Judgment

Our family took a trip to Seaside last week. We had a fun time at the little aquarium, going to the candy store, and playing in the sand. On our way back to the car, Carter was in the front of the double stroller. I'm not sure all the reasons why he flaps his hands and makes a kind of grunting/yelling sound, but he does it often. I think the it's usually because he's excited about something. Anyway, for whatever reason, he was doing it as we were headed down the main street to our car. He does it often enough that I rarely take notice of it. However, I was made aware of it on this particular day because a young man walked by us with a girl, and after passing us I heard him making fun of Carter. Even as I type this now, my heart hurts and I'm getting angry all over again. How dare he make fun of my son!
We were just about to our car at that point and I said something to Eric about how pissed off I was. I kept thinking of all the things I wanted to do or say to that guy. Thankfully, I didn't do or say any of those things.
As I've had time to think about this situation, I can recognize that these things are part of life. Carter will not be my only child to be made fun of. I've had time now to cool off a bit and to really think about what I'd like to tell that young man. What keeps coming to mind, and what I think I'd say if I were in a similar situation again is, "You don't know his story". I know there are mean people in this world, but I'd like to think that most people, after knowing Carter's story, would look at him differently and wouldn't think that some of the things he does are so weird and would hopefully not make fun of him.
It's also got me to thinking about all the people I look at and think, they're acting weird or talking funny or choosing funky clothes to wear. It happens far too often.
Don't you just love how God so often takes the yucky things in our life to show us a little bit more of Him? It's like I'm looking through a different pair of contacts since this experience I had at the beach. In no way am I claiming that I no longer judge others, but my hope is that it is happening less. What would happen if before we thought a judgmental thought or said something judgmental about someone else we reminded ourselves that we don't know their story? What if we would strive to be a little bit more like Jesus in this area.

"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7b

Promise

Tomorrow is Carter's first occupational therapy appointment. I'm actually really excited for it. I'm ready to learn and help Carter learn. However, I'd be lying if there wasn't a part of me that's still grieving or sad or scared or all of the above.
That being said, I was just checking my blog reader and saw my daily promise for tomorrow (it gets posted the night before). This is what it said:
"Don't worry. I will take care of you." (from Matthew 6:25-25)
I love it when God speaks loudly and clearly right to me!

Jackson's turn to go to the hospital

Early tomorrow morning, I'm taking Jackson to the Gerry Frank Center for children at St. Vincents to get a CT scan done on his throat. For many weeks his tonsils have been very large. A couple rounds of different antibiotics and steroids did little to decrease the size of them. The Ear, Nose, Throat doctor said it may just be an infection/virus that's resistant to medication and just making it's home in Jackson's tonsils. Or it may be something else. That's why we need the CT scan to hopefully get a better picture of what we're dealing with. If they find something other than infection/virus, he'll most likely have his tonsils removed and biopsied. If it's not, and his tonsils don't get better in the next week or so, he'll most likely have his tonsils removed and biopsied.
I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow because we've decided that Jackson will need to be sedated in order for the CT scan to be successful. I've told him he's going to the hospital and that they need to get pictures of his throat. I explained that he'll have to change into a robe, lay on a bed and they'll help him sleep, then they'll take the pictures they need. He seems just fine with this especially since there will be no "pokes" (needles). There will in fact be an IV, but they'll be able to place it after he's sedated. (Which is other reason we feel like he needs to be sedated. He had to get his blood drawn a few weeks ago to test for mono, and it was not a pleasant experience.) The other thing I'm just a bit nervous about is that he won't get to eat until after they're done. Thankfully, the CT is at 9am (check-in at 7:30), so we won't have to starve him for too long. :)
Please pray for peace for Jackson and his momma and that they'll be able to figure out what's wrong with him.

Woods Family Update

The following is an email we sent out Tuesday evening.

Dear Family and Friends,

Most of you know that we’ve had concerns that Carter has autism. His pediatricians, both in Idaho and Oregon, expressed similar concerns and recommended that he be evaluated. Today we had Carter evaluated by several therapists and doctors at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and it was determined that Carter has autism. While we weren’t surprised to have this confirmed, it is still a difficult thing to hear.

The doctors were encouraged by some of the skills that Carter has and gave us a lot of hope for his future development. Among these are his fine motor skills like feeding himself with utensils and holding pencils and crayons. It was also encouraging to hear that he is not dealing with many of the things that go along with autism like stomach issues, anger and violence, sleep disorders and seizures.

There are many opportunities available for Carter and us to take advantage of to help him in his speech/ language and social development. We will begin making contacts and setting up appointments in the near future. We will also have some follow up with the professionals at Doernbecher in the next few weeks and months.

We are sending this e-mail so that we can get the news to everyone without having to explain it a million times. ; ) However, we are not resistant or offended if you want to talk about it or have questions. We are not trying to keep this a secret and we are not afraid or ashamed to talk about it. This will be a learning process for all of us. We trust the doctors and therapists and feel that we are in the right place to get Carter the best help possible.

Above everything, we covet your prayers for our family as we begin this new chapter in our lives.

With love,

Eric and Janell

Jackson, Carter and David