Wow, here I sit at my laptop- right where I left it Christmas Eve night when I last updated…
When I typed that last update, I didn’t know what would happen, but I fully intended that I would be updating the next day after the boys woke up- Scott and I were so excited for Christmas morning and watching them open everything…OR I at least thought I’d be able to update after our ER visit. In true Team Larson fashion though, a NEW plan unfolded, and this is the first I have been back to type it out. Our house still sits as it did Christmas morning.
So I guess I’ll jump right in here and start from Christmas morning-
Caden came down the stairs and was overwhelmed with the generosity of Santa! (Thanks to so many of you, and to so many secret Santa’s they had- GOD BLESS YOU!) He stood there in a daze, not knowing which way to turn…(kind of like his parents) He started ripping into things, and Scott and I did our best to put our happy faces on, knowing that we were going to give him an hour or so and then be heading back to the ER with Coleman.
Cade didn’t get through opening everything, but we had him choose two favorites and got him dressed to go to Aunt Sherri’s who met us at the ER. (THANK YOU SHERRI!) Coleman was pretty unresponsive as he didn’t have the best night and was still not talking or swallowing much. He was unable to talk and mostly slept. We were very worried.
While we were in the ER, the doctors called DesMoines, and we were given the choice to either come home with him, or come there to have him looked at. We knew we couldn’t take him home again on our own without doing something, so Coleman and I got a helicopter ride to DesMoines while Scott drove to meet us. Oh how I wish Coleman would have known he was riding in a helicopter. He would have LOVED telling Caden all about that. He slept the whole way.
Once we landed in Des Moines, they got us a big room and kept Coleman comfortable. We can’t say enough about the kindness and compassion shown to us by the staff at Blank Children’s Hospital. They were so wonderful to us.
They gave Coleman a drug called Manatol (?) and after a day of sleeping, he did come to a little and we got a few more words out of him…even a dirty look or two, which I considered a gift- it was nice to see him responding. He picked up his hunger right where he left off after not eating anything by mouth for three days.
Unfortunately it was short lived and he is back to the mostly sleeping and maybe a word here or there, and just a little food…but with all the of the pain meds, he’s pretty out of it. Even doped up on morphine though, bunny’s ribbon gets the twirling, same as always.
We came home today and met with a couple of awesome ladies from hospice, and we went over many options. For now, we are home. That may change, but we want to try it at least. Also Coleman is on a new oral chemo, because…. Well… “Team War-sin NEV-VA divs up.” We aren’t finished yet…
we know in our hearts we need to keep praying and trusting in God’s love for Coleman and for us all.
We have a new set of meds to keep Cman comfortable. That's our main goal, we DO NOT want him to be in pain, and so far he doesn’t seem to be. We pray that continues. We’ll take one day at a time and see how everything goes. The one thing, the only thing, that’s for certain right now- God is with us and giving us strength to keep going.
Caden was able to come to the hospital and spend the past few nights with us in the room. It was a wonderful gift to all four be able to spend time together, even if it was in a hospital room.
We’ve been having talks with Caden…I can’t begin to explain how difficult it is to answer his questions, hold him as he sobs, and says he needs to “help Coe-man fight harder.” It brings to mind the quote we have on Coleman’s home page here- "“There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child.” -Frank A. Clark
How true it is.
The bond between Caden and Coleman is something we’ve seen all along, and that in itself is hard for us to comprehend at times, yet it’s there. I think we’ve given Caden as much as he can handle each time we talk, and we take his cue of when he needs to quit talking about it & go back to being the bouncy little boy he is.
Small steps.
I’m going to end there as I think I need to take this in small steps as well.
I can't end with out saying...
WOW- how blessed we are! The messages of support- what can I even begin to say? it’s overwhelming, and I find it hard to explain how touched we are. We thank you for the amazing support of our family, and for your prayers. There are so many people I’d like to personally thank, but I would be sitting here all night- please know how much it means to us.
We’re hanging in there, and doing what we’ve always done…taking one day at a time, (sometimes one moment) and thanking GOD for all He’s continues to provide us in helping us make it through.
Blessings to you all,
Team Larson
A brothers love, a twins connection.
I debated on updating tonight, as I didn't want to bring anyone down on Christmas Eve...
But I figured you've been such prayer warriors for us, and we could really, REALLY use them right now.
Our big family Christmas was not to be. We didn't get to go to my family's. This morning Coleman woke up fine. By 9:00 he was having slurred speech and droopy right hand.
I called Scott who hurried home right away and we rushed to the ER.
They did a catscan which showed two new spots on his brain and very enlarged ventricles. He was given a boost of decadron through his port and we came home around 2:00.
He's slept pretty much all day and has not eaten or drank much. We'll be going back to the hospital tomorrow I'm sure. He's having trouble swallowing and is drooling a lot. I'm don't know exactly what they can do. He's unable to talk much and when he does it's really hard to understand him. He gets frustrated and goes back to sleep. This is so tough...
Since he's not able to swallow very well, I only managed to get the steroid down him tonight, but we weren't able to do any other meds-the others are just too big.
Caden has the cookies out, reindeer food on the porch, and is ready for Santa. We've read the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus and have been praying...A LOT.
Scott and I are exhausted, but the three guys are all asleep on the couch and I suppose I'll wake Scott up soon so Santa can make his delivery- for Caden's sake at least.
Not the Christmas we hoped for...but we're still giving thanks for what we do have, we feel God right here with us.
Thank you for praying for Coleman and our family.
Pastor Kent and Rebecca, God bless you for coming out between services tonight. It meant a lot to us.
Okay, I'm going to end here, mostly because I'm just too tired to type more.
I'll update again when I can-
Blessings to you all and Merry CHRISTmas,
Team Larson
ss family soon??? IF she actually potty trains she'll be my youngest. Thomas and Cody were both 2.5. Kaitlen was 3 yrs 2 months for day time trained and she was almost 5 for night time. Matthew was 3 1/2 for peepee trained, longer for #2s. I dont remeber when that happened but i know i text Ash and Tina!! He's still in night time diapers, but thats fine.
I wanted to share a poem I wrote a year ago, before our world was completely changed...Has an even greater meaning this year...
I bought some mini ornaments for the kids to put on it to make it look cute.
