Hey everyone,

Our Hudson is back and feeling tons better. It is like God just hit the switch and Hudson was better. On Tuesday I started to see some improvements as he wasn't hurting as much when he swallowed and he seemed a bit more comfortable. Then on Wednesday he woke up with less drool in his crib and he wanted to play around with Rustin and wanted to eat. And now today Hudson woke up and was back to his normal happy self. Praise the Lord! He went in for his weekly Children's appointment this morning and wanted to stand on the scale himself (with Daddy holding on to him for support) and he has been asking for his favorite food in the world; Stacy's Pita Chips from Costco - amazing! Hudson has been playing, singing, looking at books, trying to walk again, eating food (with normal gums again), and melting the heart of everyone he comes in contact with.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and for coming along side of our family once again. I have been able to see God's goodness and grace so clearly in these last two weeks. I feel soo privileged that He has asked us to bear so much in these last 3 years. God is doing and is going to do amazing things in my family and my sweet Hudson. He will be more wise and sensitive to the Spirit at such an early age, but for now I am just so happy to be his mommy. Here is a video of Hudson working out and walking with my fabulous husband. Enjoy!
Kristi

Ever heard of gingival hyperplasia? Its awful

Hudson has made tremendous progress since his surgery three months ago. He has come alive in so many ways, but the last few weeks have been very miserable for him with a horrible disease in his gums. For most of his life we were unable to brush his teeth because his gag reflex was so strong that he would throw up every time we tried. So poor dental care combined with intense antibiotics (from his transplant) and inflamed gums (from finishing some teething) led to super-inflamed gum tissues and gingival hyperplasia. His gums swelled so much and so quickly that they began to cover some of his teeth completely and made it dificult to swallow as the lining all the way down into his esophogas became inflamed. It never obstructed his airways at all, but he has been in incredible pain virtually all day (and many nights) everyday for weeks now. At best, he plays on the ground for a few hours in the morning but most of the time he just sits and is miserable, crying unless one of us is holding him. It's been awful.

What's been worse is that we have to hold him down three times a day to brush his swollen gums and he just screams his brains out the whole time. They would bleed and he would choke and gag and its been awful. This was completely unexpected and has essentially stopped any progress he had been making in regards to walking and being more mobile. He doesn't eat anything anymore and we only feed him through the g-tube.

I'm sorry to not have written earlier - I have just been out of the habit of writing when things are so tough because life had been going great for awhile. And to be honest, after 2.5 years, I'm over writing about all of our problems. But this is significant and we do need prayer for our boy once again. It seems that his gums have receeded quite a bit in the last few days but he still needs to be held almost all of the time and feels awfully all day. Please pray for energy and healing for Hudson and patience for us as we feel pretty much drained out.

Thanks,
Donny

Ty Reveals All

There have been some recent developments in our family. Ty's having some girl problems and it gets a little complicated for a kindergartner. I guess you have to just watch the video - its one of those clips that we'll love to look back on in twenty years! Hudson's been making some great developments lately as well and we'll try and have some video soon for you.