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Jackman's Doc, Dr. Erik Hansen and his family

Some of you know this already, but one of Jackman’s surgeons is no longer at Children’s Hospital. He is now on staff at a somewhat smaller hospital… Kijabe Hospital in Kenya, East Africa. Dr. Hansen and his family moved there not long after Jackman was released from Children’s Hospital in 2010.

I’ve heard some people comment that he was crazy, because he’s a young guy. But Lisa and I are so proud to have had a man of God care after our son for six months, and then see him move on to take care of babies and children that simply do not have the luxury of the same treatment Jackman did. Babies are born all over the world with the same thing Jackman was born with (EA/TEF), but they die because it cannot be corrected soon enough.

Please… read this post on the Hansen’s blog:

Milestone.

Dr. Hansen briefly recounts the first successful surgery – like Jackman’s – at Kijabe Hospital.

Take a moment to consider the sacrifice and adjustments the Hansens have had make. Leave them an encouraging comment to remind them that they are highly esteemed. 

Also, consider supporting this family. They are radically obeying the Great Commission.

You can send a tax-deductible contribution to:

World Medical Mission

P.O. Box 3000

Boone, NC 28607

Account # 003900 on memo line

Or you can give online –just type in Hansen and select Hansen, Erik. You can set up a recurring or one time gift.

Baby "Moses" - EA/TEF patient like Jackman

Picture Update on the Boys...

Here's a little picture update. The boys are doing well, as you can see. Jackman is eating more, and we've cut back on his tube feeds just a little to make room for some hunger per his nutritionist's instructions. Now he wants to eat. He's not eating anything solid yet, but he's eating some, nonetheless. He's also making leaps and bounds in his speech. Speech is tied very closely with the mechanics used when eating, so he has been behind other kids his age. But his speech therapist says he is a few years ahead of others in the sounds he says, and his counting, etc. It's just the pronunciation that he has to work on. He hasn't been refluxing (or throwing up) at all. He's about 50th percentile in weight and height - awesome for a tube-fed kid. He doing great right now. Brolin is doing really well. Talking up a storm, eating everything except strawberries. He's in the 75th-100 percentile in height, and 50th in weight, and still growing like a weed. He likes reading books, then tearing then to shreds. The boys are great together. Check out the pics. Hope you like them.

Jackman is kind of a depressed kid. Sometimes he can barely get out of bed and go to work. All he does is complain and whine about the economy... No wait... he's pretty much like this all the time.

Lately, because of this towel that that was given to Jackman by a good friend of ours, Brolin pretends to be a dog all the time. And Jackman loves it, because he has a pet. It's kind of like a two-for-one deal, so if you have a second kid, forget the pet, just get yourself a dog towel.

Rare photo opp indeed! This was taken without the use of duct tape or Benadryl. I merely hypnotized them with a new cartoon, and jammed them into the chair with the footstool. 

Okay Einstein, I need my specs back... Jackman was taking my goggles for a test drive. Lisa liked this one so much, it earned a spot on the lock screen of her phone.

Maybe Brolin will be an archaeologist. That sure sounds more promising than being a dumpster-diver. This is one of his favorite pastimes.
Step 1: Climb in the toy box.
Step 2: Dig the to the bottom of the box.
Step 3: Beg for help out of the box.

Grandma Brenda had a good idea - Jackman's first Happy Meal. He may not have swallowed much of it, but he sure enough chewed it up, and drank a lot of that shake. He's come a long way since we brought him home.

A Walmart diaper just can't contain all that manliness. Well, if he doesn't become an archaeologist, maybe he can fix your sink! Brolin exudes potential from every direction.

Priceless! Taken on the road at Lisa's grandmother's house, in South Alabama. Long day of traveling, playing, rambling, and finally, crashing. 

Guess which one Daddy dressed? Both of them! Jackman specifically asked for the dinosaur pants, and he's been working hard on his speech, so he got what he asked for. Now, dressing Brolin before bedtime is like trying to skin a cat. You want to make sure that you have on long sleeves and eye protection before you start that battle.

It is amazing how fast those little plastic things can get coming down that driveway. It's a good thing we have a chain link fence to catch'em before they launch off into the woods. Jackman is pretty daring on his little red car at three years old, but Brolin (one year old) gives me multiple heart attacks trying to keep up with his big brother. There's nothing he won't try five times.

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'Bout Time...

Thank the Lord, we finally got to get Lisa and Jackman together.

It's strange really. Jackman has only been here for just over 2 days. The thing is, he has spent almost all of those two days in NICU, with no contact at all with his mama. That has been so tough for Lisa. I really can't imagine what it would feel like, and I was halfway going through it myself. For two days, I spent the day with Jackman in NICU, and the night with Lisa in "our" room. But up until today, the only time Lisa spent with Jackman was immediately after he was born, and a couple of minutes looking at him through the plexiglass transport before he was flown over to Children's.

Normally I would say something like "I don't know how she held up so well", but if you read my last post, you already know that I do know how she held up.

Well, at long last, Lisa got to be reunited with Jackman, even if it was only for a couple of hours. You can look at the picture and judge for yourself wether or not God has granted her peace with all that's going on. This picture is photographic PROOF of what God is capable of doing.

It turned out to be just like I told Lisa it would be. As tired and worn out as she is, and emotionally drained as she is, that couple of hours with him tonight made all the other disappear. I really enjoyed watching them together. We didn't even get to pick him up and hold him, but it didn't matter. It was just a pleasant, peaceful, happy time...for all of us.

We can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Resting in God

Many of you probably already know that Jackman was born yesterday, August 12. I'm not going to use the cliche that it was the happiest moment of my life, but I'm not going to waste my time or yours trying to think up a better one either.

Not long after he was born, it was clear he was having some problems, and before we knew it, he was being escorted by helicopter to Children's Hospital. We didn't know what to think, but we were scared. We found out that his esophagus doesn't reach his stomach, and he will be having surgery, sooner or later. The docs believe the problem is esophageal atresia.

I could go on and on about how pitiful our situation is, but instead I'll tell you about a little light God shined on us this morning.

First, we have too many things to be grateful for to list before I get to what I want to share, but know that we are realizing them, and we are thankful.

For this to make sense, you need some background info, so here are some facts: Jackman was born on August 12; today is August 13; I read the devotional for the 12th from "My Utmost for His Highest" today (a day late). It would also be beneficial to read it for yourself right now. Here is a link: My Utmost for His Highest, August 12.

After reading that this morning, I though to myself "how appropriate is that, I just wish I had read this before we found out about Jackman's problem". But it really spoke to me, and I took it to heart.

Well, we got a few more "surprises" today. I had totally written off the probability that we could encounter any other health issues, but there are some new concerns. When they did the surgery to put in Jackman's feeding tube, they found a small hole in his intestine. They removed his little appendix and fixed the hole, but they had to figure out why he had the hole. It turns out that they suspect that he may also have some problems that will require surgery on his intestines as well.

I almost dropped to my knees, and I don't know how I kept from crying when the surgeon told me that. It seems like too much to drop on someone who has barely been a father for a day. I immediately began to wonder how I was going to explain this to Lisa. I knew it would floor her. Not only does he have this problem with his esophagus (which may keep him in NICU for weeks, even months), but now this too. What else? Do I even want to know?

But something happened while the surgeon explained it. I felt peace. There's no other way to put it really; peace came over me. I should have fell to my knees, I should have cried. People would understand if I shook my fist at God and demanded, WHY?! But that didn't happen, just peace. Just enough to help me stand up under the weight of the latest briefing.

If you read that devotional, you will remember Chambers said: "it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him." I knew the reason that I wasn't broken was because God has proved Himself too many times in the past for me not to have confidence in Him.

God has taught me so much the past day and a half, and brought me so much closer to Him, and has given me so much strength, and has stripped away so much of my pride and selfishness. Not only that, He gave me and Lisa a little boy that I wouldn't trade for another kid, or anything else in this world.

We still cry...all day long. It's been tough for us, and really hard on Lisa being completely separated from Jackman. But don't get me wrong; we are not cursing God and shaking our fists at Him. On the contrary, we are resting in Him. He's the reason we can sleep. He's the reason we can laugh when we're not crying. He's the reason we don't despair. He's the reason I'm praising Him right now instead of loosing sleep, wondering "why me, why us". Of course, we are dying to get to see and hold our baby; we know it's ok to long to be with him. The important thing is that we have peace.

The only thing that holds us up, the only thing that dries up our tears, and the only thing that has sustained us since we were separated from Jackman, is confidence in God's sovereignty.

I can't wait for yall to meet our son, Jackman, when this is all over.