Wyatt: A Testimony

I was given the unique opportunity a few weeks ago (July 4th, actually) to share Wolf's story in front of our church, Hope Community Church of Anaheim.  I talked about God's faithfulness to our family in the midst of the uncertainty surrounding our son's birth.  I have not watched this video, mainly because I'm too embarrassed to watch myself on tape, but I invite you to watch it and let us know what you think:





(video courtesy of Hope Sermons)

OI Conference, Part II

Continued from Part I

9:30 AM: After the opening remarks, we met Julie and her daughter Shayla. Julie is an OI support group leader from Portland. We got connected with her through the Oregon Ducks fanblog I frequent, Addicted to Quack (ATQ), when several members of the blog worked together to put on a fundraiser to send more people from the Portland area to the conference. Julie helped us organize the scholarships and get them out to people who needed them. I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone over at ATQ who was involved in the fundraiser. They came through in amazing ways. I’m happy to say that I got to meet several people who received the scholarships, and I am very glad I could be a part of the whole thing. It was awesome to be able to meet Julie and her daughter in person and get to know them a bit better.

OI Conference, Part I

Once again, here we are, and I feel I must open with another apology for the lack of posts I’ve been putting up. I assure you, it’s not because I’m trying to shelter you from bad news, or anything like that. The truth is (aside from being busy), there just hasn’t been much to tell. Which is a very good thing!

I know, I should be updating you with good news as well, so yeah…sorry. Wolf has been doing well, still growing, still not breaking any bones. We haven’t been going to many doctor appointments lately because there just hasn’t been a reason. And we thank God every day for that.

But we did get back on Monday from a four-day trip to Portland, Oregon, where we attended our first OI Foundation National Conference. You can check out the OI Foundation through the link on the right of the page if you’d like. The OIF puts on this conference every other year. It is a gathering for people with OI and their supporters. There are fun social events and great speakers who address important aspects of living with OI.

Visit to Shriner's Hospital

We have more good news to report about our little Wolf! We went to see an OI expert at Shriner’s Hospital last Friday (she happens to be the same doctor who sees Atticus Shaffer, the youngest kid on the TV show “The Middle”). The news she had for us confirmed what we had been hearing from our Kaiser doctors.


According to the doctor, despite the different types of OI out there, they tend to categorize actual symptoms into three main categories: mild, moderate, and severe. After examining Wyatt and looking at x-rays, she called his symptoms mild, with the main risk at this point being additional fractures in his femurs because of the bowing. She definitely advised us NOT to pursue treatment at this stage since it doesn’t seem necessary yet. She expects him to walk without too much trouble, although it may be delayed somewhat. She said that we were doing a fine job with him and encouraged us to keep doing what we’re doing.

Wolf News (at last!)

It’s been awhile. Sorry for the gap between posts – I know many of you who read this blog are praying diligently for Wolf and the rest of our family, and we really want to keep you abreast of the situation as much as possible. Sometimes, though, life gets busy. And when you have three children younger than 5, “sometimes” = “almost all the time.” There’s my excuse, take it or leave it.

But since we’re here, let’s have some news on our young Master Wyatt, shall we? I am pleased to report that the news is good! We have visited with geneticists three times since the last post, and the meetings have gone well. I’ll break down each of the three meetings:

Test Results Are In...

We got a call from our geneticist while we were at dinner last night, and she told us the blood test results had come back.  Our suspicions were finally 100% confirmed.  We have an official diagnosis: Wolf has Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  (Speaking of Eagles songs, I kept singing to myself the first line from Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter" for the rest of dinner: "I got a call today I didn't want to hear, but I knew that it would come...")

When we got the news, it was kind of a weird emotional situation.  On the one hand, it reinforced the already prevalent mindset that Wyatt will always suffer from this and his childhood will be constantly interrupted by doctor visits, testing, and treatments.  OI is a serious condition, and it's tough to think that a lot of the things that our other two boys do now (jumping on furniture, climbing all over everything, tackling me and each other) will be off limits for Wolf.  On the other hand, we now know that what we're dealing with can be treated effectively.  We know that there are support groups that can help us, and there are families dealing with the same issues that are going to change our lives.  Things could be a LOT worse. 

Freedom!

Good news! Wolf is out of his harness! The orthopedist showed us the x-rays and said his leg was healed. So he took Wyatt out of the harness and let him roam. Well, not “roam” exactly, but he can move his legs again. Wolf kicked his left leg repeatedly in celebration, but he is still hesitant about moving his right leg. The doctor said that was normal, as babies will be cautious about moving a recently broken limb to avoid more pain. By yesterday night (he got the harness off on Tuesday) he was definitely moving his right leg a bit more. Hopefully he’ll be back to normal in no time!

Gratuitous Cute Pictures

Yeah, you guys know what's coming.  My parents won the auction for the Chip Kelly signed football, and it came in the mail today.  So I took the snap, gave it to Wolf on the zone read, and watched him go.

Wolf takes the handoff cleanly and surveys the defense...

Hungry Like the Wolf

Julia and I were sitting with Wyatt in the waiting room on Thursday, eagerly anticipating our third doctor appointment in three days.  (We're now one obscure doctor away from Obscure Doctor Bingo - if anyone knows a good kinesthesiologist, let us know.)  Wolf began to fuss a little bit, so I started to sing him a song.  But then I realized that I didn't know what to sing him.  Each of our previous two children had "their" song; Ben had "Sweet Child of Mine" and Micah had "My Girl" (with the words changed to "Micah" instead of "My Girl" - either way, Micah never seemed to calm down when we sang; I think he knew that the song wasn't actually about him).  So Julia and I began discussing what Wyatt's song would be. 

Of course, the first thing that came up was "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran.  Perfect! 

Great Job! And Another Opportunity...

Auction results are in and we were able to raise $408.01 for the OI Foundation (OIF)!  Thank you to everyone who donated items, thank you to everyone who spent time organizing this, and thank you to everyone who bid, especially the four auction winners.  We are touched that all of this would be done in response to our son.  Because of your generosity, research will be funded and people living with OI will receive support.  Thank you.

As promised, though, there is another way you can give, if you still desire to do so.  Whether you lost a bid on the auction or are just hearing about this for the first time, you can still help out the OIF.  Matt from ATQ contacted somebody who volunteers with the OIF and told her about what we were doing.  Of course, the woman, Julie, is a Duck fan, so she was more than willing to help out.  They worked together to organize a special donation.  The proceeds of this donation will go directly toward sending people to the OI Conference, which is a three-day gathering in Portland, Oregon, of OI patients and their families, which includes informational sessions and fun social events.  Julie, who volunteers in the Portland area, told us she knew personally of several people who really wanted to go but wouldn't be able to afford the entry fee of $150.

Wyatt News, Auction News, Various and Sundry Other Items

Wyatt News:

We saw the orthopedist this morning, and he seemed fine with the progress of Wolf's broken leg.  The x-rays they took were a bit fuzzy, but you could tell that the bone was still broken, although not as much as before.  He should still be on track to heal fully within the next two weeks.

The doctor was able to answer our questions, and I feel a lot more comfortable with how we will proceed if Wolf should break a bone in the future (namely, get him some pain medicine and stay the heck away from the ER - proceed directly to orthopedics, do not pass the hospital, do not pay $250).  As far as his current status, Wyatt seems to be feeling good other than scattered instances of discomfort, usually when we first put him in the carseat or when we change his diaper.  Things are looking better for our little guy.

Reminder: Auctions for OI Foundation have two days left!

Just as a reminder, there are a few auctions ongoing posted by the generous guys over at Addicted to Quack, with the proceeds going to benefit the OI Foundation.  The auctions run out Friday, April 16, at 4:15 PM.  Hopefully you'll all have received your tax refunds in time to place your bids!

Links to the items after the jump (including a new item!).

We're home!

I mentioned this in the comment section of the last post, but it deserved its own space.  We got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.  Wyatt is doing well; he has even let us change his diaper a couple times without screaming (which was rare even before he broke his leg).  The pain seems to have subsided.

He still needs to wear the harness, but the doctor said he should be healed within a couple weeks.  The great thing about babies is how fast they can overcome stuff like this.

It's great to be home with our older boys.  We missed them a lot while we were in the hospital.  Special thanks to grandparents who took care of them for the last couple days.  And thank you to all of you who prayed for us - other than the first 16 hours or so, Wyatt has been able to be comfortable most of the time.  Let's hope that we can avoid these incidents in the future!

The first fracture

God is good.

Lately I've been saying that as a jubilant praise in response to the amazing power of the Lord.  Today I'm using it as a reminder to myself that no matter what happens, it's still true.

Last night Wyatt broke his right femur (and possibly his left - it's difficult to tell on the x-rays).  We took him to the emergency room and he got a harness put on this morning, but he's in a lot of pain.  Tylenol helps some, but not a lot.  We're going to be in the hospital for the rest of today and maybe tonight.  We're praying that the bones can heal quickly and the pain would subside.  I have to run, but I'll keep you updated when I can.

Update: Here are the details as they currently stand.

What does Wolf have?

As I mentioned in Wyatt's story, it's currently a bit of a mystery as to what is actually going on with his bones.  So I thought I'd go through what we know and what we don't know to explain why this has the doctors bamboozled.

Before I do that, I want to mention once again that there is an auction taking place with the proceeds going to benefit the OI Foundation.  (Yes, I know we're not sure Wolf has OI, but that's not really important - it's a great organization and we've already used many resources they've provided.  We fully support the foundation either way.)  Chip Kelly, Oregon's football coach, was kind enough to sign a visor and a football (and we just got a Mike Bellotti-signed football donated as well).  So go bid for a great cause!  Thanks again to the guys at ATQ for putting this on (by the way, my screen name over at ATQ is Gorbachav5, so Wyatt is known as "Little Gorby" over there).  Here's the whole story about the auction.

Wolves and Ducks, Living Together

In the wild, wolves eat ducks (I think...I may have missed that part of the National Geographic special).  But in this case, our Wolf is an honorary Duck, since both his parents went to the beautiful University of Oregon.  And because of his honorary duckiness, the great community over at Addicted to Quack (ATQ) has put together a little fundraiser on Wyatt's behalf.

Wyatt's Story

So just to get everyone caught up, here's the story of Wyatt so far. There aren't any shootouts at the OK Corral, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a harrowing ordeal. There have been times when it seemed like a gunfight might have been easier to handle compared to the emotional roller coaster we were on. But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

The Beginning:

This pregnancy started very similarly to our other two. We found out we were pregnant in July, Julia had an easy first trimester, and we went in excited for our 18 week ultrasound. The doctor was just as excited to tell us we were having... another boy. Yay for variety. Julia was not encouraged when I suggested that our three boy family would be like the Taylors from Home Improvement. I would be like Tim, only more likely to kill myself using power tools.

Welcome!

Welcome to Miracle Wolf - the blog dedicated to our newborn son, Wyatt. Why Miracle Wolf? Well, the miracle part is easy, considering Wyatt was given almost no chance to live more than a week or two past birth. He's our miracle.

So why Wolf? His full name is Wyatt Lynn Flude. We liked the name Wyatt (I mean, who doesn't think Wyatt Earp is one of the coolest characters in American history? Plus Doc Holliday Flude sounded funny). Lynn is his grandfather's (on his mom's side) middle name. His initials are W.L.F. He's our wolf. After seeing him attack his pacifier, you'll agree that the moniker is appropriate.

So why create a blog? Because we (Daniel and Julia, Wyatt's parents) have a ton of free time, what with our other two boys (Ben, 3, and Micah, 2) and Wyatt to care for. Wait...no that's not it.