tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69075656748803079012024-03-13T07:48:34.373-07:00Smith Family JourneySeeing the heart of God through Luke's heartThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.comBlogger327125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-91363296599378256042016-11-29T15:00:00.000-08:002016-11-29T15:53:16.428-08:00Day 2The number of answered prayers we've witnessed the last day and a half is mind-boggling. And those prayers are sustaining us on day two, when our sweet boy has had to battle. My heart aches for him. The cry of my heart is that God is working to deepen his faith, to make good from this battle. I know He will. Prayer is not just words when you're in the midst of hard. It is everything.
&The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-64564337429778098432016-11-20T08:04:00.000-08:002016-11-20T08:48:22.015-08:00Pre-OpWe survived a long day at the hospital yesterday. Longer hospital days are coming soon, however, so leaving yesterday afternoon for home was like an unspoken reprieve. Our top two priorites the next 8 days are, 1) enjoy our time at home thoroughly and intentionally, and 2) keep this boy healthy. The cardiac nurse practitioner in not so many words told us it would be crazy to send Luke to school The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-59431895296852155772016-11-12T16:33:00.001-08:002016-11-12T18:40:26.153-08:00Not why I wanted to dust off the ol' blogMany, many times the last two years I've put it on my want-to-do list to post an update on heart and life happenings. And then life kept happening. We continued to see Luke's cardiologist every six months since his last catheterization in 2013, continued to research, seek opinions across the country and then continued living.
Luke has been the dictionary definition of "stable" in this seasonThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-31320389355109215412014-06-22T13:36:00.004-07:002014-06-22T13:36:40.957-07:00It's a big zooTwo weeks after a pretty hefty heart procedure, Luke hopped on a bus with the rest of the first graders and headed to Pt. Defiance Zoo for his end-of-the-year field trip.
I knew about this field trip from the beginning of school and off and on throughout the year, I caught myself wondering, "How is this going to work? Can he walk the entire zoo? What if he can't?" In all honesty, I didn't want The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-10462755161740174642014-06-01T07:14:00.001-07:002014-06-01T07:14:42.339-07:00Cath resultsIt's a day like Tuesday, a day where prayer was so specifically answered, that cements for me this: The God of the Bible is a God that cares about the details of my life.
... He keeps a record of my tears {Psalm 56:6}.
... He numbers every hair on my head {Luke 12:7}
... He goes before me and he follows me {Psalm 139:5}
I know I should just jump right to the details of the cath, but I The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-9248886407170600932014-05-22T15:31:00.000-07:002014-05-22T15:31:06.877-07:00MRI ... check; stress test ... canceled; catheterization ... SOONWe were supposed to have Luke's exercise test on Monday but he decided to not only get a cold a week before (which would totally skew the results since being sick impacts his exercise tolerance), but also to start throwing up Saturday night. I'm okay with putting that test on hold. We have his MRI results and after his catheterization on May 27, we can send all of that information across the The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-42528900881051318532014-03-11T18:40:00.003-07:002014-03-11T18:40:43.267-07:00It's really not my job, as much as I think I want itIt's become clear to me that jumping rope is pretty popular in the first grade. It's happening at recess, in P.E., and a jump rope club is starting up on Thursday mornings.
Last weekend, my son, never one to be left out of social goings-on, decided we needed to buy a small rope so he could practice at home. My husband, ever the willing, found a short rope in our garage and spent 20 or 30 minutesThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-39551051854106814942014-02-18T15:24:00.000-08:002014-02-18T15:24:33.949-08:00Step by baby stepOkay.
We had a cardiology appointment a couple of weeks ago and subsequently a few more are now penciled in on the calendar.
His appointment was on a Wednesday, and later that evening we had a few minutes until we had to leave for Woodland's Math & Science night. Luke really wanted to go, but I'm still not convinced it was math and science drawing him. I'm thinking the free pizza and The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-63833499872522079392014-01-15T17:01:00.001-08:002014-01-15T17:01:37.105-08:00TheoreticsThe Fontan conversation picked up again these past couple of weeks. Between our old cardiologist and us; between us as Luke's mom and dad; between us and God.
The last we talked with Dr. S, back in September after Luke's cardiology appointment, the "plan" was just to continue to hold off on this third stage surgery indefinitely. To continue to watch and wait for Luke to determine the timing. ItThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-17948449219843122782013-12-11T13:58:00.001-08:002013-12-11T14:49:23.019-08:00Another biggie conversationThursdays are the craziest day of the week for our family. At the same time Luke and Roger are heading off to school, I take Laney down to her sitter's house so I can go into the World Vision office for the day. After school, my friend Erica picks up Luke and he hangs out with his buddy Marcus until the hubby picks him up around 4:45. At the same time, I'm picking up Laney and then finally we allThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-21848458557552257302013-09-30T18:30:00.000-07:002013-09-30T18:30:00.792-07:00Decisions, decisionsClearly it's not Sophie's choice ... but every time I leave Luke's most recent cardiology appointment, I feel myself shouldering more of a burden for the decision of when to do the Fontan, his next open-heart surgery. It's a decision that has no perfect answer. When you are talking about putting your child through major, major surgery, it would be really, really nice for someone to tell you, "The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-5663144758226427922013-09-20T11:52:00.002-07:002013-09-20T11:52:33.619-07:00"I really scared"Well.
There He goes again, taking my worries and my "what-ifs" and throwing them out the window. How many times on this blog alone have I gone through the process of worry, pray, worry, wait, let go, take it back, worry some more, watch God do His thing, apologize for my lack of faith, and finally, thank God He is in control and not me.
I think this is why God tells his people to "Write theseThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-89760516813477384722013-09-03T08:37:00.000-07:002013-09-03T08:37:26.454-07:00Finishing strongToday is the last day of summer. Tomorrow my "baby" starts full-day school. We have played hard this summer and although I know I'll appreciate the structure school gives us, I admit I grieved just a little on my run yesterday when I noticed how many leaves were crunching beneath my shoes.
We just got home from a wonderful five days in Black Butte, Oregon. It was just what our little family The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-59400220788752536032013-08-07T07:57:00.000-07:002013-08-07T11:02:53.937-07:00THE TalkFor as much as we've wrestled with the wheres, the hows, and whens to tell Luke about his heart defect, God made it very clear this past week it was time for the conversation to happen.
We have had such a good summer so far. A really good summer. Lots of swimming at the lake, playing with neighborhood friends, hanging out at daddy's camp, roasting marshmallows, VBS, and not a whole lot of The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-31070786311176940572013-07-09T08:48:00.000-07:002013-07-09T08:49:00.298-07:00"I happy now"In the past few months, we have had to start implementing some discipline techniques for our sweet daughter. Our sweet daughter who is finding her voice and using it to say "No!" at inopportune times ... like when I want her to say "Yes."
Fortunately — (for her and us) — putting her in time-out and sitting her on the step are working (for now).
We talk a lot in our family about happy hearts, The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-26922532580547495442013-06-21T12:07:00.001-07:002013-06-21T12:07:50.666-07:00Sat checkI woke up really early on Wednesday. Early even for me, an earlybird. I tried to go back to sleep but after several futile minutes, decided to just start my run earlier than I planned. I went fast and hard and with each footfall, peace was shouldering out the high levels of anxiety I had woken with.
Luke's cardiology appointments always do this to me. How can a single machine that clips on a The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-24877192670336997162013-06-07T14:47:00.001-07:002013-06-07T14:47:35.844-07:00Hula-dancing graduateLuke is only a kindergartner for 7 more days. As of June 18, he will officially be a first-grader, going to school full day.
If only he weren't such a sad kindergartener...
Don't get me wrong, he has had his share of tears this year, and his share of worries, especially at morning drop off. Watching him today, I cried my own tears. Tears of pride and gratitude at how far he's come ... not The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-70025654340335625872013-05-19T13:00:00.001-07:002013-05-19T13:08:36.016-07:00What's in a Name, Part III*My blog-world turned real-life friend, Angie, is down from Alaska right now at Seattle Children's hospital. Her five-year-old daughter, Natalie just had her Fontan Thursday morning. The girl is doing the really, really hard work of recovery and praise God, already moving to the floor later today.
Having gone through two open-heart surgeries with our son, I have an idea of what Angie and her The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-3202663308790076122013-05-14T17:36:00.003-07:002013-05-14T17:37:42.561-07:0023 months, 4 weeksMy email pinged with a notification from BabyCenter.com. It was the last newsletter of my baby's "babyhood". I have told Laney multiple times over the past weeks that she is, under no uncertain terms, not allowed to turn two.
She is being one disobedient little girl.
Because Friday is coming very fast. The girl can make me laugh, she can captivate me; she can jump and talk and run; she can makeThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-80522900449692639482013-04-06T08:52:00.002-07:002013-04-06T08:54:57.540-07:00All for naughtLuke's 2nd trimester report card came home with him last week. It is broken down into multiple areas of assessment, and each area is rated from 1-4. The report card concludes with the teacher's comments.
"Luke is doing a great job in kindergarten. He can identify 18 of the 18 upper and lowercase letters and letter sounds that we have learned so far. He can segment and blend words and read high The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-57512284152415902552013-03-14T07:39:00.000-07:002013-03-14T11:40:11.177-07:00Cardiology 4-1-1Overall, I would give our appointment yesterday an A-.
In school, I didn't like A minuses and I don't really like them today. But I am choosing to focus on the good!
The good news is that Luke's echo looked beautiful as usual, great function and no narrowing where the angioplasty was done in the aortic arch. His blood pressures on arm and leg were perfect and his EKG was normal.
The minusThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-43145749982069205722013-03-12T15:29:00.003-07:002013-03-12T15:29:42.775-07:00Cardiology tomorrowLuke's sitting next to me on our home computer, playing on disneyjunior.com. A friend from school just left a few minutes ago. As "normal" as this moment is, tomorrow morning he is missing school for a not-so-normal appointment.
It's that time again ... for all you faithful pray-ers to say another prayer and think another good thought for our boy's heart. Tomorrow will be our second appointmentThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-44222973479480440482013-03-08T14:51:00.001-08:002013-03-08T14:51:07.127-08:00Self-unawareIn my last blog, I posted this picture of Luke, taken while we were in the ER a couple weeks ago:
This is not the norm. Luke talks very little about his "superman scar" and shows it off even less. He likes to wear his swim shirt and unless his buddies initiate shirtless play (boys, right?), he likes his shirt on.
At the basketball end-of-season ice cream celebration, Coach David spotlighted The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-66108519382026606992013-02-20T07:10:00.000-08:002013-02-20T12:10:47.019-08:00Not just one week of the yearI guess it is fitting that we celebrated Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (made official by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee!) with a drop-in to cardiology, two trips to urgent care and a long afternoon in the ER. After six solid days of coughing, three missed school days and nights of restless sleep, it was time to take him to the doctor. We had battled this cough over Christmas, and IThe Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6907565674880307901.post-30231485959591404522012-11-19T19:49:00.000-08:002012-11-19T19:49:00.275-08:00One and a what?My girl is one and a HALF today. And long overdue for an update.
She is, in one word, a delight. In two words, she is a terrible teether.
On the delightful side, you can see from the video, she loves to sing. With intensity and purpose. And volume. And let's not leave out length. The girl also loves her some dancing. She's open to most music, but especially loves dancing to the The Smith'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16667984389064067303noreply@blogger.com0