My view from Kyle

You've probably heard people describe their lives as like a roller coaster. To be sure, that's what dealing with Rebekah's CRPS is like. I may leave her to go to work, and all is fine. But, by mid-day, the nerves have flared up, and her day is busted.

It's quite frustrating to deal with. I think between the CRPS and the constant therapies, we've grown a bit testy toward everything, and I do mean everything - from each other to the direction the wind blows. I think we could both use a week long vacation away from the world, just to recover and calm our frustrations. But, alas, that's not happening anytime soon. So, maybe we'll just play hookey every once in a while.

BarlowGirl shares about stuggle with CRPS

Barlow Girl shares about her struggle with RSD. She is in a contemporary Christian music group that I love to listen to. I have there new CD. It is interesting to find out she has struggled with this also. Click below to learn more about CRPS.

What Is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)?

Party time!

Bowling with his friends

Jeremiah the miracle child is 10yrs old today. If you know him now you wouldn't hardly believe he was diagnosed with low functioning Autism at 25months. With lots of prayer and natural supplements, diet and therapies he is considered a recovering Autistic. Meaning he has pretty much over come it with just a few quirks that remain. He still has some texture issues and that affects his eating. He is actually in his school gifted program and makes straight A's in school. He has lots of friends. He is a awesome artist also.

When he was 5years old he ask Jesus into his heart and we were ecstatic. Just 3 years before that we never thought things like that were possible. He continues to amaze us and all his doctors.... We are truly blessed to have Jeremiah in our lives. Happy birthday Jeremiah we love you..

JEREMIAH IS 1OYEARS OLD TODAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMIAH!! HE IS TAKING CUPCAKES TO SHARE WITH HIS CLASS AT SCHOOL AND THEN WE ARE HAVING A PIZZA PARTY TONIGHT WITH A COUPLE OF HIS FRIENDS FROM SCHOOL. HIS FRIENDS ARE ALSO BOTH SPENDING THE NIGHT! HE IS VERY EXCITED TO BE 10YEARS OLD.I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE A CHILD IN DOUBLE DIGITS ALREADY...

What a cute baby Jeremiah was...

Slow progress & frustration is setting in..

I had therapy today for my hand. It went ok until she pulled out the venom extractor. It sucks your skin up in it and then she moves it around. Ouch.. It turned into a big bruise, so that doesn't feel to good. They have tried and tried to get my scar to un-stick and it just isn't working. It is still very stuck. My wrist is bending, but the stuck scar is keeping my knuckles from moving very good. I am still looking at surgery in December. It has been about the same for the last two weeks without much gains. My pinky finger is very crooked and I have a pinky splint for it I also have another splint for at night to pull my knuckles down. My CPM machine helps with the swelling.

I am also dealing with pain & frustration from CRPS. I like to call it the CRAPS!! It makes your whole arm hurt. It just hurts all the time and then it hurts to do anything with it. My hand has a nice purple colors and has been stiffer this week. Good news is my wrist is bending enough they say i do not have to have the wrist CPM machine. I really didn't want another one, so that is good. I still have my hand CPM machine and use it everyday. At times I'm in good spirits and other times I get really down. I'm frustrated its almost been 3 months and I still have a long way to go to getting my hand back. I am doing some natural things and I am going to start some other natural treatments next week under the care of our natural Doctor. I am playing hooky this friday and monday is a holiday, so I'm taking a week break! It has been a very stressful 3months and I'm feeling completely wore out and frustrated to be honest...

Jonas' open house at Kindergarten

Jonas enjoyed getting to visit his kindergarten room yesterday at open house. He got to see his class and his lunch room, library and music room. He is very excited and met some new friends. I think he is all ready for his first day of school next week.

Mala enjoying cleaning at Jonas' school. ;-)

Mala and Jonas are making muffins

Is this the life or what

He was drinking his smoothie in style

It was 12years ago today my grandma past away from cancer. She was a very sweet women that would do anything for you. They use to come out every Sunday afternoon and visit at our house. She loved kids and would have been crazy over our three boys... She is in a much better place and we will see her again!! My grandpa stays busy walking and going to every church function he hears about. ;-)

Boys playing

The boys were having lots of fun drawing a hopscotch.

I DID IT!!

I drove today... I drove to walmart last weekend with kyle in there with me, but this was my first time by myself. I was a little nervous, but I did it just fine and it felt great!!!

I also went out and played with our puppy Rosebud for the first time since the accident. I even put her in her pen.

RoseBud getting a treat!!

Rosebud is our puppy! She is so sweet and is starting to settle down some. The boys love feeding her and playing fetch. She is 8 months old already.

Jonas and his kitty Frosty...

Mala eating his lunch..

Bye Bye diapers

Malachi kinda acted like he wanted to put on a diaper today. He's been wearing underwear this week. I told him those were for babies and we were going to take them to church for babies to use. He went and got a bag and bagged them up and they put them in the van! I guess we are officially a diaper-less house.. Mala is a big boy now!!

hand therapy

Malachi went to hand therapy with me today. He had lots of fun. He did everything I did. When they gave me a weight to use they also gave him a weight to use. We used the shuttle. It is where you sit on a seat and push off with your hand and it will move some. Like a little ride and Malachi sat on it with me. He loved that! He talked to all the therapist and Techs today. They all thought he was adorable.

Jonas' teacher came to visit him

Jonas really enjoyed his Kindergarten teacher coming to visit him this evening. She told him all the fun things he will get to do in kindergarten. They did some math together and Jonas wrote his name for her. She is a prefect teacher for him. She has a boy his age.

therapy & CRPS

I had my 1st of 3 hand therapy of the week today. They have got my wrist bending pretty good. You wouldn't believe what all they do to get it to bend. They dip me in hot wax 10x and then wrap me in Saran wrap. Then they push a weight in my hand and tie it on and then hang my wrist over a ramp thing and then put a heavy heat pack on that. It gets a very very good stretch. It doesn't feel good, but knowing that it is helping makes it not bother me. I've gotten kinda tough. They call me a trooper... The only way I am doing as good as I am is because I know I have God beside me the entire way and is helping me cope with it all.

Today they gave me a pinky finger split because it is not straight and doing it's own thing. This will help it to not get any worse hopefully and get it more straight.

They also did another iontophoresis treatment. This is a treatment to reducing scar tissue. It increases the extensibility of the scar and therefore increases the effectiveness of stretching following iontophoresis. Not sure if it has made much difference, but it sure feels like it's doing something. Last time they did it all in the therapy this time they did it sent me home to wear it 3hrs while it continues to work.

Tomorrow I take my CPM machine in to see how she thinks it is coming along. It has helped my knuckles alot. It's not helping my fist so far to much... They keep telling me to wear it to a bible study or the mall ;-) I have done neither yet!

I have had a better day as far as pain. The last week has been not so fun. I've had pain in hand, arm and shoulder... Feels very achy, tingly and burning. I've had nausea and headaches for the last 6days straight. A little better today... This CRPS may think it's in control, but I know a higher power than can heal anything, so I am not going to let this new diagnoses get in my way. If anything it makes me more determined to get it in remission.

1st day of school

Jeremiah is home from his first day of 4th grade and is all smiles!! He had an awesome day and everything went great!! He loves school and looks forward to going. He is making some new friends and got to see some friends from last year. He had art class today and got to try out his new computer in his room. He is already excited about tomorrow. I love it that my boys love school... Jonas is very excited to go to kindergarten in 2 weeks and Little Malachi's big news is he is learning to use the potty.

Jeremiah's 1st Day of 4th Grade!!!

Jeremiah is very excited...

Meet the Teacher nigh

I can't hardly believe Jeremiah is in 4th grade and almost 10years old. He is the oldest grade in his school now and that's a big deal for a kid!! His teacher seems really nice and he really likes ones of the boys in his class. They played chess together in Chess club, so he was excited to see him in his class. Tomorrow is his first day of school and he is very excited...

Jeremiah and Mala

Jeremiah and Mala are very cute together. They love to read books, but I haven't seen them read book like this before. ;-)

Jonas got hungry

Jonas was watching TV during nap time and all the sudden he got hungry and went and made himself and very yummy looking sand which all by himself.

He also, told me a dream he had the other day. He dreamed he was playing golf and croquet, but he was playing golf with the croquet ball and croquet with the golf ball!! He thought his dream was very funny and laughed and laughed as he told me ;-)

What an encouraging verse

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Mala is a big boy

Malachi has went 3times now in the potty!! Yeah for Mala! He is very excited.... He is wearing Thomas underwear today....

Guess what Malachi can do

He can go in the potty. I got his little potty out tonight when he said the other potty was to big.;-) He was very happy to sit on it and read a book. After sitting there for a few mintues he said, I go potty like Jo Jo!! He got to get a toy out of the treasure basket... This is the first time he has showed any interest and the first time he has sat on the potty. Jonas was very proud to sit on the potty with Malachi and show him how it was done!!!

Boys eating corn on the cob

The boys enjoyed there corn tonight for supper.

Boys playing a game

Every Saturday morning when everyone should be sleeping in there is always little boys up bright and early. ;-) This morning were in here playing Chess. It's funny how the mornings we have a sitter coming to watch them here and we have to get up and get to an early therapy they sleep in and the mornings we have nothing and can sleep in they are up early... Funny how that works with kids...

new dr visit

I went to see another doctor yesterday for my hand. This Doctor is a pain & rehab specialist. He diagnosed me with Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) It's old name was RSD. This just makes my hand recovery very complex. If i do to much movement of my hand I get horrible pains from CRPS, but if I don't move enough I will loose function in my hand. This is not a great place to be in. Some people develop CRPS after an injury and you seem to from the beginning have more swelling, pain and stiffness like I have had. With CRPS they say move it or loose it, so you try to do as much as you can without over doing it.

Definition: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an uncommon, chronic condition that usually affects your arm or leg. Rarely, the disease can affect other parts of your body. You may experience intense burning or aching pain along with swelling, skin discoloration, altered temperature, abnormal sweating and hypersensitivity in the affected area.
The nature of complex regional pain syndrome is puzzling, and the cause isn't clearly understood.

This will mean more Doctors and it is just alot bigger deal. As of now they are trying to do things to settle it down before it spreads. It is kind of a scary thing and I would appreciate prayers that my hand will settle down and respond to the treatment. I am trying hard to stay positive and upbeat! Stress and anxiety is known for making CRPS worse, so it's in my best interest to stay cool ;-) I have been reading a book called BREATHE- Creating space for God in a Hectic life. Well, I think that fits my like right now!! It is a really good book that I got through a MOPS(Mother's Of Preschoolers) small group.

If you want to read more about CRPS just click on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome at the top that is in red. In the picture below my cat was very intertained by my star wars hand and then fell alseep. Jeremiah thought this was funny and took a picture.

some pictures of our family

Jeremiah

Jonas

Malachi

Daddy giving our puppy RoseBud a bath.

Malachi and mommy reading a book while mommy uses her robotic hand

Daddy reading to Jonas

Jonas and Malachi playing together

Cute boys

We moved our bigger TV back in the entertainment center tonight, but while we had it empty all three boys jumped back there. They put on a little show ; ) They sang and sang and were so cute! Daddy finally had to run them off to get the TV in place before Micheal Phelps raced in swimming. We got it on just in time to see him win Gold!! We love Olympics around here...

LOOK AT MY WRIST

They measured me today and they were blown away that my wrist measured 40. It's going to 70, so I'm half way!! My other measurements were also amazing!! The Therapists were all blown away and I said it's an answer to prayer....

fun vacation day pics

my new CMP machine

I got my CMP (continuous passive motion)machine today. It's like you have a personal therapist at home 6-8hrs a day.

wrist bending

Look I can bend my wrist a little this week.... God Is Good!!

I have actually made alittle progress... The last 2 therapies they did something new. They put my hand up and tied a weight to my hand and let the wrist hand down then put a heat pack on top of that. Man, it was not fun, but it's going to take me getting tough to get my hand back and I say no pain, no gain. After they did this my wrist would move a little and today alittle more!!HURRAH. now, that is exciting.... I am getting a new thing for my hand called a CMP machine for my hand on Friday. It will make my fingers move and hopefully get ALOT more movement out of my knuckles. Two of my fingers are so tight they are not straight anymore. Feel like the bone is doing something weird. She said this should help that. I'm in a race to get my hand back before I loose some function in it for good. They are saying surgery for sure in December. I have been scrubbing floors and keeping my right hand very busy....

The RSD affects are not fun that I'm dealing with like very stiff hand, swollen hand, color and skin changes and sensitive to touch. I know can't take much touch on my hand it hurts. like a sheet being pulled across my hand literally hurts. They tried to use a neck vibrator on my hand and it hurt like crazy. She finally was able to do it through a thick towel. It hurts to wear my silicone patch for my scar also. You can see in the picture above that it is a different color and is more swollen. You can see my pinkie and ring finger are doing there own thing. I can't control the pinkie. I am still going to therapy 3x a week. Therapist said, plan on that continuing.

I drove yesterday for the first time since the accident. It was in a parking lot ;-) I drove around and tried to park and see if I can turn corners. It doesn't feel good, but I can do it. I have to use my other hand to put it in park. I am hopefully going to start driving a little soon. I am so freaked out about driving again. It's taken this long to not get all tense just riding in the van with Kyle driving.

Kyle said something funny the other day. I know some sign language, but wanted to get better at it and use it in our ministry. Well, i said to kyle that if I signed all people would see is my scar and not be able to concentrate on what I'm signing. Kyle said that's like sign language with a lisp!! I thought that was kinda funny ;-)

My cute boys are all doing great. Rev. Kyle is doing great also. They boys have been playing outside alot. They have all there school supplies and are very excited about school starting soon. Jeremiah and Jonas got haircuts. Jonas loves his hair cut and I really like it! Malachi said, "I want to got to preschool." I said if you go to preschool you'll have to get a haircut like your brothers ;-) He said, "oh I no want preschool, I no like haircut." He wants to be a big boy like his brothers.

water slide

Yesterday we put the pool by the slide and Jonas had so much fun sliding down into the water. After he had been playing for awhile he announces " that this was the best day of his life." He is so cute and says the cutest stuff.

THe boys are enjoying a book together!

fun at the fair

we had a great time at the fair last night. we waited until 8pm to go since it was so hot out. the boys had a blast! Sam came and hung out with us some. the boys road some rides and we enjoyed some yummy Cinnamon rolls.