Jonathan Cooper Update

Happy 4 th of July to everyone! I did not intend for it to be an entire week since writing last. I thought after 2 full weeks that last week would be much calmer, but as it turned out, it was a completely crazy week for us. But it was a great week for our family. Let me share. Monday, Jonathan did a great job in therapy. His therapist has set new goals for him because he has come so far since he started there. He is now working up to 20 minutes on the treadmill and was able to make 16 minutes on Monday. He did his squats on the machine and had a great therapy. Tuesday, Jonathan did well again in his therapy. He worked up in the office, doing his usual exercises. Today we added in something new. Jonathan would pick up a bean bag animal, jump to five colored circles on the floor, step up and walk across the balance beam, step off and walk over and drop the animal in the basket. It was his first time to try jumping and it was so fun to see him do it. On Thursday, Jonathan excelled again in his pool therapy. His last record was swimming for 5 minutes continuously, so today she asked him how much he thought they should increase it. He said 10 minutes, and that is what he did. He was pretty tired, but he didn’t stop swimming for 10 minutes straight. He also still uses the arm weights, marches in place, runs in place, does side steps and works on the stairs, stepping up and down slowly, without holding on, as well as running up and down on the stairs. I was very proud of him. Jonathan continues to do great things and make great progress. If you remember, we set a goal walking without the use of the walker by July 4. It has been at least a month or more since we have used the walker. Jonathan does a great job of walking on his own, without our holding on to him, but he has not been officially signed off to walk completely on his own. We continue to set goals with Jonathan. We are hoping this week to drop our therapy down to 2 days a week. I think that would be a great encouragement to Jonathan. One of our new goals is that he will be able to go to his classes at church (Sunday School, choir, Awana, etc.) on his own beginning in August when we promote to the next grade. In order to do that, he will have to be able to balance and walk completely on his own, and we will need the approval of our therapist to accomplish that. Another goal we want to set is to be able to get out of his braces. In order to accomplish this, he will have to walk without any hyperextension of his knees, which he does very little of now, and he will have to be able to walk without his toes catching on the floor, causing him to stumble. He already does a good job of walking without his braces on, but there are times when the right leg still drags. So we need more strength in that right leg. We have not set a date on that goal, but we are working on it anyway. The last goal we have talked about is being able to finish therapy by the end of the year. With God’s help and strength, and all of your prayers, we can accomplish all of this.
The reason our week was so hectic was because after therapy on Monday, our family went to a local RV store where we have been looking at and praying about buying a camper. We found one last weekend and spent a few days praying about buying it. We were able to do that on Monday. It was a pretty exciting thing for all of us. God has blessed our family tremendously by giving us Jonathan again, and we are looking forward to the endless possibilities that our camper will give us to spend time together and make some wonderful memories together as a family. We were able to pick up our new camper on Wednesday, and we spent our first weekend camping out together on Lake Lewisville. We had a wonderful time together as a family. We had all kinds of weather between Thursday night and Monday afternoon when we left. Jonathan did a great job with the entire experience. We rode bikes, swam in the lake, cooked out, slept in and enjoyed every minute of it. We are so thankful for all God’s provision for our family.
Please continue to pray for Jonathan. He is growing weary of his therapy and needs some encouragement. His therapist commented that he seems to have lost some of the spark in his countenance last week. He still continues to work without complaint, but he needs some encouragement to continue on. I was reminded this morning in my quiet time, of one of the verses we claimed for Jonathan when he was in the hospital – Habakkuk 2:3 – For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Another Scripture was given – Isaiah 30:18 – “Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you.” Pray that we will be able to help Jonathan learn to wait and hope in the Lord as we are able to, remembering His faithfulness and trusting in His precious promises. Pray for a good attitude and a new determination to work hard and accomplish his goals. Pray for added strength in his legs. Pray for good health. Continue to pray for his weight gain and his bladder control. Pray for a special encouragement from the Lord this week for Jonathan. Thank you for your faithful prayers and for faithfully checking on Jonathan’s progress. I promise I will not be so long again in writing. May God bless each of you in a special way this week.