Aaron Update

This morning as I was scrolling through this blog to find something. I stopped on the posts about Aaron's battle this past winter with Stevens/Johnson Syndrome and read through them and was again filled with appreciation for all of you pray warriors out there. The good Lord, for reasons we will never understand, blessed Aaron with the strength to overcome. I thank you all again from the bottom of my heart.

Aaron is doing well. I love this picture because is shows clearly his hand that was spared the ravages of the terrible syndrome and that was one of the signs from God that I put my faith into. Thank you God for your great mercy on my son. I am definitely not boasting about my great faith because, like all of us, at times it is as weak as can be. Our family has been through many trials like everybody else and sometimes our prayers seemed to go unanswered and we just don't know the reasons why. But today, this very minute, this mother is grateful beyond words for the miracle that saved Aaron. All glory and honor are yours our heavenly Father.

Aaron is working full time in his very stressful job that is impacted greatly by the ever rising fuel costs, again, like many of you are dealing with. His past trial though has seemed to have given him a new perspective that is allowing him to deal with the situation more peacefully and for that I am also grateful. He is taking time to play a little golf but the stiffness in his joints that remains from SJ's keeps him from hitting the ball as far as he used to but he enjoys the camaraderie with his team mates. He has to wear a ton of sun screen to protect his fresh skin from the sun and always will have to, but he has absolutely no scares what so ever from the burns that covered his whole body except his hands and feet, praise God.

In the picture above you can see that Aaron's hair has grown back in and he looks so good. What you can't see is the new found peace that the Lord has blessed him with and I pray that he continue to bless Aaron and his little family for ever more.

Love and God bless,
Sue

Aidan's Birthday Party

Last Sunday we celebrated Aidan's 4th birthday at Aaron and Angie's. Angie always puts on such a beautiful buffet. These little stuffed burgers that Aaron grilled up for us were a big hit.
Aidan is a ball of energy and it is almost impossible to get a picture of this little guy who is always in motion.
This celebration was more than sweet because of everything that has happened this year. I praise God for bring Aaron back to us. He is doing so well. His eyes miraculously seem to be healing themselves. We had planned on going to a sight clinic in Boston but have decided to hold off because his eyes are improving so much on their own. Aaron is getting stronger all the time. He is back to working full time, driving and most of all enjoying life with his family. His golf game still needs a bit of work ;)

The Path of The Lord

Well, I had some pictures to show you of the gorgeous new Vera Bradley Store in Troy but the pictures won't load. I won't bore you with the whole ~~~this is the reason that our computer was in being fixed because the UBV, UBA, what ever, thing didn't work~~~story.

Instead of fretting over such things I stepped away from the computer to get started watering my plants and swipe the feather duster over the spots left vacant by the draining plants while this old picture uploaded. God leads us and I give him the glory for occasionally letting me follow. Today I followed. While this picture was loading I plugged in the video that Angie made me for my birthday. Some of you have seen Angies video that she made for me on Mothers Day three years ago and know how cool they are. This new video is even more glorious. I pray for the knowledge to some how be able post it here to share it with you.

Many of you left comments when Aaron was sick with the passage from the Bible that says that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. Oh dear ones, I am hear to tell you that it is so true. There were times during the past few months that I hung onto that passage for all I was worth and today as most days give Him all the glory for being faithful to His Word. Our families, everything that we have, are gifts from God that we have to hold on to loosely. It is all so fleeting. He gives us fleeting glimpses of beauty, the beauty that is His and He shares with us. He shows us glimpses of pain and sadness that He shares with us. His pain that He must feel when He sees us suffer or head off down some dangerous path.

In these fast moving, internet connected times, where we have the potential to reach all the people of the earth and all the people of the earth have the potential to reach us, let us guard our hearts and homes for God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that he {even} gave up His only begotten {unique} Son, so that whoever believes in {trusts in, clings to, relies on} Him shall not perish {come to destruction, be lost} but have eternal {everlasting}life. Let us cling to his promise from the Holy Bible in John 3:16. Let us not be distracted by the times and remain diligent in our walk with the Lord.

Devoted Dads!

How sweet is the lovely contrast of a delicate infant and the arms of a strong man? Some times Fathers get, what seems to be, too little respect for the role that they play in families. While scrolling through pictures this morning looking for something to share with you I came across this series of photos that just melted my heart and made me think about how I praise God for Fathers that so unselfishly provide for their families, not only material necessities but real hands on help at home to the people that they love.

In Jesus name I pray dear heavenly Father that you would hear our prayers for blessings on all the Fathers of the world that give so much to their families that enable them to live beautiful lives of service to you. All glory and honor are yours.

From all of the above service and so much more,

You get this sweet picture of a happy little family.

Thank you John, Dad, Bernie, Aaron, and Doug for all that you do for your families that so often goes unmentioned. Your unselfish devotion to your homes and families is a shining example to the younger ones coming up. To all the rest of you Dad's out there ~ Blessing to all of you from all of your Wives and Daughters!

Trading Treasures

We had a lovely day here at the lake yesterday. Aidan spent the day at home with me and Aunt Dana and Blake came over for coffee and play time with the boys. A & A took the girls to school and Aaron went to physical therapy where he had a good work out, which always makes him happy and give him extra energy.

We did the usual housekeeping routines of making beds, laundry and meal preparation. Meal prep was eased in the afternoon when Angie's friend Lisa and her two boys came by and brought us a delicious Mexican casserole, tossed salad and desert plate for dinner. Thank you Lisa! The children had fun playing in the basement while we visited with Lisa.........until we heard shrieks from Taylor reporting that they decided to take all the Styrofoam out of the boxes by the back door waiting to be broken down for trash and broke it into little pieces to create a lovely snow storm all over the basement. Ah, life at home~~~

With extra time in the afternoon Angie worked on organizing cupboards in the kitchen. The cupboard organizing resulted in a few pink and green things that don't quite go with her decor any more but will work well at Greenbrier ;) Between friends a family we often pass items back and forth that work for one place or the other and I highly recommend the practice. It is a fun way to still enjoy seeing your treasures and not have them stuck away in a box somewhere cluttering up your storage spaces.

We are standing by waiting for baby Moore's arrival any day now. Aunt Carrie took Chinese take out to share with them last night which was so sweet and gave Dana some extra time in the afternoon too. Thank you Carrie.

Jill and the boys stopped by last night to return Aidan's car seat. Thank you again Jill for all your help these last few months. We all so appreciate it.

We are praising God with all of you for bringing Aaron through this ordeal and continuing to pray for his further healing. We thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts. We pray that you have a blessed day at home or where ever the good Lord places you today.

Hugs,

Sue

PS Carrie brought me the dipping spices in the picture above, thanks Carrie. All the pink and green looks pretty cute in Ta's room but after the Styrofoam incident amoung others that occur on a regular basis in any household with little ones, Grama will use them for safe keeping until she is ready for them ;)

Good morning from A & A's Kitchen

Angie's strawberry collection
Over the kitchen sink

Good morning from up north. Hope you all had a good weekend. We had a good time here with family and a few of Aaron's friends that stopped by to cheer up Aaron who is getting a little board while waiting for his strength to be regained. Rachel took the family picture of us below. A & A's neighbor Tony brought over a delicious beef stew and Dana made a roast with all the fixings that fed us all on Saturday night, thank you Tony and Dana.





The time change made for a groggy morning here as everyone got ready for school. Aaron's busy weekend made his a bit slow at getting ready for todays rehabilitation work out at physical therapy. His blood pressure and heart rate were good when Angie checked it over the weekend so hopefully he will be able to do his full workout this morning.





This week John and Kyle are off to Las Vegas for a contractors convention. The rest of us will be here waiting for baby Moore to arrive, no pressure Dana ;)





Thank you all for your prayers, visits, calls, comments and e-mails that Aaron so enjoys. He is still a bit surprized at the out pouring of concern for him but I can't tell you how much it means to him and how it brings such a smile to his face and really helps him pass the time while he waits for his eyes to heal so that he can drive again and regain his physical strength.



Much love and God bless,

Sue

Welcome Home Aaron

Thank you Rachel for taking this picture of all of us.

Giving Thanks From Aaron

Good Morning. I just wanted to stop by and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers while I was in the hospital. It is very humbleing to realize that there are so many people that helped me get through this ordeal. I will never be able to repay your generous prayers and out pouring of support from such wonderful people.

I am begining to work three days a week in physical therapy, and all though it helps, I am still struggling with keeping my heart rate and blood pressure down. The doctor put me on a medication to lower both of them and so far I've been able to tollerate it. I am working with eye doctors to help improve the comfort of my eyes. It will be a while before they are back to somewhat normal conditions. We have faith that it will work out.

We will be meeting with a nutirtionist to try to continue to keep my health in check. The doctors say that I should try to continue to live a healthy lifestyle to keep my immune system functioning as well as possible.

Again. thank you all for your support for me and my family. We are home now and would love to hear from you.

Thank you and God bless,

Aaron

Aaron Up Date

There seems to be quite a few of you checking in to see how Aaron is doing. For the sake of his privacy I have been reluctant to post much. Stevens-Johnson Syndrome & TENs is a very complicated condition with so many variables that it makes it also complicated to comprehend for all of us and most of all Aaron and the care takers that are working like crazy to get him through this thing.

I can say that it is so good to talk to him. He is so cheerful and optimistic. Angie and him are on the road most days either at a doctors appointment or at physical therapy. The other day they even tried to visit Dana after their appointments but couldn't get up her icy drive way and a passerby had to rescue them from their car that slide backwards into the ditch half way up her driveway and take them home.

This weekend John and I are going up north on Saturday to spend the night with them. Maybe with his help we can post a little update from his house. He so wants to thank all of you that so faithfully prayed for him these last few months and is praising the Lord for hearing your prayers.
Thank you God for hearing the prayers of your saints. All glory and honor are yours dear heavenly Father.

During Aaron's time in the hospital I prayed for God to give me the words to communicate what was happening to Aaron that would give Him the glory for answering our prayers. He did give me the words that touched all of you with encouragement to pray and many of you have said that you are giving God the glory for hearing your prayers and we all join you in praising His mighty name for His faithfulness.

The body of Chirst is a powerful group, empowered by the Holy Spirit to seek and find and we are told to ask and that if you do you will receive. Many times we don't receive exactly what we were asking for but the Lord hears us and answers in ways that we may never no until we meet him in heaven but he does answer.

Those of you that do not have a personal relationship with Christ that have followed along on this journey with Aaron I would encourage you to take the first step to developing one by asking Him to come into your heart. Ask him to show you the way, to forgive you your sins, and to put faith in your heart to believe that God sent his Son to die for you so that you may have everlasting life in his presence. God loves you as much as he loves Aaron and wants to hear from you. Please won't you call on him today? If you do tell, a Christian friend so that they can help you take the next step to finding the peace, love and joy that only God, through Christ our Lord, can bring. you.

Picture above is from www.eyesofthelord.com

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You All!

We really understand that all of you have shared with us the tears, the fears, the uncertainty and the faith that we all held on to through out Aaron's battle with SJS/TENS. So many of you commented that Aaron was on your minds through out your days, just like he was on ours. Every day 400 or so of you stopped by this blog to check on his progress. You took such loving care of his children, left comments, wrote e-mails, you made sure his insurance needs were taken care of, sent cards, magazines, pictures, flip charts, alerted your churches and updated them on his progress so they could pray, you helped us get Aaron a bed in the hospital when we couldn't get him in any where, teachers had their classes praying, you came to the hospital even when we weren't there or when we were there and were totally out of it, Sunday school children made cards and their teachers sent them to Aaron in bundles, you picked up the slack for him at work, you rearranged meetings to accomodate the family, you made arrangements for the family to have lunch and parking passes at the hospital for six whole weeks, you sent plants, you plowed snow, you looked up Bible passages to comfort us during specific events, you sent gas cards and gift certificates, you drove in nearly impassable road conditions to the hospital and then when you got there could not find a place to park, you brought CD's for Aaron to listen to, you sent boxes and boxes of fresh fruit, breakfast food, meat and cheese snacks, you offered to cook, clean, babysit, drive, cut hair, you made toasts to him and prayed at your wedding, you brought food to feed us, you shared stories about how Aaron touched your lives, you called, you listened and most of all you prayed and prayed and prayed.

Now that Aaron has gone home you continue to uphold him in pray, inquire about his well being, bring them food, visit him, call with encouragement and continue to check in here. We want you all to know that every gesture had been and is so important to us and that we thank you with every fiber of our being and we pray that each of you knows how much you all mean to us.

Aaron & Angie are home with the children. They spent yesterday going to the eye Doctor and their regular Doctor. Angie has been very busy taking care of every one and Aaron is working hard on his recovery. His eyes have been hurting and are very watery so hopefully his new eye Doctor was able to help them out with that. It will take some time for Aaron to get his strength back but he looks amazing especially for what he has been through. He lost about 45 pounds and little Erin and Sue, two of his great nurses, gave him a buzz hair cut which makes him look different but his skin looks really good. He has some dry patches but other than that it looks completely normal and fresh.

Aaron is still so amazed at the out pouring of encouragement that has come his way. We tried the best we could to record it so that when he was able he could know how much all of you meant to his recovery and how well you all ministered to his family at our time of need. He thanks you and we thank you and will never forget every thing you all have done for all of us. We ask that God bless you and keep you in the palm of his hand.

The picture above is of our home office that yesterday I wallpapered, so to speak, with pictures that were in storage in the basement. It has been our intention to get new furniture in here and paint the walls so this room has been empty since before Christmas. Well, yesterday I finally felt good after the cold I've had for a while now, so I moved the furniture that was all over the house back in here, brought up the Turkish rug that Mom & Dad brought me from a trip many years ago and started hanging pictures. I'll write more about it tomorrow as I get back to the more mundane but no less important aspects of Life At Home.

Hugs,
Sue, Aaron and family

Thank You All @ Detroit Receiving Hospital

Aaron wanted me to be sure and thank everyone at Detroit Receiving Hospital (DRH) for the exceptional service that they provided him during his six week stay for the treatment of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and TEN. Dr. White, all the Residents, on call Doctors, Sylvia, Margaritta, Erin, Robin, Sarah, Jason, Lisa, Sue and all the other nurses, the eye doctors, the physical therapists, the dermatologists, the reception staff, the information desk staff, the parking garage staff, administrators, board member Gail Torreano, Rebeca and the entire professional, compassionate organization, we can not thank you enough for saving Aaron's life and making our time there as comfortable as possible.

All Glory Goes To You Heavenly Father!

It is 1:49 PM on Friday, February 22 and I am happy to be able to report to all of you precious people that Aaron just called to say that I could blog that Kyle just put him and Angie in their car and that the two of them are on their way home.

This is such a glorious day on so many levels. I'm a bit overcome with emotion and gratitude right now but I wanted you all to know how God has answered all your prayers.

It will take them about 3 hours to get home but if your would like to leave him a welcome home message at: awhite@centralasphalt.com, I'm sure he would love to hear from you.

Dancing In The Rain

Thank you all for checking in vigilantly. It has been quite a week. Dana was at the Doctor yesterday and has been having contractions 5 to 7 mins. apart, but they sent her home and she is resting. Carrie and I have been down again with what seems to be the flu. Angie's car wouldn't start this morning and the ON Star people sent a truck to give her a jump start and hour later than she wanted to leave for the hospital. Doug has been cleaning out Aaron's garage and rearranging cars. Kyle is on his way down with a coat and shoes for Aaron.

Aaron is talking and taking charge, so at his request that's all I can say right now. Hopefully later this afternoon I will have more news ;) In the mean time I thought I would share with you this story that I got from Jackie, my dear faithful friend since second grade that pretty well sums up how we have been feeling:

True love knows no bounds.

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at hi s watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised , and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand an d said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."
I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."
True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

With all the jokes and fun that is in e-mails, sometimes there is one that comes along that has an important message.

This one I thought I could share with you.
The happiest people don't necessarily have the b e st of everything; they just make the best of everything they have. I hope you share this with someone you care about.

I just did.

"Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."

We care so much about all of you!!!!!!

Love,
Sue

Thank You Jesus!!!!!!

There was a lot of praising God and thanking Jesus going on at Detroit Receiving Hospital in downtown Detroit yesterday. Every one that walked by the room from the Doctors to the support staff were stopping by commenting on how well Aaron was doing.

Sylvia, one of our favorite nurses.....they are all really our favorites....but Sylvia told me last week that once Aaron's body was through fighting off this reaction that we would see remarkable progress very fast. She said that for the last six weeks every ounce on energy and every system in his body was franticly at work repairing the damage caused by the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and TENS, but that once that was complete it would amazingly revert back to its healthy state quickly.

Well, yesterday seems to have been the day that his body finished all the really hard work. He still has a ways to go to regain his strength but he was sitting up in a chair when John and I got to the hospital around 10:30 and before that he had taken two laps around the ward with very little assistance. He is talking and able to talk on the phone and for the first time he got to call the children and talk to each one of them. He talked to Susan, Cay, Dana, Kyle and Tyler too.

He had to take a swallow test to determine if he was ready to eat and he was so proud to announce that he had passed the test. The first thing he wanted was water and he sipped it all after noon while we played Gin Rummy for several hours, Angie beat us both ~~~~ We figured that they would bring him jell-o or broth and other soft food for his first meal at around 5:30 but no, they brought him a lovely plate of breaded perch with tarter sauce, yellow rice, mixed vegetables, a whole wheat roll, fruit punch and a brownie. I was very nervous to have him eat but he picked away at it and had a couple of tastes of everything and it went down just fine.
We waited a bit to see if he would tolerate the food and he did so his nurse took out the feeding tube that he had in his nose.

Please join us in praising God for seeing us all through this difficult time and continue to pray for Aaron's on going recovery. Aaron is so grateful to all of you prayer warriors that have lifted him up in prayer so faithfully this past six weeks. We pray that God bless all you faithful prayer warriors.

Love,
Sue

Monday's Cautiously Optimistic Report

I promised you an update today and a glorious one it is. We are cautiously optimistic that Aaron may have turned the corner on this awful Steven-Johnson's Syndrome. We talked to him on the phone today but we won't get to see him until tomorrow. After we see him we'll give you the full report. Thank you all for your continued prayers for his complete recovery.

Peace, Love & Joy

Thank you all for your prayers yesterday. Aaron had the same reaction but your prayers may have caused it to last a shorter amount of time and his heart rate did not get as high as it did on Monday although it did remain elevated longer but not at such a dangerously high level. The Lord works in ways that we can not always see and I know that he was with him.

Aaron looked really good yesterday. Much of the swelling that he has been experiencing was gone and he seems so small. Susan was able to get down for a visit yesterday and lovingly remarked that this was quite an extreme way to get such drastic spa results, all new skin and major weight loss.

My next post will be next Monday. Thank you all for you vigilant concern and prayers for Aaron and his family. You have all held us up with your prayers so that we have had peace, love and joy even in the midst of this most difficult time. Knowing that there are so many of you out there that understand what Aaron is going through and are helping to shoulder the burden is truly evidence of Gods loving grace. We know that so many of you carry prayers in your hearts day in and day out just as we do and for that we are so blessed and eternally grateful.

Friday is Dana's birthday. If you get a minute please drop by her blog and wish her a happy birthday. She and her family will be down here with all the kids helping Angie over the weekend.

We hope you all have a love filled Valentines day and again thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts for your prayers, messages and good wishes.

Much love and God bless,
Sue

One O'Clock

Yesterday they were going to try to get Aaron up to sit in a chair but at around 1pm his fever spiked again and his heart rate went way up so they were not able to. This is the third day in a row that at around 1:00pm this happened.

They have no idea what is causing it and still have not been able to locate where the infection is coming from. After giving him some Tylenol the fever breaks and he rested for most of the afternoon. Will you please join us in praying for Aaron this afternoon between 1 & 2 pm.

Carry On

Yesterday ID (Infectious Disease) told the Doctor they could take Aaron off all antibiotics and his Doctor said that they hope to have him back where he was by the first of this week. He is still spiking fevers but they are controlling them with Tylenol and cool baths. He is having sore muscles from being in bed so long but they are giving him pain medicine to help relieve that discomfort.

They are not giving him the anxiety medication any more so yesterday was a rough one for him while he adjusts to being more aware of what is happening to him. We know that he is strong both in spirit and body so he will find his place of peace soon. Please pray for continued healing and peace for Aaron as his body shifts back from reliance on medication to the only sure place to find peace, through Christ our savior.

Aaron has a long way to go and we have to carry on as we know he wants us too. Next weekend a close family friend is being married in Florida and John is insisting that I go, which is very difficult, but he says that I need to get away for a few days. Kyle and Carrie are in the wedding. The whole family was hoping to go and we were so looking forward to celebrating our dear friends marriage together, but life does have a way of throwing us a curve ball.

With God willing, Kyle, Carrie, John and I will head to Florida. Angie, her parents, Dana & Doug, Grama & Grampa and all the kids will be down here to see to Aaron and to celebrate Valentines day and Dana's birthday. Hopefully the trip will get us rested up to be ready to welcome our new grandson in the next few weeks and to continue to support Aaron with his recovery.

Enjoying His Visitors

Aaron is still trying to fight off the infection. We pray that God will do what no medicine, at this point, has been able to. All things are possible with Christ who strengthens us.

Aaron looks good and they have the ventalator turned off so he is breathing on his own with some difficulty but he is fighting through it. When the nurse adjusted his position in his bed yesterday by lowering the head of the bed then pulling him up higher on the bed by pulling the sheets under him he got very congested which caused his heart rate to race and his fever to spike. She suctioned his lines and mouth out which, while no fun, seemed to calm him. Then she gave him a dose of Tylenol, some pain medication and something to relax him. Within the hour he was peaceful again and his heart rate and temperature came back down to normal.

By late afternoon Aaron was ready to see visitors other than John and I. His Granpa & Grama were here and are always a comfort to him. Kyle, Carrie and cousin Steve were telling him stories and even had him laughing. Angie, her Mom, Dana and Doug were all up north taking care of the kids. I talked to Taylor on the phone who sounded so old, but so good too.

Again we want to thank Susan and Tyler who have been taking such good care of the girls and Cay and Jill who are doing the same for Aidan. It is such a blessing to know that they are being cared for by such loving care takers during this difficult time. Dana had Aidan for a couple of days last week and Blake was delighted to have his buddy Aidan to play with again.

As most of you that know us know, we are not strangers to dealing with prolonged illness. We are all adjusting to the current circumstance and have faith that the good Lord that brought us to this will also bring us through it. Please pray for Aaron and we wish you a blessed Sunday.

Hugs,
Sue

Quick Update

Thank you all for continuing to check on Aaron. When I checked with the nurse last night after we got home from dinner he said that they were working on getting him off the ventalator and that he was doing well. Yesterday he was pretty much the same as the day before.