Being a mom means the world to me...being a wife means the world to me...being Jeff Keep's wife is the most amazing feeling in the world...being Brady Keep's mom is the most rewarding feeling in the world...he is THE most precious human being on this earth and all it takes is one sweet look from him, one sincere sound, or one sweet kiss from him, and my heart just melts.В This same heart aches for him on a daily basis as I watch him go through all he goes through with treatments, therapies, medicines, and feeds.В As my heart aches, it also smiles as I see how cooperative he is during all of this (for the most part)...I couldn't ask for a better child.В God could not have picked a better child to deal with all the things Brady deals with on a daily basis.В God could not have picked a better child for US to have, to hold, to raise, and to love...He gave us the best gift we could have ever received...our precious son, Brady.
As Brady enters another phase in his life, more worries, more fear, and more anxiety consume us.В Every parent gets excited and nervous when their child starts school...will they fit in?В Will they make friends?В Will they succeed?В Will the teacher like them?В Will they size up to other children in the cla*s?В Those aren't worries or thoughts we have about Brady starting school...we do want him to succeed, grow, and develop, but not in comparison to other children as Brady is in his own realm of life compared to other children, and I personally stopped comparing him to other kids his age a LONG time ago.В It just became beyond pointless!В Our biggest worries and fears are none like most parents have...we worry about Brady's health...we worry about all the germs and sickness that are in such a public place...we worry about how easily Brady gets sick and how when he does get sick, he's almost always ends up in the hospital, which, in turn, makes him go a few steps back in development, which is equally frustrating.В A little cold for Brady turns in to pneumonia, bronchitis, lung infections SO quickly and SO easily...much more quickly than it does for other children.В
His life depends on him staying healthy, but we don't have control over Brady getting sick or not getting sick.В We can only take all the precautions necessary to keep him as healthy as possible by keeping up with all his treatments and medicines and keeping our own home as clean, dust free, and germ free as we can.В We don't have control over public places or other people for that matter.В It took us a long time to branch out and bring Brady to church to be in that type of environment, then we transferred his therapy to the pediatric clinic where he's around other children as well, and now he's starting special ED preschool in a few weeks where he'll be around more dirt, dust, and germs than I wish to think about.В What can we do?В Nothing!В Nothing, but trust God to take care of the precious gift He's given us!В
I've never knowingly put Brady around other children who aren't vaccinated as it's just not worth the risk to me.В Each parent is different and will make their own decisions that they feel are important for their children, and I respect that.В But other people have to respect the fact that we have a special needs child who can and will catch anything and everything and some of those things could kill him or have a detrimental effect on his health.В Once Brady starts school, he will most likely be around children who may not be vaccinated as it's not necessarily required for school anymore...with religious exemption forms and other exceptions (I imagine), children who aren't vaccinated will be at his school.В Another thing we will have to trust the Lord on, as we don't feel it's right to keep Brady inside the walls of our house forever...that's no way to live life, and that's not how God wants us to raise Brady...we're sure of that!В He wants us to let Brady be who he is, to have fun, and to be a true child, to enjoy life, and all the fun things in this world for children!В
We've prayed about this preschool for a while now, and we both feel it's the right thing to do for Brady at this time.В He needs the chance to learn, grow, and develop in a natural environment outside of our home so that he can succeed in life.В We want Brady to have fun, to be a kid, and to do things that other children do...like go to school...regardless of his Cystic Fibrosis.В It's just a risk that we are going to take as we feel it's the way the Lord wants us to go.В God will protect him always, and we trust Him to do that!
I can remember driving home from the hospital the day we met with CF team when I was about 7 months after learning that Brady had Cystic Fibrosis.В I was so overwhelmed at the time with the thought of having a special needs child that would most likely not live longer that I would.В It was heart wrenching.В As Jeff and I talked about it on the long drive home, we said to one another that we wouldn't make our child live in a bubble, that we would love him & take care of him to the best of our abilities, but that we would treat him like he was a normal child who happened to have Cystic Fibrosis.В That is so much easier said than done!В
From all the sickness, germs, and dust inside the school to the other children who also may carry the same things to the children who aren't vaccinated to just the typical risks of everyday living, we know that lots can happen once Brady starts school, but we are trusting in the Almighty Teacher and Protector to watch over our son and show us His will for our lives.
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