Wednesday 10/22 – Fall fun

Fall is in full swing in Pittsburgh, and with it comes beautiful colored trees, cooler weather, and of course flu season. As the weather permits around here we continue to try to take Judah out of the house as much as possible, but sadly October brought Judah’s last visit to daycare at The Child’s Way as more and more kids begin to get sick, and with Judah still trached we just can’t risk him catching anything. In addition to some pretty major doctors visits, this last month has brought us many opportunities to get out and play, before the real winter lockdown begins.

Judah loves to play with the other kids and has such a great time at daycare, but since he talks with his hands, he also loves sticking his hands and fingers into other kids faces. If Judah were to get even just a cold, it would land him straight back to the hospital, we don’t even want to think about how a flu would hit him. While we’ve gotten out into the world a lot to play, we’ve also had to change some of our habits and stop going to some of Judah’s favorite places like the Children’s Museum and even the mall because with so many people and kids around, there are germs everywhere. That still doesn’t stop us from finding fun ways to see the world.

While temperatures are still in the 50s and 60s around here, we can still go to the parks and playgrounds, October brings incredible pumpkin patches at local farms (where Judah got to meet his first goat), and even our traditional yearly trip up to Seven Springs for mommy and daddy’s anniversary.

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Judah continues to amaze everyone, his doctors, his nurses. his therapists, and of course his parents and family. He is growing taller, stronger, and smarter every day. Judah keeps picking up additional sign language words, is doing well with multiple word phrases, and really understands what we say. His therapists praise him for picking things up so quickly and making such great progress, and following two major appointments just this week his doctors couldn’t be happier with him. The first appointment was with the dentist who was pleased with all of Judah’s teeth and how they are coming in, and just today Judah had a major cardiology followup that went fantastically! Back in June Judah had an echocardiogram that showed some troubling changes to his cardiologist, who expressed a concern that if the trend continue Judah would most likely require another open heart surgery within a year, but after the follow up echo today the doctor couldn’t have been more impressed with the lack of change since the last one. If Judah can maintain pressures and bloodflow in his heart like they saw today, the doctors feel there is no need in the foreseeable future for any procedures or interventions. While we know eventually Judah will need more catheterizations and heart surgeries, it is a huge relief to hear that anything like that could potentially be years away. way to go Judah!

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Judah (and mommy and daddy) appreciate all the love, kind words, thoughts and prayers sent our way. Judah is growing so quickly, and we’re all so happy to have you following along.

Our love

J-N-J

8 thoughts on “Wednesday 10/22 – Fall fun

  1. Awesome pictures. He’s getting so big. Glad to hear Judah is progressing so well. Beautiful time of year to see the autumn colors. Spring and fall are my favorite time of year. Love to all of you.

  2. Yaaaay! Fun pictures and fantastic news! Keep up the good work everybody! Y’all are some awesome humans! Exclamation mark! Sorry to yell! Really excited! Yaaaay!

  3. Thank you for sharing with us such wonderful pictures. We are so excited to hear that Doctors concerns were not confirmed and that he is getting bigger and stronger, and the surgery can be delayed until he is older and even stronger. Keep up the good job and keep away from flu and colds. Save winter and may we hear only good news from each other

  4. Great update! Judah is amazing! and so are mommy and daddy! we pray for continued good health and happiness!

  5. Just when you think this kid cant possibly get any cuter…he shows you wrong!!! what a great update and pictures!!! cant wait to hang with the little man and his lovely mommy and daddy again!!

    xoxo

  6. Oh my goodness, I can’t believe how much Judah has grown!! He is getting to be such a big boy and so cute!! I love all the new pictures of him.

    How I wish he were able to get healthy enough to get his trach tube out. It would give him so much more freedom, but having had it his entire life he probably doesn’t notice it much now. My little granddaughter, Marissa, was diagnosed with a severe form of Crohns Disease a couple of years ago and must go for monthly Remicade infusions to control it. Oral medications just did not do the job. Each time we go to the infusion center, I watch all these little kids lying there as if this is just the normal way to live. It hurts me to my soul! I pray for your family and Judah each and every day with the hope that Judah will soon have a semi-normal life and be able to get out and play amongst other children without the fear of him get sick!

    I love all your updates and look forward to the next one!

    Love to all,

    Trish

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