Please Pray for Kylee {SPOTT Surgery}

 

Tomorrow morning (Monday, Dec. 1st) our Kylee will go into surgery. Yes, another surgery. This will be our 3rd in about 6 weeks. Thankfully, both boys are doing wonderfully and their recoveries have been great. Korbin was released by his doctor to resume normal crazy, five year old boy activities this week and Brody should be cleared from his neurosurgeon next week! Now our focus is on Mrs. Kylee.

Most of you know Kylee has Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy. Her grade 4 (most severe) brain bleed (IVH) on the right half of her brain has caused CP that affects the left side of her body, specifically her hand and leg/foot. After years of therapy, multiple Botox treatments and years of braces/orthotics, her condition is only worsening and her little foot is turning in more and more.

 After consulting with many doctors we've decided Kylee could greatly benefit from a tendon transfer. Dr. Mayfeild will be performing the SPOTT procedure tomorrow morning at Cooks Childrens in Fort Worth. SPOTT - Split Posterior Tibial Transfer. Dr. Acosta, her neurologist, targeted this specific tendon during her last Botox treatment (in May) and it had a BEAUTIFUL effect. Bad news, it only lasted 2-3 weeks. Good news tho is that it confirmed what her orthopedic surgeon had suspected was the problem. The fact that the Botox worked reassured him that that's where the work needed to be done. Botox is what some consider a "band aid" (which can help and last for months, just not in Kylee's case) and we're hoping if the surgery is successful, it will be a permanent fix...for her foot anyways. Bret and I take great comfort in knowing our doctors (neurologist, ortho surgeon, neurosurgeon and neuropsychologist) work closely together and often work as a team. We've handed our precious babies over to them before and know they're in great hands here at Cooks.  

Kylee, Bret and I are staying in a hotel tonight near the hospital. We live a bit aways from the hospital and Kylee needs to be there at 6:30am. Her surgery is scheduled for 8am and will last approximately 3 hours. After surgery, Kylee will be admitted and will hopefully be discharged Tuesday afternoon. Unlike her brothers', Kylee's recovery will be a bit of a hard one. She will be in a cast and will be in a wheelchair for 6-8 weeks. She will be out of school this week and should be able to return next week with her siblings. I personally have NEVER dealt with a cast and only a wheelchair when I was pregnant with them. Needless to say it will be an adjustment for us all, but especially Kylee. We've talked to her over the last few weeks and have explained things the best that we could. She knows she will have an IV, surgery and "get to be" in a wheelchair but she's most excited about the ice cream and balloons we promised her :)

When we came back from dinner, the sweet lady at the front desk had made a special basket just for Kylee with her name and all! Inside of it is lots of candy, popcorn, coloring books, playing cards, jewelry, cookies, word searches and more! SO sweet and was such a fun surprise for Kylee!

Here is the latest picture of Kylee's foot that I took tonight in the hotel... You can easily see more pics of her little foot, as well as see more history regarding her CP, by searching in the white box at the top left or the left side of the screen. Type in keywords such as "Botox, CP, Hemiplegia, AFO, Braces"...etc. and a list of posts should come up.

For now, we just ask that you say a prayer for our sweet girl. That she can be brave, that God guides the doctors during this tedious procedure and that her pain can be easily controlled during recovery. Bret and I will update everyone here tomorrow once she is out of recovery.

Thanks!

Christmas Tree Farm {2014}

We went back to the Ivanhoe Christmas Tree Farm with Chris and Bethany in search of this year’s Christmas tree and had a great time!

If you are local and haven’t been, GO! They have a great selection of beautiful trees at great prices! We walked out of there with an 11+ foot tall tree for $63! Here’s Kylee pointing out the one she wanted to take home!

 Baxlyn & Kylee. They’ve grown to love each other more and more over the last few weeks. Their room is filled with giggles and they’re full of “sister pride” lately. Just this afternoon they were trying to out-do each other with kindness. “I want Baxlyn  to pick the movie, Mom!” Kylee would say and then Baxlyn would be sure that Kylee saw she drew EXTRA hearts around Kylee’s name as they colored on the white board. If only it were this way 24/7 ;)

Brody & Baxlyn with a “tree” she carried around for a while before realizing we were serious when we said it was not coming home with us… This picture. Melt Me. Seriously, it is so so hard to get them to cooperate these days. A few certain ones who we won’t name (ahem, K & K) sport some pretty feisty attitudes from time to time. I was so thankful when they all put on smiles for this picture that turned out to be one I’ll cherish forever!

Korbin collecting pinecones. Does he not look like a young man in this picture? So handsome and so big!

Chris & Bethany find their 2014 Christmas Tree and seal the agreement with a kiss ;)

While the other three collect as many pinecones as their wee arms could hold, Brody helped Uncle Chris cut down their tree. Blade had been doing his best to keep up with everybody, falling every 10 feet or so due to the uneven ground. He noticed Chris and Brody laying down so came over and plopped right down next to them. So cute!

 Our family picture in front of the tree we chose!    Each year, Bret lets the kids help cut down our tree. This was Blade’s first year to get to help. His little face says it all…

Precious Baby <3

     My little Quadlings: Brody, Korbin, Baxlyn & Kylee

Our final product!

 

Now to get the rest of the house decorated before our BIG week ahead of us :/ Stay Tuned!

 

Thanksgiving 2014

 

We have so SO much to be thankful for today and everyday. Thank you, God, for blessing us far beyond anything we deserve!

Clockwise: Korbin, Blade, Kylee, Brooke, Brody & Baxlyn. My cup runneth over <3

This year’s Thanksgiving Tree. Each day we added things and people we were thankful for. Forgive the bare treetop… Mama is short ;)

A few close ups of some of our leaves…

We hope you all had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving as well! –The Cox Family

Korbin’s Recovery {Abdominal Hernia Surgery}

  Korbin’s surgery went great yesterday! He had his procedure done at Cook Children’s Ped. Surgery Center in Plano. Here he is when we arrived with his thumbs up, ready to go!

Here he is during prep. I’ve never seen a kid to chill before going in for surgery. I think he was just so happy to be spending time ALONE with Bret and I, he didn’t care what was about to happen! Brody & Kylee get lots of “special” time for themselves with Bret and I due to so many doctors appointments but Korbin and Baxlyn, not so often :( He never shed a tear or showed ANY sign of being scared or nervous the entire time. After a dose of happy juice (that didn’t seem to do anything compared to his last surgery) he smiled and waved goodbye as they wheeled him off to the operating room.

The surgery only took about 40 minutes and Dr. Kadesky (who happens to be an identical twin!) said it was just as he thought…two hernias. One hernia a bit bigger than expected but both were taken care of thru one incision placed right between the two. Here’s our big man just after surgery (red irritation due to intubation) all smiles and ready for popsicles! He proudly told me “I didn’t even go to sleep!” Ok, buddy ;) Leading up to the surgery I think he was expecting everything that happened with Brody's experience a few weeks ago. He was excited to spend the night, have balloons, toys and teddy bears delivered and to play in the playroom in the hospital. He was a little thrown when we packed up and headed home within an hour or two of him waking up. Bret and I had planned on heading to the gift shop while he was in the OR to grab some balloons for him but the hospital didn’t have one. Sweet Mamaw & Wayne had a special Edible Arrangement delivered as well as a bunch of balloons when Korbin got home – thanks again, guys!

Korbin is home today due to doc’s orders and can return to school tomorrow. Although meds were prescribed, he’s in little to no pain and has only had a couple of doses of Tylenol! He’ll be joining Brody on the sidelines at school during PE and recess for a couple of weeks so his lil tummy can heal and then he should be good to go!

Thank you all who text, called and supported Korbin through kind words and prayers. His surgery couldn’t have gone smoother in any way!

Now…. on to the next child. Kylee will be having SPOTT surgery on her foot/ankle December 1st. Her surgery, like Brody’s will be done at Cook Children’s and she’ll spend at least one night in the hospital. Her surgery is a bit more difficult and she will have a much bigger recovery time. We will update later with more details regarding her operation.

Mr. Korbin, Prepped for Surgery!

Our sweet Korb is headed to Cooks Surgery Center in the morning (Tuesday the 11th) for a minor surgery. He’s had two small bumps just above his belly button since he was itty bitty. Multiple docs have kept and eye on them over the years and have never been too concerned. Some of the pros say they’re benign cysts and others believe they’re abdominal hernias. All the docs have agreed they’re nothing to worry about unless they start to bother Korbin. Over the past 6 months or so, Korbin has complained of them hurting. Nothing major, but enough to make him mention discomfort multiple times on and off for a while. He will be going in in the morning to have them removed/repaired. Dr. Kadesky will be performing the surgery which is to take no longer than 1 hour. After waking up and proving stable, our little mister will be on his way home and should be back at school within a day or two!

 

A closer look at his tummy before bed tonight (never mind the inside-out, backwards Pjs!)…

 

Korbin’s not nervous whatsoever, which is nice. In his mind he’s about to live it up at the hospital, receive balloons, skip a little school and eat ice cream for being brave like Brody did a few weeks ago. Although his won’t be quite the same experience, we’ll try to make it as special as we can ;)

We appreciate any positive thoughts and prayers you could offer us in the morning. He’s scheduled for surgery at 11am. We will update tomorrow evening. Thanks all!

Blade’s 2nd Birthday Party! {The COOP}

  Our sweet Blade turned TWO on the 25th! We celebrated his big number 2, Elmo style, this past weekend at The COOP in Frisco – SO fun!

If you’re local and have small kids, we highly recommend visiting The COOP. This was our first time to host our party outside our home. I’m typically not a fan of places you rent as they’re impersonal and rushed but this turned out well. Luckily I booked plenty of time in advance and everything was set to go. With Brody’s unexpected shunt complications and surgery, it was nice to have it all planned already.  Our private party included a bounce house, a toddler book area and play area with toys, a dance pad/gaming area, ride on toys and the coolest ball pit and slide area ever! We had a total of about 40 people and everyone had a blast!

These little ride-ons were Blade’s favorite. He and his wee toddler friends rode them the entire time…

Sweet Wesley!

 Miss B!

   Korbin, Brody & Kylee getting down on the dance floor!

   This place was seriously fun for all ages. The big boys started pegging random bystanders with balls. The little boys caught on quickly. Here’s Korbin taking a shot at someone…

 Broman :]

  Corinne wasn’t having a good time…. nope…not at all ;)

 Some of the adults playing a game of dodgeball on the game pad…

Brody having a great time. Nevermind Mason in the background ready to peg some innocent kid in the head with a ball… or Chris manhandling Korbin right next to him!

Bret and Richie. Fun for all ages, I tell ya ;)

My sweet, shy Mason!

  Innocent Bethany, minding her own business, looking after the littles just seconds before she’s hit square in the noggin by a ball thrown by her dear husband…

Zooooooooooooooooooooom! Go Richie Go!

Uncle Darrell & John

 Blakkkeeee, where are you?!?!

Kylee gettin’ tickled by Papa!

Bethany, Anna, Korbin and myself taking cover from the flying balls!

Our youngest party goer, Noah!

“Mama, where are youuu?!”

   Can’t believe it’s been two years since we welcomed this sweet baby! 

  Blade and all his wittle friends :]

While he had the time of his life during the free play, it wasn’t until we sang “Happy Birthday” that Blade realized this whole thing was about HIM! His smile grew as everyone looked at him while singing and then once the song was over he lit up and yelled “Yaaayyyyy!” while clapping his hands. PRICELESS!

 

Happy Birthday to our precious precious, sweet number 5. You’ve brought more joy and spunk to our family than we could have ever imagined. We love you, Baby Blade!

We owe a HUGE Thank You to Amy Horton with Amy Horton Photography for coming to capture these memories on film while Bret and I enjoyed our party. Thank you again Amy, we love the pictures!!!