Sunshine Galore!
Thanks Christian Nation Church Family! You all are the best!!! She looks forward to the opening of each new numbered gift for that day. She has also enjoyed sharing some of the goodies with her siblings and they are thankful too! :) Natasha said with tears the other day: "Mommy, what do people do who don't have such a church family as we do?!"

We are sooo blessed to have such a large Christian family standing with us, not just our church but our friends all across the world. Thank you, everyone for your continued prayers!!! They mean so much. We are ever-so-grateful to the Lord for his MANY blessings and bringin' Natasha safely through surgery to this extent and through all the hurdles that we've come through thus far and we are trusting Him for the remaining days still lying ahead of us. They have prepared us for at least 8 weeks recovery time needed and we are 2 weeks into that now, so she would want me to ask you to please keep praying!

Before and After!
The top picture is the morning of the surgery (before) That morning she measured in at 5' 3 1/4". Laura is 5' 4" The bottom picture was just taken a day ago. Natasha finally is taller than her mother. We are told that she may actually get taller once the brace is off - because until healing takes place the body still wants to slump a little bit.
I better watch out, she's catching up to me. Continuing to pray that God gives full healing and recovery.

This pic is the morning of surgery. We praise God for Dr. Crawford - truly he was God-sent! Some folks flippantly use the word miracle for everything! They found a pair of shoes at Goodwill and it's a miracle (I have a daughter who loves shoes and loves to shop at Goodwill; that's why I chose that illustration :) )I guess 'to each his own.' Whatever the case, I have no doubt in the providential working of God throughout this whole surgery process. Dr. Crawford was the first African-American to graduate from the University of Tennessee Med. School some 46 years ago and is one of, if not the best in his field (sure I'm biased - I don't deny that). Furthermore, Dr. Crawford is in the process of retiring - I say process because when you are in his field, you don't just stop one day - because of the surgery schedules, follow-up visits, on-going training of other surgeons, etc. So to get an appointment was God working in and through the hearts of men/women and circumstances. After the surgery was over and we met with Dr. Crawford, he said, "I am pleased with the surgery," and "I think Natasha will be pleased with her back." We told him, we had hundreds of people praying for him and the surgery, to which he replied, "Well, then maybe that's why it went so well." Don't read negative into that comment, it wasn't meant to be negative. God has blessed this man with amazing talents and we never detected any arrogance or cockiness. He previously told us, "I do the surgery, God does the healing!" He said that because the body must fuse the bones together or a 2nd surgery will be required. To engage in such serious work as he does, you better have a little bit of confidence that you know what you are doing. I can assure you, if he would have said sheepishly and with false humility, "Well, I do my best." We would have found another Dr.! God gives us gifts, some more than others, and we are to develop those gifts to their fullest. God uses our gifts for His glory. Thank you Dr. Crawford for all of your labors to help our daughter. I have no idea what you went through decades ago to be in the position you are today, but we thank you for overcoming. I thank you for all you have done not only to help thousands of other youg people, but to help our daughter and answer her prayer. We are eternally grateful and thank God for you. God bless you!

Sorry for the delay. I, Daryl, am back full swing into school, working, and studying and Laura is taking care of Natasha. It has been two weeks now since the surgery and Natasha has made some major steps. PTL! She continues to improve although she has a long way to go yet. One of my students had similar surgery and said he felt like it was about 2 months before he began to feel like he was 'over the hump.' If that's the case, then she still has another 6 weeks; however, surgeries affect different people different ways, so we will take it week by week. Thank the Lord, on Sat. night she slept for 2 straight hours. Yes, that's what I said, that was a huge answer to prayer because Laura has been getting up with her every hour to assist her in moving around to get a little more comfortable. Occasionally, I have given Laura a break, but Natasha prefers her mother's help. Early Monday morning, Natasha slept for several hours and both she and Laura were able to get some nice rest. PTL! There are a lot of ups and downs through this and one day she can bee feeling good, then the next, her body comes crashing down. So we covet your continued prayers.

Other Wise How Are Things?
I DO COFFEE and 1st thing EVERY morning... and "someone" knowing this... was needing some "Mommy attention" and this was one way he KNEW he'd get it! I just thank him for leaving the frogs out! (Long story... see an older post about that one!)
These two lovely creatures greeted me the 1st morning after Natasha was home from surgery. Our sweet son, was who I KNEW was the culprit... sure enough when I asked him if he knew anything about some creature being in my sugar bowl, he giggled and giggled nearly falling off the bed! Kids, you gotta love them! :) Sure bring many smiles our way! I agree with the Gaither's Song... "Thank God for Kids!" Totally! We are so blessed and if I have to squirm a little b/c of a creature now and then, that's okay... I'm just glad Jesus gave us a son too! :)

Praising God for His Many Blessings!

Last evening in our family worship time, Natasha had a praise and was very broken, thanking the Lord for keeping her safe from all injury during such a serious surgery! It was a precious time! You see they had to precaution us of all the risks of such a huge surgery and many of the possible injury's were very serious. They warned her she could be deaf, blind, or even paralyzed! God is SOOOOO Good to keep her safe and have all of her senses in tact and we praise Him!
The anesthesiologist said to her as they were checking on her just before surgery, "You seem at such a peace!".... What an Awesome God we serve, who comes and gives us strength and peace to face the battles that lie ahead of us..." He never comes early," as the song says, "but He never comes late... He's ALWAYS ON TIME!" She had been SOOOOOO anxious, and had many times of tears going into surgery, but Jesus came and took all of that away so that she could go into surgery totally at peace! PTL!

Natasha and her daddy are doing a little slow dancing. This was 4 days after surgery and the first time I helped her up. She has come a long way since then - Slava Boga!

Hello Again!
Things are going okay. Natasha is still in a lot of pain, mostly due to her TMJ, now. This keeps her from being able to chew and though her appetite is increasing she can't chew things well. She is a bit bummed about this, for our dear church people are sending in delicious meals and she can't chew well. She had this trouble years ago while we were missionaries in Romania and we saw a chiropractor who adjusted her jaw and things went much better after that... now that isn't as easy to do, so we are praying about what to do to help her. Her jaw can still be adjusted, just not sure that she could take the ride clear out to our present chiropractor. She has her days and nights mixed up... as she did about 18 years ago this time!!! :) She has had a decent day, came downstairs to rest in the recliner, for the 4 walls would get to her if she stayed in her bedroom all day. Just help us pray that she will somehow be able to find some comfortable way to rest at night. You can imagine how comfortable it would be for you to sleep on your dining room table, 24/7... and that's kind of how it feels for her.
We are so blessed to have come through SO much!! Thank you for your continued prayers, they mean so much! Natasha has gotten several cards and gifts from family and friends and has enjoyed reading them... (though that is rather difficult since she must hold them up in the air to even see them, because of her brace! :) Thanks to all of you for your unspeakable kindnesses to us and your prayers... thanks even for those of you who want to comment and can't. We do get your e-mails and they mean so much!

We are Home!

We finally got released from the hospital and home about 4:30 this afternoon. Natasha is one weary and ill girl. She said with tears in her voice on the way home.... "Mommy, I sure hope people don't stop praying for me now that they know I'm home from the hospital!" (she then confessed that she has done that, but that now she knows differently how much a patient still needs prayer!)
We made it up the stairs and into bed but she was crying by that time... so weak and in so much pain; glad to be home, but sad that she didn't even feel like greeting her siblings.
So thanks for your continued prayers as this is still a LONG journey ahead of us!
~Laura~

Baby Steps, increasing! (I typed these 3 words before 8 this a.m.... and that's all the further I got til now... nearly 12 hrs later!) Wow! Where on earth do I begin... it's been a LONG, LONG, Day! We had another night with much confusion due to meds and that is always NOT a fun thing. We have had a FULL day and quite eventful. "All things work together for the good..." is definitely been at work with us here. "Tough Love" has been in practice all day... which to be honest, I'm NOT too good at. I tried it this a.m. and Natasha ended up loosing her breakfast! That's where it ended for me, now I'm gonna just be the "NICE nurse" style, I'll leave that "tough love stuff to someone else. :) But Natasha has done therapy and done it well, learned to climb stairs, in preperation for heading home, Lord willing tomorrow. A major prayer request that I have for EVERYONE.... we have GOT to get her pain meds under control and finally through the Lord's help and understanding, I was able to start to narrow it down today. PRAISE THE LORD! The Lord sent a wonderful nurse on shift that has helped me big time, plus Dr. Crawfords nurse... to finally ask the right questions to help this all start to make sense! Natasha has been so emotional, scared, reactionary, and a whole bunch of other descriptive words that I can't spell, since surgery and I've been wondering what to do with all of that... so today we are real close to some answers. thanks for praying with us about this, for if it's not under control she can't come home tomorrow! Natasha has only wanted a quiet birthday celebration... too weepy with meds and pain and emotions to want much company etc. So we have had a quiet day as far as company, but a full day with nice presents sent from friends, cards from family, and even had a birthday cake delivered to her room from the hospital staff. They sang "Happy Birthday" to her and made her day! Have a wonderful night... and I SURE HOPE TO TOO... with some SLEEP!! :)

Overall, today has gone quite a bit better than last night. She's been drinking water, herbal tea, juices, eating applesauce, pudding, and a couple bites of potatoes and meatloaf (which was YUMMY!) Thanks to the Kennedy's for the wonderful meal they brought. She also took a little ride in the wheelchair, had a few visitors, sat in the chair, and walked a little around the bed. All of this is very beneficial for the healing process. He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Last night was rough on all of us because she did not rest well. She was suffering from lots of confusion and "pain." I, Daryl, had the first shift from 10:30-3:15 and Laura had the 3:15 to morning shift. So I, was by her beside the entire time; however, she was not too happy with me because I wouldn't take the brace off and was convinced I had laid a bunch of commentary books on her chest and wouldn't take them off. She finally started resting about 5ish this morning and has been resting since then. All I.V.'s are out, thank the Lord. The last one kept beeping everytime she would bend her arm (where the IV was located). She's able to do most of the work in standing up. Last night as Natasha and I stood there facing each other, I leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead and said, "I love you Natasha!" She leaned forward and kissed my cheek and said, "I love you too, Daddy!" A special moment I cherish. Thank you for your constant prayers, last night as I was sitting next to her holding her hand, I sensed the Lord's presence in a special way. The pediatric Dr. checked her out today, everything is sounding good. He encouraged us to let her eat more to move things through (TMI). :) She must drink lots of fluids because of not having the I.V. They are monitoring the pain meds as best as possible, just trying to make sure they treat the right type of pain. She will not be pain free, and the brace will cause pain, so they want to try to alleviate the pain they can and now move her to working through the "discomforts" (major understatement). The pediatric Dr. has a real dry sense of humor and got Natasha's first genuine smile since the surgery. He was wonderful! We are trusting that today she makes another big step. We need to get her to drink plenty, eat more solids, get her up more, and engaging in activities (i.e. reading or being read to, sitting in the chair more, etc.) The purpose is to try to bring as much normalcy to the situation as possible. Thank you again for your prayers. Tomorrow is a big day for Natasha so we pray she keeps making much progress. Eighteen years ago, Laura was the one in pain and in the hospital, but the baby God gave us has been a real delight. Tomorrow at 10:56 a.m. Natasha turns 18 years of age.

Baby Steps! Natasha was able to get up several times today and did really well. A huge answer to prayer happened this afternoon... the brace people showed up... a RARE THING, if ever on Sat... took her brace and fixed it! We are SO thankful! Without that brace we took steps "backwards" for several hours with the pain VERY INTENSE... so though we are thankful we are SO exhausted... we need your prayers, for Natasha hasn't had 1 winks sleep all day, well til now at nearly 5 pm. It's so exhausting to be ill. The Lord knew that there would be NO WAY we could have made it today without the rest that He granted last night. Please DO cover her with prayer tonight. The nights are always worse. She isn't tolerating the needed pain meds well, for they make her dream... sometimes happy dreams... but often dreams that make your heart just want to bawl for her. We DO need the precious blood of Jesus to take away the dreams and the side effects of the drugs... she has to have them, for the pain is SO intense. We are thankful for the times that she says something funny... and we usually laugh like crazy, just because we are SO weary. Thanks for all your prayers and support... for those of you checking and can't comment for one reason or another too. Your prayers mean so much right now, for we are beyond numb! Weary, Weepy, yet praising our Wonderful God for his many blessings! (I'd never make a good preacher, can't even think of a 3 point outline! :)

There is a time.. a time to sleep.... that's all I can seem to remember from Ecc. 3... and if I'm wrongly interpreting scripture... you would too if the only sleep that you've had was about 20-30min sections for the last 5 days!!! Last night.... long story short, (well, sort of...:) we felt that she MUST HAVE SLEEP! But her brace doesn't fit correctly and since it was Fri p.m. and the weekend is upon us... they told us we would have to wait til Mon for the techs to come and fix it but there was NO getting it off... she had to wear it 24/7!!!! OUCH!!!!.. was all we heard for hours yesterday! ... that's a background what we were facing last night as 11 pm came around. We had SPECIAL prayer and God came and did the amazing! He sent us two WONDERFUL nurses who knew that if she didn't get sleep, things would NOT be good today... so with that as a Duo... Jesus and great nurses... we got the 1st 2 hr section of sleep that we've had since Sat p.m. BEFORE surgery. She would awaken and take the meds that they needed her to take, say OUCH often, but then turn and go right back to sleep! Oh Hallelujah! Sleep, precious sleep!!! Thanks to ALL of you for praying... keep praying we still have lots of "steps to take" before she will be able to make the "flight of stairs" that await her at our Haus...

Second therapy session went a little better. Natasha and daddy did a little dancing as we shuffled, her arms on my shoulders and mine around her torso (from the bed to a cabinet in the room and back -a distance of about 20 feet round trip). Still pretty upset at the restrictions of the brace; however, Dr. Crawford said that she will probably come to the place where she will actually enjoy it, because it brings security and protection. She keeps wishing she would wake up from this "bad dream." Thank you for your prayers!

Physical therapy went as only it can go - slow, painful, and way too long. Natasha is not happy with Dan the Physical Therapist or the brace, or anyone requiring her to be in this crazy contraption. This is exactly what Dr. Crawford said would happen. Therapy went well though - trying to look at it objectively that is. She got up, out of bed, sat in the chair for about an hour and then back to bed. She did rest better in bed with the brace and has laid on her back for most of that time, which she didn't do previously. She emphatically told me, "If Dan doesn't get back here soon, (to put me back in bed) he's going to be headless." Now mind you, she doesn't know everything she's saying, but I have a hard time not smiling at her comments. From my vantage point, the therapist and brace folks did a very professional job today: respectful, professional, and doing a tough job well. They will be back again in a little while to try to get her up and shuffling around. P.S. Even in this digital tech world where folks post pics of everything (which I think is unwise and sometimes stupid), we are trying to be respectful to our daughter and her privacy. When she is better and will grant us permission to share a few more pics, then we will.

Natasha is progressing slowly. She had a reel rough time between approx. 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. This seems to be the pattern and it is real rough for her and her parents. Today we must get her up and moving even more today. The Dr. said she is to wear the brace 24/7 and they do want her to walk a little today. "Tough Love" is the statement used for today and tomorrow. Once she is up and moving they can gradually remove the various iv's, increase the type of food, and everything will begin to improve. She's had lots of pain in shoulders, hips, etc - the non-affected parts but this is normal because of laying around for a few days and is a good sign - "It's time to get up and moving." :) Thank you for your prayers. We deeply appreciate them. Physical Therapy just showed up so we are fixing to get her up.

She's Up and... Well... just UP! :) Not to the stage of "Up and Going" yet... but the 1st step was made this a.m. putting on the brace for the 1st time, sitting on the side of the bed, standing and then taking 2 wee baby slides (steps without having to ask "Momma, may I?:) to the chair beside the bed. She was able to tolerate sitting there happily... ok... not so happy, but doing well with it for 20 min... we coaxed her to finish the needed 1/2 hr time and then she went back to bed and is resting now! They will repeat this, this afternoon... telling us each time will get easier and easier. God is SOOOO good to give us WONDERFUL nurses, ~ so understanding. A fabulous pain team ~working with her and so sympathetic with all that she has and is facing! Can't complain... in fact we are PRAISING GOD, big time! "Little by Little, Inch by Inch" is a fun kids Patch the Pirate song a favorite of our kids ... and that's pretty much where we are right now... we aren't to the point of saying... as the song indicates that "by the inch what a SINCH"... but we are grateful for every inch taken. As it looks now, she is going to be wearing this brace for at least the 1st 6 wks... and then we'll see after that! Though its a TOUGH THING TO handle at 1st... we all think that she will actually be able to appreciate it more, when she's a little less loopy and in less pain of course. She is doing great, working hard. KEEP PRAYING the battle is not over... but at least we are starting to fight now, and not just sleep it off! :) I have NO IDEA all that her poor body has gone through, so I truly hope you will NOT think me heartless with my teasing. We have to smile to get through this... and God is helping us, big time! Natasha is still in WAY TO MUCH PAIN to joke or even smile yet... those days will come, I'm confident, but for now Keep praying for her. You all are our rock, right now. We so appreciate each one of you taking the time to check the blog, AND PRAY.. most importantly! It does help my Moma heart to hear from you from time to time. So a great-big thanks from me! ~Laura~

So now we finally know exactly what the brace looks like. The top left is where her chin will rest because they do not want her head/neck going forward. The velcro straps are on both sides and shell is made of hard plastic with a thin type of pad on the inside. There is a support strap for the chin, in between the two high plastic side on the left of the picture.

Brace arrived at 5:30 p.m. So tomorrow is when they will put it on and get her up.

Ok, so this is one job I can handle. Whenever Natasha is in a lot of pain and tell her to breathe through it I have to breathe through it as well - because of seeing my daughter deal with pain. So this contraption is a breathing apparatus that helps build your lungs. She is supposed to breathe through this 10 times every hour, which keeps her lungs from collapsing which will cause an infection to set in. I first encountered one of these with one of my trumpet teachers who was trying to help build by "air power" for playing the trumpet. I bought a version of one to help that process. Therefore, every time Natasha rolls over (ever 1/2 hr.) I have her do 5 reps of these. She must close her mouth around the mouthpiece and breathe in as hard as possible, which raises the little blue floating device. Sounds easy enough - try it when you are healthy, much less just after you "ran a marathon" which is how she described what she went through the first day.