My sweet Sam celebrated his 6th birthday the end of September. We celebrated with Kris's parents, cousins, and friends all on different days. His birthday seemed to be a week long. He chose to have 2 friends from the ball field over instead of having a big party which was fine with me. Sam is just a delight and anyone who knows him would agree. He is wild, crazy, fun, loving, sensitive, and just the life of every party. Kris and I just adore him and our life would be so so so boring without him.
He continues to make amazing strides with both kidneys and aspergers issues. We have managed to stay stone free for a while now........ Amazing and totally God. We do continue to work with Mayo Clinic and are now being seen at Emory yearly or as needed. I feel so lucky that his heath is great. I am so so so thankful for heathly children. My heart breaks for parents who go through horrible illness and disease with their chlildren.
One of the things Sam struggles with on the Aspergers front is sensory issues. Fire has always terrified him. He doesn't even like candles to be on his birthday cake. This year for the first time Sam requested candles on his cake. Talk about making a Mama cry. He also hates loud noises. But on the 4th of July we visited Fairhope for a firework show and he LOVED it. Today we had to visit the doctor because he has been running fever with a sore throat. They swabbed his throat for a culture. In the past years, this has sent him into total melt down mode, just irritional behavior. But today he smiled and said "is that all?" I just feel like he is making so much progress. Kris and I have been so patient with him. I feel like we have simply given him a safe environment and loved him through this. I just feel so grateful for Sam, his health, and the progress he has made over the past year. It is a privilige to be his mother, and I look forward to watching him grow and mature. I know God has BIG plans for this precious boy.
1 comment:
Stacey,
I am not sure if you remember me. I am a friend of Christin's from Smithfield & went to school at Mobile Christian. I found your blog through Donna's. I have read about your son, Sam, on several occasions and have intended to comment but have just not followed through. I completely understand what you are going through. My almost 3 year old, Andrew, was diagnosed with autism in December of last year. Then, due to some social/behavioral/sensory processing/ occupational delays & issues with my 4 year old son, Hunter, we had him evaluated at our developmental pediatrician in February. I was convinced that he was asperger's. However, the doctor seems to think it is ADHD (both are in the same family of neurological disorders). However, he does say that we cannot rule out asperger's until he is older as he does display many symptoms & the symptoms of asperger's & adhd mirror each other. To say this has been the most difficult year of my life would be an understatement. However, it has also been extremely rewarding to see my children improve & progress through the therapy they are receiving. Andrew is in ABA therapy which helps to address the behavioral issues associated with autism. It is also extremely helpful and successful in treating asperger's. Unfortunately, insurance does not cover it ( in the state of GA, not sure about AL). If you are interested in learning more about it, please e-mail me at sfrench1226@yahoo.com. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in the stress and anxiety of dealing with a child who does get easily frustrated and does have more freqent meltdowns and tantrums than the typical child. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept and difficult to wonder why my childre are not like my friends' typical children who do not have neurological disorders. However, we can take comfort in knowing that God has a special purpose for these special children and he does not put more on us than we can handle (though this is hard to remember at times). There are days when I wonder how I will make it between working outside the home (which I will continue to do since the therapies are significantly more than our mortgage& juggling the kids). Thankfully I have a very supportive husband & helpful mother (who is a homemaker & comes down from Virginia frequently) which you also seem to have. What a blessing! We are currently expecting our 3rd boy (surprise!) and I have been anxious as I am concerned about this child also having autism. We do not know if these issues may be genetic as my father & husband are both adopted. However, I do know that everything happens for a reason and God is in control. May God bless you & your family. You are in my prayers as are all of families out there who have children with special needs. As I have been told on multiple occasions, God gives special children to people who are strong and able to meet their needs.
Also, I am not sure if you have a developmental pediatrician who has officially diagnosed Sam. I noticed that you do come to Emory here in Atlanta. If you are interested, I can give you the information for ours. Dr. Weintraub is extremely well regarded and respected in the autism field. Our pediatrician recommended him over the Marcus Institute in Atlanta.
Give thanks to the Lord. For he is good. His love endures forever.
Sorry to be so long winded!
Stephanie Rogers French
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