Travis & A Speech Update

God bless this guy's heart!

He's such a blessing to me and my heart.

My mother and I take turns taking him to

speech three times a week.  It's

the VERY, very least we can do.

I also try to stop by as often

as I can during the day...

just to try to brighten his day.

Sometimes with the kids,

sometimes just with Hudson,

and sometimes by myself. 

I would give ANYTHING in this

world to be able to do more

to help him.  Until I come up

with what that is, I'm going

to continue to pray my heart

out for his healing and his happiness

and most of all for his purpose.

 

This Joel Olsteen quote recently

came across Facebook...

It may not have been fair, but if you'll

have the right attitude, instead

of being a setback, it's a setup for

God to do something great in your life.

Oh how I pray for this to be the case!

 

But still my heart will forever ache

over all of this.  Forever and Ever:(

My life is so full of amazing blessings

and I'm so undeserving...

it's just not fair. 

 

Seeing someone you love so much

suffer, struggle and long for a life

continues to some days just about

do me in:( And I'm only his aunt. 

 

He's so sweet and just such a blessing

to visit and love on and be reminded

of what a miracle he is.  Plus a daily

dose of perspective...the trivial matters

I face are NOTHING.  Nothing!

 

I wish more people would take an

interest in him and visit and be

blessed.  We all need to reach out...

if not to someone like Travis...

just to someone. 

It will change your life:)

He cracks me UP!!!

Sometimes I'll be talking to him and

he will totally tune me out...typical guy!

This is how I often see him ~ texting!

But my oh my...what a blessing that

he CAN text!!!  Thank you, God!!!!!!!!!!

And when a text like,

"I love you, Min" pops up on

my phone...well, my heart just melts. 

While this road has been SOOOOO

incredibly hard for our family

(in obvious ways and in ways that nobody

could quite fathom until you are in shoes

like this), I have to stop and realize that

God has sustained us, provided for us,

pushed us, and loved us every step of the way.

 

A few months ago, a girl that I went to

high school with Facebooked me that she

was at a speech pathology conference

with the inventor of DPNS, a cutting edge

therapy for helping patients learn to

swallow again, and that she thought maybe

this woman could help Travis.

So I researched the name of this woman...

hello FAMOUS in the world of

speech therapy!  She has written textbooks

and done allllll kinds of research. 

Unfortunately I also learned that she lives

some of the year in Florida and then out

of the country the remainder of the year.

 

I still thought contacting her was

worth the long shot!!!

Well, I got her e-mail from my friend

and I wrote her about Travis. 

I sent the e-mail about 11 pm one night.

This woman called me the very next morning!

I could not believe it!!!

She asked me to gather as much of

Trav's records (like EVERYTHING...

which Lynna and I did) and to

FedEx it to her as soon as we could.

She made no promises but she also

said she would find it hard to give up

on anyone (which the speech therapists

in Galveston had just told Travis

and Lynna there was NO hope).   

 

Soon enough, this EXPERT was in contact

with Trav's current therapists ~

Kristin and Holly.  The fact that we have

them is a HUGE miracle in itself.

They are the two therapists who appeared

from I don't know where to do

Trav's swallow study on Dec. 20th.

They are the ones who listened

as Lynna and I tearfully pleaded

with them to find at least something,

anything positive to say to Travis

during that test.  They not only did

that BUT also allowed him to

start trying some pureed foods!!!

They usually don't take on outpatients

like Travis...but they have taken him

on..and with such a spirit of love

and expertise and a TRUE desire

to help him.  I cry when I think about

how all of this has unfolded.

Thank you, Lord, for these three

people in our lives. 

 

Now our two therapists are under this expert's 

guidance and doing cutting edge, researched based,

new, aggressive treatments on Travis.

They can't make any guarantees

but they are SOOOOOOOOO hopeful!

Travis gets to eat small amounts of mashed

potatoes, some pureed foods,

ice cream & tonight he even

ate some of my mother-in-law's

yummy homemade banana pudding!  :)))

 

My mother, sister and I talk about how

Kristin and Holly are like two

angels who just appeared.  In our own

hometown...little ole Waco...

the absolute most amazing speech

therapists EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is Good!!!

 

So thankful for Kristin

and of course for Travis........ 

This says it best ~