He does it anyway

Per.sev.er.ance  (pur'se-vir'ence)

n. Steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or purpose. Steadfastness esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Using his right hand is an awkward, frustrating, and at times agonizing action for him

But he does it.

Sometimes they ask him to do it over and over and over.

And he does.

Do we hear complaining? - You bet!

Does he get really creative in offering excuses to not do as instructed and revert to using his left hand? - Oh how did you know?! 

My favorite from yesterday: Occupational therapist - "K, you need to grab the butterfly with your RIGHT hand not your left."

K, leveling with him by direct eye contact: "It  Is  Resting right now!"

His O/T and P/T had to seriously hold in their giggles as they tried to be firm and serious with him.

Complaints are scattered in there, he lets out a long sigh every now and then, but he works hard and he sticks with it.

Even at my age I can not begin to imagine what it is like to try to move muscles that aren't getting all of the needed signals from the brain. It is not natural, it is not fluid, it is not smooth. It is not easy.

And he is seven.

And he is doing it.

*Would you pray for our family as K goes in for surgery tomorrow at noon? Dave, Malachi, and I will be spending the day at the hospital with K and then Dave will be spending the night there while I come home to tend to the other guys. Noe and Jay will spend the day with their grandma.

K's surgery is considered fairly minor - but surgery is surgery and when it comes to my kids there is no such thing as minor surgery.

We are SO grateful that he has been eating everything on his own for almost 2 years now and that his feeding tube was able to be removed. However,when the feeding tube was removed it was expected that the hole in his stomach would just close on its own. The feeding tube was removed in February and there is still a hole and some leaking. Due to this he will have to have surgery to stitch his digestive tract as well as stitches to close the hole on the outside of his stomach.

Thank you so much for caring and praying for our little boy.