A major milestone

This photo was taken one year ago. May 4, 2019

And this was her silly selfie today, one year later. May 4, 2020.

May 4th started with some emotions I was not expecting to feel. Over the last several weeks I have been aware that we were creeping up on the one year anniversary of the beginning of Alex's medical journey. Because we have been very busy with gardening, yard work, the construction project of finishing the upstairs, catching up on a lot of paperwork we had not done a good job of keeping up with this past year, and lots of family time, we were all doing really well and I didn't think I would have any issues with arriving at this day.

A little glimpse at a year ago. On this weekend last year a dear friend and I had taken our big girls, LaRue and Grayci, to celebrate their 11th and 12th birthdays at the B&B on the farm where the girls met years before and started their bestie friendship. After arriving at the farm Friday afternoon I got the call that Alex needed to be at Vanderbilt early the next morning for her first MRI. It was such an important weekend with LaRue that I didn't want to miss it so I spent the night and left early to go home and Brent and I got Alex up and headed to the hospital. What I remember more than anything about that morning was Alex being so sweet and strong. From the very beginning of this journey, she has shown us clearly how God created our girl fierce, in all the best ways, preparing her for the journey she would be traveling.

I remember getting teary as we sent her back with the nurse for the MRI. She was sedated for this scan because she was only four years old at the time and they needed to place an IV and keep her still for almost two hours. She walked back smiling all the way and woke up after asking for a popsicle, which of course she got, along with snuggles with Daddy.

I was thankful that after the MRI she did really well and bounced back quickly so when we got back home in the afternoon I was able to get back to LaRue and the girls weekend and enjoy some special time with her before the year got really crazy and finding time to spend with her or the boys one on one got harder than it had ever been before. It was a weekend of many emotions but certainly a sweet time with LaRue.

What we had been told when we went for the MRI was that based on the x-rays they had already seen we would most likely confirm a bone infection, be given an antibiotic, the bone would heal and she would be back to her normal active self.

I think that might be why it was a challenging day for me. The reality that we are still wrestling with this, that we see more obvious signs of her leg being damaged both in how it looks and how she moves, that we are still in the phase of asking questions, talking to doctors, and seeking the right treatment plan for her is a hard realization. There have been so many directions we have gone, many things attempted, and many things still being pursued as well as other options being considered and it is difficult to realize that it has been a year of this. It has been the longest, shortest year of our lives. That sounds so silly when I say it but it is exactly how I feel. In many ways, it feels like it was only a few weeks or months ago when all of this began, and at the same time, there has been so much hard and so many, many blessings that it seems like it must have been years ago. On that morning one year ago my mama sent me this devotional and it meant so much to me and really spoke to my heart. It was equally as helpful as I navigated the emotions of the day today.

There have been songs, verses, poems, and quotes we have embraced during this past year and God has been so good to bring the right people to us in the exact moment they were needed. So many people have been part of this journey and helped us along the way, in different ways. We know God has placed this support system around us to help carry us through this year and are thankful there are so many we can count on as we continue this journey. We are thankful for your prayers, love, and support.

Lamentations 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases:

his mercies never come to an end:

they are new every morning:

great is your faithfulness.