some trouble getting off of the oxygen. They said that it was expected due to his low muscle tone and his syndrome. And they hadn't said this to us.

Caden was a very tired baby. For the most part, all he wanted to do was to sleep. He did wake up a few times, a couple of times he was in pain so they gave him Tylenol with codeine.

We didn't get to take him home until around 4:00 PM because is SpO₂ or oxygenation level kept going down below 90. It had stabilized several times during that 4-5 hour period, but it kept dropping, mostly when he seemed to be in pain or when he was sleeping with his head bent forward.

When we finally took him home, he slept quite a bit, but he did want to play and sit up a little when he was awake.

Since the day after surgery, you wouldn't guess that he had had surgery. He's been rolling around, sitting, wanting to stand, and playing. It's amazing how fast he bounced back.




Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

1st Birthday & Surgery

I know I didn't post anything for Caden's first birthday, but as you might know, I was very busy the days before and after.

Caden had a great birthday. I will post pictures later of how much he loved it. He especially loved his cake.

Caden's surgery went will. They found his testicles and did the first of the two surgeries.

I will post a little bit longer on both things when I get more time. I am very busy at work right now, partly due to his surgery, and partly due to some tight deadlines.




Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

A Shameless Plug

I figured since everybody was doing things for the "March of Dimes" around this time, that I'd make a stab at letting people know about one of the things they help with and what my son's future will entail.

The link HERE is the story of a boy with Prader-Willi Syndrome and will help you understand more about this syndrome. There is also a PDF at http://www.pwsausa.org/AwarenessWeek/GA-01A.pdf that also contains some more information to help understand.

Now, this isn't a plug for money, but more as an awareness plug. Prader-Willi Awareness week started on Sunday April 30th, 2006 and runs through Saturday May 6th, 2006 (Caden's first birthday).



Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.