Bryson's Journey

Riding Bike...Are you kidding me!

2011-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

We have tried for a couple years now to get Bryson to ride a bike. We figured it would be possible...someday...but it was becoming such a chore for all of us. This summer we saw glimpses of him getting his balance but he just couldn't do it for very long. Then finally last night this is what we saw...

We are not finished but I would say he has crossed a huge hurdle. We have to figure out how to get him to be able to get on the bike, get his foot in place, and get started without our help, but I'm hoping he will instinctively figure that out on his own. (If any of you have any ideas on how we might teach him I would be up for that.) He can also only turn one way right now. When he tries to turn the other way he falls. All in all I'm pretty proud of my boy! As with a lot of physical activities in his life it took him longer then most kids but this is just another stepping stone in his life that when he is struggling to accomplish something else he can look back and see that even with one leg he learned to ride a bike. AMAZING!

(On a side note. I know this blog is just about Bryson's journey, but for family out there, Reagan also learned how to ride her bike down the road last night. I said ride, not break! Right now she just falls at the end and hopefully someone is there to catch her:))

4 Years Ago Today and Look How Far He's Come

2011-08-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Then...

...Now!

I have to admit, this was the first year that I did not dread this or even remember what it was the anniversary of. It wasn't until this afternoon that I realized that my mother-inlaw's text that she loved us and was proud of our son made since. In my eyes that is a blessing. Yes, now I am getting teary-eyed remembering but what healing must be taking place in my life to get me to the point where I don't dread Aug 17th.

On that day all of our dreams for our son were shattered with the doctors words about amputation. We thought of all the things (we thought) he would never be able to do. Not in our wildest dreams did we imagine all that he would be doing today!

Are there still down days, hard conversations, and daily trying to have faith that God has a purpose for even this...yes, of course! But thank God for his redeeming power in our lives. That He continues to work in and through us and that I know He has and will continue to do the same with Bryson!

By the way, I do eventually plan to update all of you on Bryson's summer, especially Nationals, but I need to wait until I'm caught up from being gone on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks and the kids are in school!

Nicole

More Prayers Needed

2011-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

The blog I wrote last week, really was from my heart and was really meant to be just another post about Bryson and the things that pertain to him. I never dreamed that almost 9000 people would have read the blog in a week - that was not my intention. In case you are not familiar with blogs, I can see how many people view my blog and what blog posts are being read. (Don't worry, I can't see who:)) Before my post about coach Tressel, normally only about 30 people read my post - some family, some friends, and some other parents of amputees, and that's just fine. But because of my post about coach Tressel and other people coming to the blog I noticed that almost 100 people have read my post about Izzy and I thought, "great, that means more people are praying for her now."

All that being said, I have another prayer request for all of you. I had a friend from KY who emailed me last week about a family who also live in KY. Their two year old daughter was run over by a lawnmower last week, I think, and she did not survive. When I heard the story, my heart broke again. These tragedies with children will never get easy for me. I sat in shower again, which was always the place where I allowed myself to cry during the months after Bryson's accident, and cried for the family and also cried as a relived all of the feelings I felt that first night. I know the pain and grief I felt cannot compare to this family's. Please pray for this mother, father, and the 8 year old brother. (I think that's the right age) I left the story pretty vague on purpose. I have emailed the mother, but I don't really expect to hear back from them anytime soon and maybe not at all, so I don't really feel like I have permission to give any details. You have enough there to be able to pray though.

Like I said, I have emailed the mother and I did leave her a the link to this blog, so I thought it would be nice and encouraging for her (if she reads this) for you to leave your own prayers for the family in the comments to this blog.

Thanks for praying!

Coach Tressel's Legacy...according to me

2011-05-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

You won't be able to read or hear about this story on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, or the Columbus Dispatch this week. You see there is nothing, as a fallen people, that we like better than a story of a good man who also has fallen - sad isn't it. (Believe me, I know from personal experience!) We get a weird sort of pleasure reading about it, listening to all the details, and then making comments about it to our friends, family, and posting comments about it all over the Internet. Twisted - I know, but think of how many times we participate in this. Well, this is my blog and I've decided I'm going to do something different. I'm not going to condemn anyone, but I'm also not going to excuse anyone. What I really want you to see after this blog entry is that our legacies do not have to be defined by our failures, our sins, our mistakes despite what some TV commentator might say, but they can be defined by the grace of God working through us day in and day out.

Well, in light of that, I would like to remind you or maybe tell you for the first time my story of Coach Tressel and the legacy that he will carry in my family.

On Aug 17th my son was run over by a lawnmower. It just so happened that on that day Bryson was wearing his brand new #33 jersey. Bryson was probably the biggest 4 year old OSU football fan ever and was so excited about his new jersey. In fact, his dad had on a matching jersey. Turns out his daddy used his jersey to tie around Bryson's leg to stop the bleeding and Bryson's jersey was cut off. While I was in the emergency room with Bryson before he was life-flighted to Columbus Children's hospital he let me know that he was upset about his new jersey. I assured him we would get him a new one, but never did I dream how things would turn out for him.

Bryson on the morning before his accident in his brand new jersey.

Bryson had his leg amputated and then spent quite a bit of time in the hospital as he healed. During that time, through a series of events that I'm not even sure of, Coach Tressel was made aware of Bryson's accident and his love for the Buckeye's. It wasn't a couple of days later and Coach Tressel came to meet Bryson in person. He came alone: no cameras, no media, no support crew. He came. He encouraged. He let us tell him Bryson's story. He let us take his picture with Bryson. He gave Bryson some signed hats and a covered note pad. He promised to get Bryson to a OSU football practice and to an Ohio vs Michigan game (since that always falls on the weekend of Bryson's birthday). All of that was great, but what left the biggest impression on me was when he handed us his business card and wrote his personal cell phone number on the back. He told us to call if we needed anything - are you kidding me! Who does that! I will tell you - not somebody who is only interested in lining his pockets or winning football games. We were of no value to him, my husband is a youth pastor, we don't live in Columbus, & we aren't alumni of the university. We were just a hurting family who he took time for, in the middle of football season, to encourage.

He fulfilled his promises to Bryson. Bryson was able to go to two OSU football practices and went to the Ohio State/Michigan game the next year and sat in the most amazing seats. On the notebook he gave Bryson he wrote, "The Buckeyes are cheering for you." Bryson was very impressed by that. While watching the football games even now a couple years later Bryson will say, "That's Coach Tressel! That's my friend!"

At Bryson's 1st OSU practice

After Bryson's 2nd OSU practice

OSU/Michigan game - we had to hold him the whole game because he didn't want to miss anything.

So, Coach Tressel's legacy in our family will simply be this that he was an encourager when we needed encouragement, was compassionate when we needed compassion, perfect - NO (but really who of us is), and to Bryson "friend." I'll take that kind of legacy any day of the week.

On a side note, random people have asked me how Bryson is taking all of this (knowing what a big fan he is) and I will tell you this, he is just sad that Coach Tressel won't be coaching the Buckeye's next year.

Bryson's prayer for Izzy

2011-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

So it has been a couple days, but after I told Bryson about Izzy that night he said a prayer for her. It was so cute, so innocent, and so genuine I just had to share it with you. I hope my memory holds up for this because I hope to do this word for word - I really should've went right downstairs and wrote it down, but...you know how that goes. Maybe as you read it you can offer this same prayer for her.

"Dear Jesus, Please help Izzy with the cancer. Tell her all the things she can still do with one leg. Help her to be fine. Amen."

I think my favorite part is "Tell her." I love the childlike faith - oh that we would all have more of that. Of course Jesus can tell her in ways that we cannot imagine.

Pray for Izzy

2011-05-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

I go so long between posts sometimes that every now and then I think, "why bother anymore," and then I get a comment on my blog or an email that encourages me to continue. Last week I got one such comment and then followed by some email correspondence and I think Praise God that we have an outlet like blogs in which we can connect with so many people.

Anyway, this post is for one reason and one reason only, and that is to ask for immediate prayer for a young girl named Izzy. She has had cancer and chemo and will now be having her leg amputated on Thursday (I believe) in effort to rid her body of that cancer. Please pray for her, her parents, for the doctors, for other family members, for friends that they would be supportive and know what to do and what not to do. If you would like to see her story it is included on her Aunt's blog at http://www.dailyweaving.blogspot.com/. If you search by her name "Izzy" the entries should come up.

Thanks in advance for your prayers!

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

2011-03-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of people comment on facebook that they love the new picture in the heading of this blog. I have to give credit where credit is due, because I did not take or edit the picture. Our friend Lyla Kornhaus, took the picture for us. She has taken a lot of our family pictures and we love how natural the pictures look when she takes them. The picture is edited - no, Bryson was not standing in water:) I did get to spray the water in his face though. I think the picture is pretty cool myself...and since I didn't take the picture, I can say that and still remail humble.:)

Couldn't Wait!

2011-03-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

There was so much I wanted to post between my last soccer post and now, but those will just have to come at a later time. I just couldn't wait to show you this...

BRYSON'S NEW ATHLETIC LEG!!!

Isn't it the coolest thing ever! I haven't even seen it in person yet but this picture makes it looks so cool. I guess Bryson was really impressed! Beau said he will need to get adjusted to it, but said that Bryson didn't get frustrated at all - which is huge. (he's a little of a perfectionist) Come Monday morning he will take it to Physical Therapy with him which should help him out a little. I guess on the bottom of the metal foot thing there should be some tread on it, but right now it is just a foam thing. They will leave that on for a couple weeks and then bring him back to put the tread on it. This is suppose to help them know where to put the tread or something like that. Right now he can't be out on the pavement with it but that's fine as he learns how to use it. I can't wait until I start seeing him run with it. I'm sure his face will just light up. We will work on getting a video of it.

... And Yes, Another Sport for Bryson

2011-02-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

This fall Bryson wanted to play soccer...so what do you think we did...let him play soccer and Beau coached his team.

We were the parents, before Bryson's accident, that said we wouldn't have our elementary children in sports. We felt like took too much time, the parents in the stands were a little too intense, and we didn't want to put any kind of pressure like that on our little kids. Well then Bryson's accident happened and we had to rethink a lot of things. Bryson wanted to play sports so badly - any sport - and we realized that any sport he played now would really be a form of physical therapy for him. We figure any activity is good activity for this kid. Call it justifying things, but this is what we have decided to do. As a result of that decision we have to let all our kids play sports - wouldn't want to play favorites.:) To be truthful, I'm always happy when the seasons are over but I love watching the kids have so much fun.

So, about soccer season, does it surprise you that Bryson loves soccer?! It didn't matter that his team wasn't very good he just loved playing. His favorite position was goalie. He had a lot of practice with it since that's the position he played at most recesses.

side story: Bryson got stuck at goalie a lot during recess and was very discouraged by it. He wanted score goals like the other kids. It wasn't until we told him that his uncle Burke was goalie that he decided he could do that. Then Beau worked with him to show him how to dive for the balls and the rest was history. Now he doesn't always like it that he has to take turns playing goalie.

Here are some pictures from the season. I wasn't able to make it to all the games since Reagan's games were sometimes at the same time, but I was still able to get plenty of pictures. (typical me!)

Bryson's 1st Goal Kick.

Wasn't meant to be - but it didn't phase him a bit.

What kid doesn't like to throw the ball in, but how many are smiling during it.

They probably lost, but Beau does a great job of making it fun anyway.

One of my favorite stories from during soccer season happened after the games - more than once. When I would go to pick him up he would say, "my leg, my legs gonna fall off." How many parents hear that after a game.:) His leg would get so sweaty that he just couldn't keep it on any longer.

Bryson's favorite sport is always whatever is in season, so at that time is was soccer. I have a feeling their will be more soccer in his future. We are in the process now of getting Bryson an athletic leg, so next year might be quite different for him. He is very excited about getting this new leg. Stay tuned for pictures of it - right now we are waiting for it to be made and trying to decide - knee or know knee - but that's a discussion for another day.

Hope you are all finding a way to stay warm. We can finally see our driveway!

National Junior Disability Championships 2010 - Chicago

2011-01-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to add a disclaimer to the beginning of this post. This is all second hand information for me. As most of you know my husband Beau is a youth pastor and long before we knew anything about the NJDC we had planned a mission trip with our youth group that very same week. We wanted Bryson to be able to go to the nationals when we found out about it but knew we could not go ourselves. My parents were going to be watching our kids during the mission trip so we asked Beau's parents if they would be interested in taking Bryson to the nationals. They were more then willing - which we are so thankful for - so any pictures and information I have came from them.

Getting there & arriving at Chicago

Long drive - but nothing a little DS won't help!

The loot from the welcome bag!

Activities for the athletes to experience & enjoy

pretty sure he was showing off his muscles

It sounded to me like these experiences and the new relationships he made were worth the trip in itsself. The competition was just secondary. These are the parts I wish I could've been there to see. I could see him swim anytime but these moments seem priceless. You take a kid who all year gets to see very few other kids that are like him and then put him in a place where he sees other kids like him and he just blossoms. You can just see the joy and excitement on his face. Really I can't wait to get to take him this summer.

The Opening Ceremony

Bryson's team that was there for the ceremony "Wayne County Wildcats"

Parade of athletes - check out Bryson - he is forgetting to stay with his team.

Just love how excited and proud he looks - I'm sure around here nobody even noticed his leg.

Bryson with some of the other athletes enjoying the performance

This was the Jesse White Tumbling Team - Bryson was pretty impressed!

New Friends!

The Competition

Like I told you before, the competition really became secondary. From what I hear Bryson was a little tired and really didn't have his best times. I saw the videos and he even looked a little sluggish. It was a whole different atmosphere at these competitions compared to what he was used to. He had weird practice times, races in the evenings (late for Bryson) and he would have to be alone waiting for his turn for a long time - only coaches and swimmers were allowed by the pool so the grandparents were up in the stands. He had his DS to keep him company but it also became a little of a distraction from what I hear. That being said, even though his times were slower he was able to place in the nationals. Here's what he got:

25 M back - 2nd place

25 M Free - 1st place

50 M back - 2nd place

50 M free - 2nd place

Not bad for his first nationals! It will be fun to see how he improves this year. Just the maturity and the growth of his body will be a huge advantage from where he was during this competition. Again this year we only let Bryson compete in the swimming competitions because we didn't know what he would be able handle, but there really are so many more events he could be participating in. Hopefully we will get him into some of the track and field events this year. I'm sure it would be a huge confidence booster for him to be able to race against people with his same abilities.

Experiencing a basketball wheelchair - looks like he enjoyed it.

Playing soccer with his new friend. His new friend had no legs or arms, but Bryson wasn't about to cut him any slack and I don't think the guy wanted him to. Pretty cool!

Dressed in his pjs and ready to head back to Ohio

My favorite picture from the week - man I love this guy!

West Virginia Games - Finally!

2011-01-11T17:06:00.001-08:00

Well, with the new year, again, I have decided to do more posting about Bryson. The reason for this blog is not to brag about my kids - if I wanted to do that I would post about all four of my children (you can see that on my facebook). I really want this blog to speak of God's redeeming power: how He can take a horrible lawnmower accident and turn it into a beautiful story of hope and joy and I would also like it to be an encouragement for others going through similar circumstances. I hope to not only be sharing the good, but also the bad, the sad, the hard questions. I will try my best to be authentic through it all.

So about West Virginia games - kind of left the blog hanging after that, but if you have any connections to our family at all you probably heard the results. Bryson got 1st in each of the events he swam in (25 back & free, 50 back & free) and got his best times. He did standing dives this time which might have helped his times some but you could also tell he was really enjoying the competition. So, with no problem he was on his way to the Nationals in Chicago.

The best parts about these events is that it builds confidence but it is also a great place to meet others with disabilities. I know I have said this before, but Bryson is very sensative to people with disabilities. He really cares about them and loves being with people like himself. I love it that he is very comfortable in these situations and it has rubbed off on my other children. We hope to continue attending these events.

At this competition Bryson got to talk with a news reporter. He really had no idea how to answer the questions but it was cute. He was getting asked some pretty deep questions for a 7 year old. He only knew he was there to swim and to have fun, so asking him questions about what that meant to him went really far over his head. Well, anyway, it made for some cute pictures.

Ready for Nationals!

Ohio Wheelchair Games

2010-05-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of it? The Ohio Wheelchair Games is an athletic event for parathletes. I don't know all of the details, but I do know they have track events and swimming events and this year Bryson was old enough to be in the swimming events. You have to at least be 7 years old to be in the junior competitions. It is a pretty cool event where the athletes will compete against other people in their age group and classification (that being differing levels of ability). We heard about the event through the swimming team Bryson is a part of through The Adaptive Sports of Ohio nonprofit organization. (They have a website http://www.ohioadaptivesports.com/ if you are interested.) Bryson did an amazing job and he loved racing! He came in first place in the four events he competed in, but I will have to be honest and tell you that I'm sure there wasn't anyone competing in his age and classification level for the swimming. He did race against other people, which he enjoyed, but his place didn't matter because he wasn't technically competing against them. It was so much fun to watch him race. We had been timing him in practice, but nothing prepared us for how well he would do when he was actually competing. He had his best times in each event he did! And as he finished each race he was beaming! I think it helped that he had quite the cheering section, grandma, grandpas, an uncle and aunt, cousins, and even I think would be a third cousin. (Thanks to all)Even Brutus came down to visit the athletes (I forgot to mention that the swimming events took place in the class pool at OSU).

We are reminded often as we watch him swim that one of Beau's first comments to his mom after his lawnmower accident was "and he was just learning how to swim..." At that time we really didn't know what Bryson would be capable of but look at him now! He is a much better swimmer than I am!

Since Bryson enjoyed the swimming competition soon we will be headed to West Virginia for another one. The Ohio Wheelchair games was not a sanctioned event this year (which means their times won't qualify for nationals) so that's why we are doing another competition. If he does as well at this one it looks like he could go to the Junior Nationals in Chicago during the summer.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that on Monday of this week we got a call from someone at the Ohio Wheelchair games telling us that Bryson's metals are in the mail and that there would also be another award in there because Bryson was awarded the Rookie of the Year for the games - how cool is that! I'm really not sure how many rookies actually competed, but I know that he is proud of himself for it and so are we.

I included some pictures and videos of the event. Bryson swam the 25 Freestyle, 50 Freestyle, 25 Backstroke, and the 50 Backstroke.

Enjoy!

Thought I was done

2010-05-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I pretty much thought I was done with this blog. It is not that Bryson still isn't doing amazing things or doing new things, but I just got busy - yes, like many of you. I didn't feel that I had time to sit down and blog anymore - still not sure how faithful I will be - but I have had many people ask me how Bryson is doing, wanting to see pictures and videos of the new things he has been doing, and asking all kinds of questions about his leg.

So this post is about Bryson's baseball season. Yes, we are at it again. He is now in Farm B. Beau is his coach and they are loving it together. Bryson gets to play catcher a lot right now which is really good. We have been waiting on a new leg now for about a month because the one he has now is literally falling apart, is too short, and giving him sores. I can tell that after a long day of school, playing out on recess, and then going to a game he really starts to limp and complains of his leg hurting. One game he even sat out half of the game because it was hurting him and he was not happy about that - so, for now, the catcher is a great position for him.

Side note on Bryson's leg - it should be completely ready this Friday. It is the first all new leg that he has gotten. The other times they just replaced parts. Bryson is really excited about his new leg and we are too. After we get this leg we are also beginning the process of getting an athletic leg for him which should help with his running. It is the kind of leg that has a curved metal bar at the bottom - you have probably seen it on tv before.

Anyway, back to baseball...Bryson is loving it. He hits the ball at most times up to bat, but he pretty much aimes the ball at the pitcher or 1st base man, so he usually does get out on first base. We have told him how important is to hit the ball and advance the runners even if he does not get on base himself. What I love most about this kid is that even when he gets out on first base he is all smiles as he is running back to the dugout. I have included a picture so you can see what I mean. He has gotten on base this season though and he has also made it home twice. When he does that you would think he just won the World Series. Too Cute!

I am also very impressed with the fans from the other teams. You don't know how many people from the other team cheer for Bryson when he hits the ball and gets on base and also the coaches from the other team you make is a point to tell Bryson he is doing a great job! God has certainly blessed us with so much support and we are truly thankful!

Now here are the pics:

Muscles and the XeroSox

2009-10-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

I really try to make some posts informative because I know that there are some readers out there who also have children who are amputees and that's one of the reasons for this post.

Last summer when we went to the beach with my family we had quite the problem. Before we left we had looked at water legs that Bryson could use at the beach but they were just too exensive to buy for just a week at the beach. We knew that Bryson could get his prosthetic leg wet, but what we didn't think about was what the salt water and sand would do to it. He was only in the water once with his prosthetic and the knee froze and so for the rest of the week he could not bend his knee. This year we knew we would be headed to the beach again for shorter time and really wanted Bryson to be able to play in the water with the other kids, running in and out of the waves. We started doing our research for cheaper options and this is what we found. It is called the "XeroSox." This can be used by people with prosthetics as well as people with casts. I don't remember exactly how much it was but I know it was under $100. The size we had to get for Bryson was a little big and hard to get on, but we made it work. And I'm happy to say it worked. He was able to play at the beach - as you can see from these pictures - and when we left his leg still worked. Because the XeroSox that we bought was so much bigger than Bryson's leg we should be able to use it for a couple years.

I did also want to let you know that when we went to a water park this summer we let Bryson go onto the slides with his prosthetic leg on and it didn't do any damage to it. He couldn't leave it on all the time because water would get into the top and drive him crazy but it did help that we didn't have to carry him through most of the lines. It is so nice to be getting some of this stuff figured out now. It would've been nice for us to find some of this stuff out from other people which is why I decided to post about it. Hopefully, this will help somebody else out.

Now about the "muscles"...

Beau texted this picture to his Dad while we were on vacation. We didn't think twice about it. We never really thought about his muslces, although he loves to flex them until we saw this picture again when we got home. We were shocked to see Bryson's defined muscles. I guess we should've thought about it since he does over compensate for the missing leg with his upper body, but we didn't. Anyway, here is what defined muslces look like on a 6 year old.

What Bryson did the rest of the summer

2009-09-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

I realize that it may look like I decided to quit updating this blog, but that is not the case. We had a crazy busy summer and now I am finally into the new school routine. Hopefully I can do a little better updating now. Here is kind of a breakdown of our summer and why it got so busy.

If you remember it all started with Tball...

Then a new baby brother, Riley...

Then trip to KY to see our new nephew, Brogan... (no picture because this is a public site and I didn't ask his parents.)

Then Cousin camp for the three older kids and Youth Conference for Riley, Beau, and I... (no picture of cousin camp because I wasn't there and the grandparents haven't graduated to digital pictures yet.:))

Then trip to Marion to see our new niece, Collette...(again no pic, didn't ask the parents)

Next was the Osborne family vacation to DISNEY...

Then the Hummel Family Vacation to Cincinatti for Kings Island and the Zoo...

Then our vacation with our family friends the Starners to PA...

(Throughout the summer Bryson was going to physical therapy again about everyother week. It was great and I really think strength is improving - we will continue to do this through the year about every other month.)

And the summer ended with Bryson going back to school, but this time in the 1st grade!!!

Did you notice anything different about Bryson in this picture? He has a new leg. It is now blue and he is okay with the color this time. We will have to make sure that on Michigan game day it is well covered, so as not to promote the other team, but we can make it work. The other leg he had was quite a bit too short (seems that kids grow alot :)), so we changed it out right before school starter. Let's see how long he will hang on to this leg.

Nicole

Ampucamp

2009-06-29T21:41:00.001-07:00

Can you stand it - two posts in one week!

I received a forward today and I just had to post about it. The email was about an organization called Ampucamp that is trying to get so many votes so that it can win a $25,000 grant. After visiting their site and reading the story I know you will all want to vote for them, so I just had to post. The story is of a little boy who had to have his leg amputated after a fluke kind of accident. The feelings the boys dad writes about are very similar to the ones Beau and I have shared with you over the past two years which are on this blog and our old website www.brysonhummel.com. I also find it very interesting that the same song their video is being played to is the same song I used on for the video I made in my first couple posts of this blog. It brought me to tears as I relived the past two years of our lives while reading their story and watching their video. It is truly amazing to see God's hand move through it all.

Anyway, when you get a few moments check out the website for yourself and vote for them. I think it is a great cause.

http://www.evolve-now.com/ampucamp

Nicole

The Moment Bryson Has Been Waiting For

2009-06-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, the moment Bryson had been waiting for for a couple months now just happened. Last week we got to meet Charlie, the boy who had a similar accident to Bryson that I mentioned in a previous blog. Bryson was so excited to see him. For most of the two hour trip Bryson was asking me if we were there yet. I really think this was a good trip for Charlie to see how Bryson is doing, for Charlie's mom to ask some questions, for this mom to related to another mom is similar circumstances, and for Bryson to see another kid that looks just like him. Charlie looks great and seems to be full of spunk! I remember everyone saying that about Bryson and said it was going to be what helped him get through everything. I think it will be the same for Charlie. He was moving around great and even though he was getting tired toward the end of our visit (to be expected for sure) I could tell he has a lot of energy still. Looks like Charlie will be getting his new leg soon and I'm sure will be up running before we know it. Before we left we decided that we would need to see them again after Charlie gets his new leg so the boys can run around together. The two hour trip home was so nice. It gave me a chance to relive the last couple of years, all of the emotions I felt, pray for this family who was right in the middle of probably the toughest time in their life, and a chance for me to thank God for how far he has brought us in the last couple years. Again, this trip meant so much to Bryson and I. Bryson reminds me even at the dinner table that we need to pray for Charlie - so sweet! We hope that we can continue this relationship. It is true that nobody really understands what you are going through unless they've walked in your shoes. Please continue to pray for Charlie and his family as they start the process of getting his first prosthetic leg. I remember it was scary for Bryson at first and even a little painful.

Enjoy the pictures below!

Nicole

What Bryson has been up to lately

2009-05-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to post pictures of this for a long time but have never got around to it. Now that the season is over I am finally getting around to posting some tball pictures of Bryson.

We never wanted to be the family that is running there kids around to games all summer, but really with Bryson's accident we had a change of heart. We literally saw that any physical activities that we can get Bryson involved in now is like extra physical therapy and a confidence booster. And that is what tball has turned out to be for Bryson this year. He loved every minute of it and really did quite well. As far as skill level goes he was pretty average, which I think is great considering he has an added obstacle. It just proves to me once again that we should never try to put limits on Bryson, because I am not sure there is anything that he can't or won't be able to do. (Already swimming, skiing, and tball - what will be next.)

I think you will be amazed when you look at these pictures how you don't notice his prosthetic leg very much. At the games you can tell that he is running different, but hopefully when we get him back in PT some of that will be corrected. (speaking of PT - right now we are on a waiting list to get in!)

Anway, hope you enjoy the pics!

Nicole

My goofball of a son

2009-05-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, I have to post this video for you. It cracks me up! Hopefully it will show you not only what a goofball my son is, but it will let you see how fun and full of life he really is. After going through the lawnmower accident, amputation, hospital stays, and other surgeries, as a parent I was little worried that the joy of life would be sucked right out of him - well it is not -and PRAISE GOD for that!

The song in the video is "True Dog" from Toby Mac's "Portable Sounds" CD

Enjoy!

Nicole

Please, Please, Please Pray

2009-05-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

I really don't know how we could've gotten through the last almost two years without the prayer from all of you are family, friends, and so many others we haven't even met. Because this was so vital to us and still is, I need to pass on a few more prayer requests for you. Just in the last couple of weeks we have been made aware of three lawn mower accidents and these children and families need your prayer. It gets me teary eyed when I read about them because everything is still so fresh in my mind - I don't think I will ever get passed that. The family we have listed in Ohio we have had some limited contact with them and I am praying we get the chance to actually meet them. I mentioned the possibility to Bryson and he said, "really, really, can we go see him. When! When!"

Here they are:

1. 6 year old boy in North Carolina (he has a blog at www.caringbridge.org/visit/prestonloyd).
His injuries are around his abdomen.

2. 4 year old girl in Kent Co. MI (The only reason I know of this is from somebody commenting on this blog. For those of you who may not read the comments, I wanted to make you aware so that you could be praying.) If I get any more information I will let you know.

3. 3 year old boy in Perry, OH. His injuries are very similar to Bryson's.

Again, please pray for these families.

If you would like to read more about lawnmower accidents there is a website dedicated to it: http://www.knowbeforeyoumow.com/.

Thank you, to the people who made us aware of these accidents. I try to contact the people I hear of because it is just as much, if not more, of a healing experience for me as I hope it is for them. I guess I am hoping and praying too that all of these experiences that we have gone through and will go through will not be in vain, but will be used by God.

Nicole

Random Pictures

2009-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided to take some pictures that were a little more informative and not just of my cute son.:) These pictures are for the curious among you. I know we put some pictures on the original website of what Bryson's leg looked like, but I thought it was time to take some pictures of what the healed leg looks like.

This next picture is a picture of where the skin graft was taken to put on the amputated leg. Bryson affectionately called it his "racing stripe."

In my last post I said that Bryson gets a lot of holes in his jeans from his prsothetic knee. Well, the next picture is the evidence. I would say from the fall until now we have put at least 15 pairs of pants for the boy. He wears them until the wholes are on both sides of the pants and then we throw them away and get another pair. We have worked out a system now where we get men's tube socks, cut off the toes, and rubberband those around the knee and that helps some but it is still not a perfect system. We replace the sock when it is totally shredded. The other day though, I had just bought him a new pair of jeans and they came back with holes in it already. The damage must have been done in gym class.:) The jeans in the picture are mild compared to how they look when I decided to throw them out. Now we just keep our eyes open for jeans that are $10.00 or less and buy them - gone are the days about being picky about the kind of jeans are son wears.:)

...and the last picture for this update. Bryson practicing his piano. I started teach Bryson piano I think in February and he is doing much better than I ever expected. Right now he is playing songs with both the right and left hands just not played at the same time. It doesn't take him long before has the pieces memorized. I always said there were two activites I would make my kids do without a choice - piano lessons through elementary school and swim lessons until they are a strong swimmer - now I have kept my word. I'm just glad Bryson enjoys both of these activites right now and so he doesn't know I am making him do them.:)

Nicole

The Tale of Three Appointments

2009-04-29T08:00:00.001-07:00

Since the last time I blogged we have three appointments for Bryson. We had not had any appointments for a couple months (which was a nice break) and it was a little hard to get into the swing of things again. So, here is what happened in those three appointments.

1. Endocrinologist - Bryson's Urologist set us up with this appointment because he figured Bryson would need his hormone levels checked because of the damage to his testicles. Turns out it was a wasted trip for me. I thought I was on time for the appointment in Columbus but I guess I wrote down the time wrong and ended up being 40 minutes late. Thankfully they squeezed him in since we drove 2 hours to get there. When we got to see the doctor she checked his height, weight, felt around on his abdomen and then said that was good. She said that there was no way to test his hormones now (obviously, since he hasn't hit puberty yet!) and that she would see him when he was twelve. The good part is we don't have to see this doctor for 6 more years! The bad part is that I wasted 5 hours of my day for something that could've been said over the phone. I also have to say though, that Bryson was thrilled that they didn't prick him with a needle!

2. Prosthetic - Because Bryson ruins so many pairs of jeans as a result of his prosthetic knee we asked his prosthetist if they could put a cover over the knee during the winter months. This was going to be a couple hour appointment in Akron, so Beau took him to this one since I took him to the last appointment. When Beau and Bryson came back to get the leg, the whole leg was covered with the "skin." I wish I would've taken a picture of this, but I didn't think about it at the time and it didn't last long. Bryson hated the leg with skin on it. He said it was boring - and that it was. His leg normally has red and purple on it which he loves and the leg with skin on it looked like a leg with a thick pantyhose on it. Bryson was adament that he didn't like it, so on the way home Beau called the prothetist and they said to go ahead and cut if off. They said it was Bryson's leg and if he didn't like it to get rid of it - and that's what we did. So there you have it, appointment 3 and another 4 hours - a waste of time!

3. Orhopedic - The last appointment of the three was a pretty good one and not a waste of time. This one was also in Columbus. They took an xray of Bryson's leg which for the first time he was perfect for. Beau said he told him, "I know how to do this, Daddy." and sat really still. The great part is that there are no new growths that he will have to have removed this year - so no surgeries this year!!! The other news we got, which we were kind of expecting, is that we need to get Bryson back into physical therapy. The doctor said that he needs to work on his walking again. He is limping a bit more and kind of throwing his leg out wierd when he walks. When he runs right now he does more of a skipping/hopping thing. So back to PT we will go. I think I will try to schedule it when summer starts. Right now with swimming lessons and Tball I think it is best to wait until those are over at the end of May.

So, that's it. Three appointments are done and the next one isn't scheduled until October - wow! That doesn't count the PT which will be scheduled later, but we are still happy that we have come this far.

Nicole

...the rest of the story

2009-04-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'd be lying to you if I said this was an easy entry to communicate. I've been waiting over two weeks to write this because I wanted to make sure Nicole & I were on the same page on how we wanted to share this.

Shortly after Bryson's accident, Grandpa Osborne's insurance company started doing their assessment to see whether or not they had any liability. After interviewing all those who were at the house during the accident, the insurance company determined that they had no liability as holder's of Chuck's liability insurance policy. We talked to other insurance companies and were told by some that it made no sense why the company wouldn't help with our expenses. So we pursued our options.

We spoke with several attorneys about how to come to a settlement with the company and we were not only encouraged by several attorneys to file a suit and not only to file it but that it was a slam dunk. But we just felt unsettled through this whole process. In one way we felt that we were pursuing what was just: Liability policies are owned for these purposes and we felt like we were being taken advantage of because the person we had to sue would be our father. But on the other hand, we were torn with what the Bible has to say about filing lawsuits. Putting it shortly, the Apostle Paul unitized the court systems beginning in Acts 21, but Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 that it is shameful for Christians to take Christians to court. We asked attorneys if there was another other way to pursue a settlement without filing a lawsuit ("no"), I spoke with some of my pastor friends for advice, and even talked with an attorney from Fresno Pacific University's "Peacemaking and Conflict Studies Program." We really felt like this was a gray issue to Christians and Nicole & I decided we didn't want to be the kind of Christians who "live" in the gray areas. We felt like we did our research, we spent time praying about it, and since we did not feel 100% comfortable we decided to drop the idea of a suit altogether.

So nearly a year ago, we let it go and let Bryson's financial future rest in God's hands and really felt a peace about our decision for the first time. Now that doesn't mean we didn't do anything. We received financial assistance from Ohio's Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps that would help us cover any expenses insurance wouldn't pay for until Bryson is 20. This was a huge blessing for us, because Columbus Children's hospital, where we had all of our appointments from the beginning, was not in network for our insurance. And because we weren't paying overages out of pocket for Bryson we were able to put some money back for Bryson so that he would have somthing when he was off our insurance and not covered by BCMH anymore.

In the meantime, the insurance company kept calling us to "close our file." They kept calling and I never returned their phone calls. I'm not sure if it was out of frustration or because I just didn't have time at that moment. Eventually a new person from the insurance company, who had just taken over the case in order to close it, got hold of me on the phone and I retold the story like they asked. They proceed to call Nicole and Chuck to have them retell the story. A few weeks later they called back to inform us that after declining our claim the first time, after reviewing the case they REALIZED THEY HAD SOME RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS CASE. I was stunned, to put it mildly. "What changed?" I asked. "It's the same story." The response blew me away: "A new set of eyes."

God's eyes? Was God the difference? It's hard to know for sure, but after hearing from an individual how hard it was for an individual within the insurance company to convince the corporate offices to change their original ruling (which rarely if ever happens without being forced by a lawsuit), we couldn't help but think there was something more to it. And combine that with the fact that on March 25 we received confirmation that Bryson was going to receive a settlement that was going to take care of him for many years to come (and this one came without the 35-40% attorney's fees we would have amassed had we gone to court), how can we not believe God didn't have His hand in this all?

Just because Bryson is receiving this settlement doesn't all of a sudden make God good.
Just because Bryson is receiving this settlement doesn't make God better than He was before.

And this is why I know: After telling an individual from my church what happened, he asked me, "Isn't that a huge weight off your shoulders?" I thought for a moment and with little hesitation and absolute certainty, I replied, "No--that weight was off months ago when we entrusted everything to God." That's the truth! I really don't know how to explain the peace Nicole and I have felt for the past year since we surrendered Bryson's future to God. Did we feel like we had some responsibility in saving as much as we could and doing everything we could to help Bryson along the way? Absolutely. But oddly, we weren't afraid. God didn't all of a sudden get good or become better. He had been GREAT all along the way...and we're absolutely grateful for the kindness He's shown our family--especially Bryson--thus far.

Thank you for all your prayers.
And thank God with us for all He's done.

Finally able to enjoy his birthday present!

2009-03-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Beau took this video on his phone so I know it is not that great, but I wanted all of you to see it.

Bryson got the basketball hoop for his birthday awhile ago and with the warmer weather we've been having he is actually able to enjoy it. He never ceases to amaze us! We do have the hoop lowered but still it is very amazing.

Sometimes he has trouble dribbling while running because he hits the ball off of the foot he can't feel, but this mother is pretty proud. His dribbling is getting better and his shot is getting better. His favorite part though, is when his dad lifts him up to dunk the ball.

I'm starting to believe more and more that there is nothing this kid will not be able to do when he puts his mind to it.

Say What?!

2009-03-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

I read a book not to long ago called "The Shack." Great book, by they way, that I would encourage anyone and everyone to read. During the book a man has an encounter with the Trinity and finds healing from "The Great Sadness" in his life. Having gone through a "Great Sadness" I could relate to a lot of what was going on in the book. That being said, I have been wanting to blog about my favorite paragraph in the book, but just couldn't sit down to do it until now.

So why the title, "Say What?!" on this post? The other day I was told through the grapevine that a person I know said that Bryson's accident was the result of sin in the family and/or an undisciplined family - say what? - I know. I am fully aware that I did not hear this from the horse's mouth and so it could be a rumor, but I wanted to blog about this even more because that was exactly what the paragraph in the book was about. To top it all off, the weekend after I heard what this person said I was to teach the teen Sunday school lesson which was titled, "Does sin cause suffering." The lesson was the story of Job and how his friends tried to convince him that sin was causing all of the suffering in his life when in fact, God allowed Satan to test Job through all of the suffering because He knew Job would be faithful. (If you are not a Christian you can check out the story in the book of Job in the Bible.) Well after all that, I knew I needed to blog about this, if not just for myself, maybe for somebody else who has experienced suffering.

The paragraph
(Mack is the guy and Papa is the Father part of the Trinity)

Mack “Is that what this is about? Did she have to die so you could change me?”
Papa “Whoa there, Mack, that’s not how I do things.”
Mack “But if she hadn’t died, I wouldn’t be here now…”
Papa “Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead to false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.”

Excert from "The Shack"
by WM. Paul Young

Here is what was brought to my mind right away when I heard what the person said about Bryson's accident.

"As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'
'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'"

John 9:1-4
Bible

So, here is what I believe. I believe that sin does cause much suffering, but I also believe that there is much suffering in the world because we live in a fallen world. As Christians we are not immune to the ups and downs of life, but rather we are to live through all of this knowing that Christ has been there and is walking through this life with us. We can do all of this knowing that God has a plan and though we may not be able to see it and we may not understand we know that we can trust him.

I believe that Bryson's accident was not caused by sin (although we are not by any means perfect) or by an undisciplined family (if you really know my family you know that we are anything but undisciplined:)) but rather because our family lives a real life. And just because we are Christians does not mean we are immune from tragedies. I love the part in the paragraph from The Shack where it talks about where there is suffering there you will find grace in many colors and facets. I believe that even though our family and especially Bryson has faced great suffering I believe that at the end of our lives God will have made something beautiful out of all of it. And I pray that through it all God's work might be displayed in our lives.

The Tooth Fairy Stopped By

2009-02-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

We finally crossed a hurdle that has been in our view for about a month now and Bryson cleared it with flying colors. I think for every child it is a special time to lose a first tooth, but for Bryson it was so much more than that.

When Bryson first started talking about his friends losing their teeth he was adament about the fact that he did not want to lose his teeth. We tried to explain to him that all kids lose their teeth and they get new teeth. After a few conversations with Bryson we finally found out what the real problem was. He was afraid to lose his baby teeth because he didn't think it would grow back. Makes sense now coming from a child who lost his leg and it didn't grow back. To top it off his new leg is nothing like his old one.

Well that conversation was a couple months ago and it wasn't until last month when Bryson's tooth started getting loose. Bryson was pretty excited about it being loose since most kids in his class had a lost a tooth by now, but it changed one day after school. Bryson came home and said he didn't want to lose his tooth because a kid in his class said that it hurts and it bleeds. Again since Bryson's accident he freaks out at the sight of blood. If you remember way back just after Bryson's accident he was afraid to stand up or look at his leg for the first time because he was afraid to see "bleeds" again. He must have seen a lot of blood right after the accident. We tried to assure Bryson that if it bled there would not be much, but Bryson was not interested in anyone pulling out that dangling tooth. We were just hoping that he did not swallow the tooth while he was eating.

Finally the day arrived and I was so proud of my son. While he was eating breakfast on Feb 13th he just pulled that tooth right out. It sounds like he even shocked himself that he did it. There was just a little blood and he just wiped it really quick on his shirt. Since that day he does a lot of smiling and shows everybody the tooth he lost. He was, however, a little upset that the tooth fairy was going to take his tooth and that he would not be able to take it to school the following Monday, but that quickly subsided when Daddy told him what the tooth fairy leaves in exchange for the tooth.

This Mom is thankful that the dangling tooth finally came out, is thankful that there wasn't too many "bleeds", is thankful that the Tooth Fairy remembered to leave the quarters, and is thankful that we crossed another hurdle that day even if it was a smaller one.

Before

After

Bryson's New Smile!

Pictures of Skiing with Mommy

2009-02-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

I know, I know I'm a little behind on the pictures to go with Beau's last post, but better late than never. Since Beau's last post Bryson has had a few more ski lessons and the last one went really well. Hopefully, we will get a few more lessons in before the snow is all gone and it gets warmer. (Sorry to all of you who have been praying for spring to come. I'm praying for at least another cold snowy month.:))

Beau is trying to remind me how to ski!

Somebody is starting to look a little confident here.

I'm pretty sure Bryson is rubbing it in that he beat me down the hill.

Can you imagine having there jobs and having to help Bryson every time he falls down?! Especially on the days when thinks it is fun to fall down. Bryson's teachers are amazing. They have so much patience!

I thought this picture did a good job showing you what it looks like when Bryson has the rope around his waist. It really does make him to most of the steering.

On the Slopes Again...

2009-02-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

Since we last had a chat, Bryson's been on the slopes twice. Two trips ago we found ourselves right in the middle of a snowstorm. The drive home took us nearly two hours where it normally is just over one. Bryson looks forward to skiing each time. The most recent step forward is that Gary, his teacher, rather than tying straps to the front of Bryson's skis in order to help steer him, ties the strap around Bryson's waist. This allows Bryson to be in control of making the turns by himself. Standing 15 feet behind Bryson, all the teach does now is just make sure Bryson doesn't fly out of control down the hill. At the first of his two lesson, he started to enjoy falling so much that he wouldn't make a trip down the hill without falling and marking his spot in the snow.

We found the solution...bribery.

On our next trip MOMMY came along (she had nothing to do with the bribery). She was so excited to see Bryson, but terrified to get her skis on. We figured out that the last time she was on the slopes was February of 2002...before she knew she was pregnant with Bryson. On the way of the chair lift, she was appalled that I would even DARE not let her go down the bunny slope. Buuuuuuut, she made it...though dizzy once she made it to the bottom the first time (I don't think she took a breath the whole way down).

Enough about mom...now about the bribery.

Once we discovered again that Bryson was enjoying the falls, Grandpa Hummel pulled out his wallet. "50 cents if you make it down without falling." No problem. Before the next run, "$1 if you make it down without falling." No problem again. On the next run, the offer was $1 once again. Just as Bryson began down the hill he took a spill, without hesitation, you could hear him shout, "That didn't count!" Grandpa agreed, he really wasn't on the hill yet. Just as he began to start again, another accidental spill. "That didn't count!" Graciously grandpa agreed, this time with a chuckle. One more time, and he still isn't 20 feet down the hill, "That didn't count!" As soon as he was on his feet again, he made it all the way down and made his buck.

$2.50 in his pocket.

He still can't wait for the new pack of Pokemon cards.

Pictures from Ski Lesson #2

2009-02-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, sometimes Beau and I don't communicate very well. I didn't realize he had posted about Bryson's 2nd ski lesson until I looked at the blog like all of you. Don't get me wrong though, I'm glad he posted! So, here are some pictures from that ski lesson.

...and he's off on his own!

Bryson, distracted by somebody who had fallen behind him.

Watch him work his skiis!

After just two lessons - imagine how he will be at the end of the winter!

Ski Lessons: Part II

2009-01-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (1/24) Bryson hit the slopes again. He was so excited to get back out there (and I was excited that the temperature was nearly +20 this time!). He obviously remembered something from the lesson before, because on the first trip down the hill, he didn't biff once. Now that's not to say that he didn't make friends with the snow several times, but the grin never left the face from the moment we arrived on the hill till the moment we left.

Now I naturally want to know how Bryson is progressing. I asked Gary, Bryson's ski instructor, how hard he was holding on to Bryson with the straps from behind. Gary told me that if he would take the straps off him, Bryson would just fly down the hill and, ultimately lose control and probably wreck. But at the end of the 1+ hours of lessons, Gary said, "I want to do an experiment." Those words were have terrifying and half thrilling. Without hesitation, Gary started pulling Bryson up the hill. About 50 feet up, Gary turned Bryson around and unhooked the straps from Bryson's skis. "Go ahead, Bryson," he said. "I want to see you stop at the bottom." To my excitement, Bryson kept his composure really well (even though an grown man learning ski hit the ground hard about 20 feet away from him). When he got within 15 feet of us, his teacher began yelling out, to make a wedge with his skis and stop himself...and he DID!

He's doing so good...doing his daddy so proud.

My Daddy Use To Always Say...

2009-01-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

"Don't let anyone ever tell you you can't."

(My dad's probably reading this, brow furrowed wondering when exactly he ever said this. Honestly, I'm not sure he ever did...but it did make for a SWEET title, didn't it?)

Thanks to the good people at The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition (TAASC), Bryson took a chance in the single digit weather (probably sub-freezing with the windchill) of last Saturday to do something I never considered as I lay in the rock-hard-imitation la-z-boy chair in the waiting room of Nationwide Children's Hospital as his leg was being amputated: SKIING. TAASC, based out of Columbus, Ohio, offers opportunities to individuals with disabilities to "enhance their quality of life" through adventure sports (kayaking, skiing, water skiing, cycling, sailing and ice skating). In English, we paid $40 for a family membership so that on select 2 hour segments through the week, we pay $15 for ski lesson, ski rentals, and lift tickets...DID YOU HEAR THAT!?! $15!!! Thank you TAASC! (You can check them out at www.taasc.org.)

The plan was simple: because of the weather, take 2 or 3 trips down the slopes, go in and warm up for a few minutes, and repeat for an hour or so. After 3 trips down, and an average of four falls per trip, Gary, Bryson's below-knee amputee ski instructor, and the other five observers asked Bryson, "Are you hands cold?" ("No.") "Are your feet cold?" ("No.") "Do you want to go again?" ("Yes" with a smile.) And so again he went...for 1 hour and 15 minutes straight!

The first several trips down the slope he was putting most of his weight on his left (real) leg, so every time he'd try to turn to the right (you do so by putting pressure on the left ski), he had too much weight to begin with and he'd biff. It was pretty cute as he lay there in his bulky size 6 ski coat as 5 adults gather to pick him up. (He couldn't move at all in that coat.) They'd pop him up on his skis and, with little hesitation, continued down the slope. By the end of the day, with a grin frozen on his face, this is what you would have seen...

Again, after 1 hour and 15 minutes on the slopes, a cup of hot chocolate, and a call home to mom (see below)...

Home we went. On the way home my dad (the wise one not necessarily quoted above who accompanied me, he with the camera and I with the camcorder), he turned to me and said, "I needed to see that." According to dad, it was one of the first things he's seen that's convinced him that there's more to Bryson's future than we can possibly begin to imagine at this moment.

I agree...what a day.

Just a year ago

2009-01-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was so excited when the real snow hit a couple weeks ago. I love winter but I especially love snow! I couldn't wait to take the kids out sledding and to just play in the snow. It dawned on me before we all bundled up to go outside that last winter Bryson didn't have a leg, so he either crawled around in the snow, we pulled him on the sled, or we carried him. I asked Bryson, "Bryson, do you remember last year when we went out in the snow." He said, "Did I have my old leg then?" I said, "No, you didn't have your old leg and you didn't have your new leg." It amazed me that he didn't remember. I'm also starting to think that in a few years he won't ever remember having two real legs and I'm not really sure if that makes me happy or sad. Well, here are the pictures to prove it. A snow angel with 1 leg and a snow angel with 2 legs.

Canceled Appointment

2009-01-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Last post I mentioned Bryson would be having his first Endocrinology appointment on Thursday - it didn't happen. It wasn't the snow storms that kept us away, but rather the vomiting boy that very morning. I was actually looking forward to the appointment to see what his future would hold as far as checking his hormone levels, but I can't say I didn't miss driving to Columbus in the snow. The appointment isn't rescheduled until March, so we have awhile to wait now. I must say, it has been nice not to have doctor appointments every week, now it is not even every month - YES! Oh - and the sick boy - back to normal later that day.

Bryson's Journey Begins Video

2009-01-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

Well, the old website we had for Bryson will be shutting down soon and all the pictures of his journey through the initial accident, skin graft surgery, new leg, and physical therapy would not be posted anymore. Therefore, I decided to make a video of some of the pictures so that any new viewers could get a glimpse of the last year and any old viewers could remind themselves if they wanted. The music on the video is "Praise you in this Storm" by Casting Crowns.

I also wanted to let you all know that on Thursday Bryson has his first appointment with his endocrinologist. From what I understand they will need to watch Bryson's hormone levels as he matures. I'm anxious to hear what she has to say. We will be sure to update you after the appointment.

New Leg...New Blog

2008-12-22T01:30:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new location. A few changes have taken place lately, to let you know about...so we thought a complete overhaul wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Question 1: Why the change from website to blog?
Answer: A kind family member had been anonymously paying for the upkeep of the website unbeknownst to us. And since we haven't been making all that many updates during the last few months, it only seemed to make sense to take go the route of "free." (And an anonymous public thanks to the kind person who took care of the website for the past 14 months!)

Question 2: Changes? What changes?
Answer: Really only one of any significant importance. It was becoming pretty clear to Nicole and I over the past few months that Bryson was beginning to walk with a limp. Big dummy me, it never crossed my mind that the kid would be growing and would at some point have to get his leg extended. A few weeks ago we went to the prosthetic company and, sure enough his leg was too short...1 3/4 INCHES SHORT! That was a Tuesday. He told us to come back Friday to get the leg fixed and as I was walking out the door with Bryson and Reagan at my side, he whispered that he'll try to take care of the color issues.

The next few days I tried to get Bryson prepared for the fact that his leg may no longer be red. We covered all the colors including polka dot designs. I was convinced Bryson was ready for anything. In the end, it really didn't matter. Though his leg isn't "Buckeye" red, it's now "Buckeye" gray--"The color of the helmet" as Bryson so eloquently put it.

So now Bryson is on level ground. He does stumble and fall with a bit more frequency and his run isn't quite as fast. The reason: It was real easy for him to throw his right leg forward without it hitting the ground with nearly 2 inches of clearance below his now short leg. With his leg extended, he's got to relearn the length of his leg and how high he has to lift his stump just to throw his leg forward. (I'm trying to explain this as clearly as possible. If I'm not being clear enough, I'm really sorry.)

So before I say farewell, take a moment to change your "favorites" setting on your web browser. We'll keep doing our part (and maybe even better) to keep you informed under this new setting. If you have any suggestions of how we can improve (other than more frequent updates...we know, we know), let us know, too.

Thanks again for all your prayers. The boy STILL never ceases to amaze.

Beau

The Accident

2007-08-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER:The following story is very graphic and difficult to read. But many of you have asked what really happened and in some cases, the story has been getting skewed. So thanks to our sister-in-law Brooke Osborne, here is the recount of the tragic event of why we are where we are today.It was Friday night at Chuck and Sue Osborne's house (grandpa & grandma). Cameron and Brooke Osborne were there with their children Madison (4) and Corban (2). They were getting them bathed while grandma finished preparing food for the weekend coming up. Grandpa was working on making the ice cream. Beau and Nicole and their family were expected at the house any minute. They were going to leave their children, Bryson (4), Reagan (2), and Kennedy (1) at the house and then head to Columbus. They were going to pick up Bea and Lusimi at the airport. Bea was the Osborne's foreign exchange student while the kids were in high school. She was bringing her husband to America for the first time to show him around and visit with the family. Beau and Nicole were going to take them back to Berlin for the night and spend some time the next day showing them around. They were then planning on coming back to Marion on Saturday evening so that the entire family could visit with them. Beau and Nicole pulled in shortly after 8:00pm. We were all out there to welcome them. As soon as they got out of the van all the cousins hugged and Bryson started telling us how they spent the day at the county fair. He and Corban then immediately started play fighting. Nicole took Reagan and Kennedy in to give them a bath and Madison went with her to help. Bryson and Beau stayed outside playing around with Grandpa. Grandpa started cutting the grass and Bryson stayed outside to run off some energy. Grandpa was cutting the side lawn. Cameron walked outside for a minute with Corban and they watched Bryson running around from the porch. Beau walked in the house and it was at that second that Bryson darted to the side yard of the house (between the house and the little creek) where Grandpa was cutting grass. A split second later, Cameron heard an awful noise and Grandpa screaming repeatedly. At the same time Brooke was in the big family room and heard the same awful sound. She looked out the window to see Grandpa throwing the lawnmower off of Bryson, who was lying on his back. She ran in the kitchen and grabbed the phone (which praise the Lord was easily accessible). She started dialing 9 1 and at that moment heard and saw Cameron come running screaming to call 911. So she finished making the call. Cameron also saw grandpa throw the lawnmower off of Bryson, which grandpa does not remember doing. Cameron ran in the house and got Beau and Nicole who came running, not sure whether to really believe Cameron or not. At first Beau did not even think Bryson was that hurt because he was trying to get up and seemed to be in a sort of kneeling position. He quickly turned over though and they saw the severity of the injuries: his knee was destroyed, unrecognizable, resembling a piece of meat. They then held Bryson and tried to keep him calm. In the next few seconds 911 told Brooke to put pressure on the leg, control the bleeding, and elevate the leg. Beau quickly ripped off his Ohio State jersey, wrapped the leg, and held on tight with his arms. Nicole then positioned herself over Bryson caressing his face and hair trying to keep him calm. During this time Grandma and Cameron were getting the two girls out of the bathtub, keeping Madison and Corban calm and just making sure there was nothing else that could be done. Brooke then tried to encourage Beau and Nicole and helped hold Bryson's heel. Beau and Nicole did a great job. Beau laid his head on Brooke's shoulder because as he held pressure on the leg he could feel the bones moving back and forth. Nicole kept talking to her precious baby and we were all praying. At one point Nicole tried singing to Bryson, which he quickly let her know that he DID NOT want sung to! Although Bryson did scream and cry it did not seem to be a cry of pain, but of fear. He was fearful because we were all fluttering around him crying and screaming. A woman did stop by to help and the officials on site were wonderful. Although it seemed like an eternity the EMTs did get there quickly and came and took over. Nicole calmly told them that it was his leg, heel, and private area. The EMTs immediately started talking to Bryson and asking him questions such as, who is your favorite football team? Bryson replied loudly and excitedly, Go Buckeyes! Beau and Nicole were not allowed to go in the ambulance with him. However, before they left Nicole did hand them a 4 inch piece of femur and Bryson's kneecap which she had picked up off the ground just in case they might need it. The ground was quite a mess. The strength God gave was a miracle and He used it to save Bryson's life. They came in the house and after getting sick themselves they quickly threw on clean shirts and headed out the door with Grandpa and Grandma to follow the ambulance to Marion General Hospital. The EMTs left on the site told us that the helicopter was already on its way to MGH and that they would be life flighting him to Columbus Children's Hospital. Nicole did get to ride on the helicopter with Bryson because she was able to stay calm and help keep Bryson calm. Through all of this Bryson was alert and his mind continued to work very sharply. When they were cutting off his shirt he got mad because he had just received his brand new Ohio State football jersey that morning. And as they put Bryson in the ambulance Beau jokingly told him not to smile and Bryson got a big, ornery, smile on his face as if God was telling us, things will be okay. I'm the one really in control here. We later found out that if the bleeding had not been controlled so well, Bryson would have died. We praise God for taking a near fatality and saving Bryson in so many ways. The emergency team was wonderful. They later came back to clean up the site as it was very graphic. As the helicopter arrived in Columbus Bryson was taken immediately to surgery. The waiting room quickly filled with friends, family, and relatives. Beau and Nicole were quickly faced with a major decision. The doctors informed them that they needed to know whether to try and save the leg or amputate it. They let them know that if they tried to save it his leg would always be shorter than the other one and that his future would be full of continual painful surgeries. His leg would also be stiff because he lost his kneecap. If they amputated, the possibility of a prosthetic leg would give him much more freedom and less pain. I am sure you can only imagine the agony of the next few minutes as Beau and Nicole tried to make this difficult decision. After a lot of praying, crying, praying, wailing, and just plain agony they decided to allow them to amputate. It was difficult for them to make this decision as Nicole could not imagine having to tell Bryson that they told the doctors to cut off his leg. But, they knew this really was the only option if they wanted Bryson to have the greatest opportunity for a normal life. All of the family gave them their support that they felt they made the right decision. A few hours later the doctors came out and said that the amputation was complete and that it went well. They then headed in for the second surgery. As they left Beau picked up the Bible and started talking to all of us. He shared one of Nicole's favorite passages about God caring for His children during difficult times: Isaiah 43:1-4. He then also shared Jeremiah 29:11-13, For I know the plans I have for You declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Beau assured everyone that he KNEW God had a plan for Bryson, without a doubt he believed God could use this for good and that Bryson would be okay. But, he said that the only way he would be okay was if we encouraged Bryson to seek God with all this heart and allowing Him to fulfill His great plan in his life. He pleaded with us to join him and Nicole in praying that Bryson would trust in God. He said that as he was lying on the floor sobbing outside the operating room door after giving the surgeons the go-ahead for the amputation, Nicole held him and eventually reminded him that this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where the faith we've always talked about has to become real. He then ended by asking us all to join him in singing the doxology, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. What a powerful time of prayer, praise, and worship. What seemed like an eternity later the surgeon came out at 4am and told us that the 6 hours of surgery were over and that Bryson was in the recovery room. The surgery on his private parts went better than expected in some areas and not as good as hoped in other areas. There is a lot of hope for that area and we ask that you continue to pray for God's perfect healing in that area. It seemed as though Beau and Nicole could finally breathe for a split second. The waiting room of support headed home so that Beau and Nicole could try to rest a little while as they waited for Bryson to get taken to the PICU. They then got to see him and sleep in his room for the next couple of hours. We praise God for saving Bryson's life! Thank you dear Jesus!!!