Growing and Growing

I don’t care if SHE is going to get mad at me. ( … SHE always gets mad when I post something about our family without HER permission … SHE even thinks I stole HER website … ) Anyway, I just have to share this picture of my PoloPeeWee.

Can you imagine more than 200 boys and girls screaming and chanting:

COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS COOPERS TROOPERS

Yesterday afternoon, we packed up the van and headed south to Westhaven, a development outside of Franklin, TN, to give MiniCooper a hug, a word of encouragement, and a PrayerBlanket from our church. Little did we know that hundreds of other people, three fire engines, and many fire fighters and policemen had the same idea. Check out some of the pictures.

And now, MiniCooper and his mom are heading to Memphis to St. Jude’s for radiation treatment. Make sure you say an extra prayer for this family. You can also follow their story here. BTW, the second DillyBar saw MiniCooper, he ran over to him and put his arm around him.

You may have been following MiniCooper’s progress on your own.  Here is the short story: MiniCooper played soccer with my DillyBar last year.  MiniCooper’s dad is called Coach … because he was the coach. MiniCooper suffered a brain tumor last month.  MiniCooper’s prayer warriors are called CooperTroopers (… not my name, but ingenious nonethless … ).  MiniCooper’s recovery has been miraculous, but now they enter a new stage:

St Jude here we come! After a mother’s instinct, gut feel, many prayers, common sense and certain incidents over the last week, we have determined that we need to head west 3 hours. We have made the family decision to take Cooper to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. We agreed as a family that this was best for Cooper and his treatment going forward. With the risks and long term affects of radiation to the brain, we cannot take any chances. St. Jude has been great in the transition phase and working with Teresa on getting Cooper to Memphis quickly. They have assured us what ever we need they have the resources. St. Jude offered to fly Teresa/Cooper to Memphis as an example at no charge. That is a great relief so that we can focus on Cooper and his care. Teresa, Linda (Ma-Ma) and Cooper will all leave next Tuesday for Memphis loaded with stuff, faith and hope. Cooper will be there for six weeks of treatment. They will be staying in the Ronald McDonald House for that time unless we see a need to move him to another location. St. Jude has the top Radiologist Oncologist in the nation dealing with Ependymoma Brain tumors which is what Cooper had.

For the rest of the update, click here.  Also, make sure you leave a prayer or comment.  Hang in there MiniCooper and family.

… you were a cartoon? This is what me and my No.1 would look like.  Any suggestions for our SuperHero names?  How about NikeDad and WonderGurl?

Dudes and Dude-ettes, THAT’S NOT RIGHT!

You may recall from a few weeks ago that Dad’s hearing was improving.  Recently, Dad had concerns that Mom was actually losing her hearing. Not wanting to upset Mom, Dad asked his hearing doctor how to address the issue.  The doctor recommended that Dad do a little hearing test on Mom: “Stand 25 feet away and say something to her. Keep moving closer to her by increments of 5 feet until she hears you.”

That evening, Dad moved across the room and said, “Pat, what’s for dinner?” No response.

He moved five feet closer, “Pat, what’s for dinner?” No response.

He moved five feet closer, “Pat, what’s for dinner?” No response.

He moved five feet closer, “Pat, what’s for dinner?” No response.

He moved five feet closer, “Pat, what’s for dinner?” Mom responded, “For the fifth time, we’re having chicken!”

… the whole world is on SpringBreak, does not mean that I get to go on SpringBreak.  Actually, I have spent the last few weeks months getting ready for a 4-week trial that begins in a few weeks.  But just like regular life plans, sometimes those LegalPlans get changed.  Now, the trial has been moved to June, but another DeadLine has taken place of the moved trial.  No break here.

…. Shoulder …. Whisper in my ear … Baaaa-beeee!  Earlier this week, Dad had appt with Dr. Range-o-Motion, the shoulder doctor, who was very pleased with the progress on the shoulder. According to Dr. RoM, Dad’s range of motion has increased significantly. He did check out Dad’s left hand …which has been on the bottom of the totem pole as far as injuries go. Dad has considerable pain in the hand and Dr. RoM decided it was time to do an XRay. He was unable to determine if there was a facture since Dad is now 6 months into the healing process. Dr. RoM has scheduled him to have a couple of weeks of hand rehab and then will check him out. If there is no improvement, they will try an injection of RodriguezJuice … steriods … and if that doesn’t work then probably some minor surgery on the hand. Dr. RoM told Dad that it is not unusual for someone in the type of accident he was in to manifest all types of minor injuries after the fact. He also said it would be a good year before Dad’s body recovered from the blows and trauma to his body.

In case you missed it, this photo is captioned “Childish” because of this.  I love these kids!!!