Back to Ohio

We left on Sunday back to Ohio for Cade's post-op appointment. The drive is beginning to get old, but thankful we don't have to travel to far and for the great doctors there.
We met with Dr. Holland and Nerad. They had to take the stitches out of Cade's eye. Our only option was to do it in the office, which was down right awful. Cade was a trooper and he did great! We then had to remove the plastic ring out of his eye-also in the office. Again, very traumatic for Cade, but again he overcame another obstacle. It was harder on mom and dad than on him.
No parent should ever have to go through that-holding their child down as doctors work on them.. This is the worst part about Cade's condition for me. I hate how scared he gets and there is nothing I can do about it!! HATE IT!!

I do know that we continually try to calm him down, by telling him that Jesus is with him when he is scared. We tell him to pray when he gets scared. I am not quite sure he gets all of that, but HIS strength through all of these procedures is God-given!

He amazes me daily, and it's not all about his eye. He is inquisitive about everything. He prays for our compassion child-Christian EVERY night and reminds me when I forget. He has a sensitive heart and talks about giving his toys away to children who might not have as much. He goes to bed praying and wakes up praying. Yesterday he woke up and asked if he could pray for his eye. AMAZING! He is not shy about what his eye looks like and tells his friends and teachers all about it. He is one brave 4 year old--almost 5--cannot believe that!! He tells me he loves me to Heaven and back and then explains that Heaven and God are far, far away and that it is alot!!
I am not sure of the plans the Lord has for Cade, but He is going to do great things!

You know through all of this somehow I always go to back to Mary, mother of Jesus. I think probably because in the waiting room in the hospital there is a cross mounted on the wall. After they take Cade back I always come out to the waiting room and see that cross. My eyes stay fixed on it for a while as I think about Mary and what her "wait" looked like. What thoughts were racing through her head as she sat and watched her little boy suffer? Not knowing if she would see Him again. Was she saying to herself, "Let me take the pain, not my one and only..". Knowing He would suffer, but also watching Him suffer. Can you imagine? Watching your little boy suffer and take on the pain of the world? But God had bigger plans right? Yes, He did and Sunday was a'comin'!!! I can relate to her in a very small way with Cade..

Cade does suffer and sometimes we have to watch, and we do question God at times, but the end result as we all know is that we have all been placed on this earth to bring glory to Him. So through all the doctor appointments, surgeries, imaging, etc as hard as it might be we will continue to be faithful and know that HE is the ONE who can heal, and know that HE can do exceedingly more than what we could ever ask!!!!

Sorry, for rambling.. Not even sure this post makes sense, but wanted to share some thoughts from the week!! We have spring break next week and can't wait for some time off!!
Love you all!!

Cade's Latest Procedure

I wanted to update everyone through the blog, just because of the complexity of the procedure today.
Cade is doing great right now and watching cartoons. Our intentions were to go home today, but they want to see him tomorrow to check on the eye.

Dr. Holland and Dr. Nerad both did the procedure today of removing the scarring off Cade' cornea. They also put down a mucous membrane graft over the area where the scar was removed. Cade also has a doughnut ring in his eye, which they stitched in place, to keep the skin from re-attaching again to the cornea. He will have to wear this for a week they are hoping. He also has a contact on the eye underneath the ring. I know this sounds so confusing reading this, and it is. The doctor had to actually draw it out for us on paper.

So the plan is to see Dr. Holland again tomorrow. From there we will be given a time frame of removing this ring, which will be another complete ordeal for Cade since it is stitched and they will have to remove it in the office.(we don't want him to have to be put under again for this, but not even going to think about that right now)

We are very thankful that Cade is not in any pain. He did amazing and the nurses couldn't stop talking about how good he was before and after surgery. THAT'S MY BOY-MY WARRIOR!! One nurse even commented on how "tough" he was. Yes, he is and he gets his strength from the One and only who is strong when we are weak!!!

To God Alone Be the Glory!!!

Winter Storm #7????

Yes, it is true.. Chris and I are home once again due to snow..This makes Nashville's 7th snow storm this winter. Never thought I would be complaining about being at home, but this is getting old!!
Even if you wanted to get out and go somewhere, people who forget how to drive when it snows, threaten your life!!

So it looks as if we are stuck for the time being.. We will welcome spring with open arms, in fact, we are supposed to have 60 degree weather by the weekend!! Yippee!!

Cade has been doing great. I finished up my bball season this past Tuesday and he was sad about it. I thought he would be thrilled, but he loved being with the girls. They were like his big sisters and they treated him like their little brother.

Chris' team is still playing so we will go watch some of his last games as well as a few of CPA's games. Cade enjoys going to the gym. Thank goodness, he really doesn't have a choice between Chris and I..

Continue to keep Cade in your prayers. We leave for Ohio on February 21st for another procedure. I know he will be upset and scared. So please pray for a calming spirit to surround him.

Staying warm!!

carlee

Been a While...

Sorry, it has been forever since I have updated this blog.. Christmas has come and gone and now we are left with a very cold winter. We have already had 4 snow days this winter and are expecting more in the weeks to come. We are sooooo ready for Spring--can't you tell? The snow has been beautiful, but it has overstayed its' welcome.
So since December, Chris and I have been very busy coaching our basketball teams. I have been coaching our 5th and 6th grade team, and it has been a blast!! I love them! I call them my "itty-bittys" They are so litte, but they are sooo scrappy!! Love it!!
Cade has been hanging with me during practice. The girls love him and of course he loves all the attention! Chris is coaching middle school and the assistant varsity coach. Needless to say, we are BUSY!!

In other news, my brother had another little boy last week named Bryce Tyler Marcum. He is so tiny and can't wait to see him! Mom and baby are doing great!

Cade also had another appointment with his cornea surgeon right before Christmas. He has more scarring on his cornea that will need to be removed, so we will head to Ohio in February to take care of that.
We are also hoping to finish the removal of his VM in his lower lid this year, but will wait and see what his recovery looks like from his cornea surgery.

We were all able to go to the circus last weekend. Cade had a great time and his favorite part was when they brought out the baby elephant. We had great seats-about 5 rows up from the floor. It was a great show until a little one sitting behind me puked all over my seat..Good thing I was already leaning forward with Cade..YUCK!!

Well, that has been our life in the past month or so. Will try to get back into more of routine with this blogging thing!

Blessings! Love ya'll!!

Our Best Christmas Gift...

I explained in my last post that we received an interesting, but gracious gift this year. My mom contacted me in early December about a friend of hers that wanted to help Chris and I out financially. Mom called to ask me about how much we owed in medical bills. In my mind, I don't even think I have ever stopped to consider that. We just make payments each month as the bills come in. We just consolidate and then make payments.

This friend and my mom became friends in the second grade, and they had stayed in contact all these years. The couple knew of Cade's medical condition and mom had kept them updated through the last few years.

Mom called me back later in the day and told me that they wanted to help us. (Keep in mind we did not know this couple at all.) There was quite an amount that we owed from when Cade was first born and our insurance didn't cover his surgery at 7 months of age. We had been making payments on that since his birth. My mom made contact with several people to ask for a settlement on the account.(the settlement was about $3000 less than what we owed on the account.) Many of the individuals she talked with that day told her that there was NO WAY they would settle for that amount and had never done that. Guess they don't know my mom. She was pretty persistent and kept calling and the Lord kept working.

When I got home from work that day, mom called to tell me the news. They ACCEPTED the settlement. Not only that, but this gracious couple offered to pay the remainder of the bill. At this point, I was completely speechless. I had no words, and it took me about three weeks to pen a thank you letter. How do you put into words how thankful and appreciative you are to someone you have never met before? This was such a God thing!! He completely orchestrated the entire situation.

Chris and I are so thankful for the Askins. As much as we worry about bills and how we are going to pay them, our Lord is continually asking us to just TRUST...Let it Be!!! Again, as author Sarah Young states, "He is wanting us to exercise our 'trust muscles'.." This was just another time in our lives that He clearly provided for us in a way that we would never have imagined..through complete strangers.
My prayer is that when my worries and stress increase and begin to take a stronghold on my life, I will be reminded of all the ways He has provided for us.
Thank you again to the Askins Family for their gracious and generous gift this Christmas!
To God Alone Be the Glory!!

First Snow of the Year and it was a big One

Sorry for the lack of posting in the last few weeks, we have been extremely busy! We have had a pretty eventful few days. Forecasters were predicting snow for Sunday...only about 1 1/2 ". On our side of town which is West Nashville, we ended up getting about 6 inches. It has been crazy. On top of that, we have had freezing temps as well. Currently it is 19 degrees and it feels like 6..Needless to say we spent about 30 minutes outside today and yesterday.

The weather this year for Nashville has been crazy!! Flood in May, blistering hot weather this summer, and record temps in December! We haven't had snow in December for about 3 years.
So today Chris and I both had our first snow day. Timing was not great due to this being Exam week.

Cade still got some time out in the snow. He shoveled the snow and wanted so bad to build a snowman, but the snow was too powdery..(sp?)

We are gearing up for Christmas. Cade has been so excited this year about Christmas. It was the first year he decorated his tree by himself. He loves all the lights and wants to look at lights on our way home from school each day.
He has learned the carol "Away in a Manger..." too cute!

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! The Lord gave us a special gift this Christmas and I will share that in another post later!!
Love you all!!
(the first pic of cade was taken by our new neighbors..they live across the street from us and happen to be out walking..she is a great photographer!)

"TO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED"

So these past few weeks have been crazy and exhausting for everyone in the Brian household. I took a 5th and 6th grade basketball job, Chris' football team made it to the playoffs, and he is beginning coaching for basketball, and of course Cade and his crazy schedule with doctor appointments. Amidst all the stress we have right now in our lives, I was reminded today, by a quote that says it all.."Too Blessed To Be Stressed." How true is this statement. Of course this time of the year always reminds us of how truly thankful we are and should be.
I am so grateful to the Lord for how he has brought comfort, health, joy, and many other numerous provisions during the course of this year. We are so very blessed!

I am also grateful for family. My sister just recently sent me some pics that she took of her kids. We don't get to see them that often..only when we travel to Ohio for Cade's eye appointments. These pictures are amazing! She is an awesome photographer and not to mention Holland and Addi Kae are too precious!! I am very thankful for her and so proud of how she has continued to seek the Lord in everything that she does. She is an awesome wife, a loving mom, and a wonderful sis! Love you Hill!