Jonathan Cooper Update

We continue to thank you for your prayers for Jonathan and our family this weekend. Jonathan slept great Thursday night and he has shown no signs of illness since Thursday. God is so good and we are so blessed that it was so mild. We had a great day on Friday. Jonathan got to go back and visit Our Children’s House at Baylor in Dallas. He got to see a couple of his therapists and some of the nurses and techs that took care of him. Everyone was amazed at how much he had grown and how well he was doing. Everyone commented mostly on how much he talks. He began to talk again while he was in the hospital there and really never talked too much while he was there. That is not the case now. He was so proud to tell everyone how he was doing. After visiting there, we went to visit Dr. McDonald for the first time since his release. Dr. McDonald is the head physician at Our Children’s House downtown. We were blessed to have such a wonderful doctor to deal with, for the longest period of our hospital stay, as Dr. McDonald. He is the only doctor that ever initiated a positive comment about Jonathan without us having to try and convince him that there was something positive to say. We transferred to OCH on a Wednesday back in February. On the following Monday, Dr. McDonald came in with a couple of other doctors to talk about Jonathan. Without my saying a word, he told the other doctors, “This is Jonathan. He has made significant progress already in just the 5 days he has been here.” By that point, we were just starting therapy and nothing much had happened yet. I will never forget those words. He was always such an encouragement to us. He too was thrilled to see Jonathan’s progress. Our biggest discussion was about the braces. He watched Jonathan walk and told us that he feels he doesn’t need another pair of the same kind of braces. He feels like he needs a different kind of braces that are shorter and will work more on keeping his feet straight when he walks instead of turning inward. We agree. He will talk to our therapist as well as the insurance and we will proceed in this direction. Please pray that the insurance will be understanding about his need for another pair of braces. Usually, they will only approve a new pair every 9-12 months, but what he needed three months ago is not what he needs now. Pray that they will approve a new pair and that it will not cost us anything. We did go and have the current braces adjusted as much as we can to try to make them a little more comfortable for him while he continues to use them. They are adjusted to the max at this point. Jonathan just completely grew out of them. Our weekend was quiet. We had a great day in worship and Sunday School yesterday. These next couple of weeks are probably going to be tough ones for Jonathan. Each week he is going to have to live without one of his sisters, as Sarah is going to camp this week and Elizabeth will go to World Changers the following week. Fortunately, both of them will not be gone at the same time. He has already cried once just thinking about how much he is going to miss Sarah. Jonathan loves his sisters and having his entire family close by him at all times is very important to him.
Please pray for Jonathan this week, not only physically but emotionally. Pray for his new therapy schedule which will be Tuesday and Thursday. Pray that he will continue to make progress and meet new goals this week. Pray for added strength in his legs, his ankles and his stomach muscles. Continue to pray for his weight gain and that his activity will increase to help level out his weight. Continue to pray for good health for him, as well as for Elizabeth and Sarah as they will both be on trips. Please pray for safety for our girls as well. Pray that Jonathan will be able to handle the emotions of missing his sisters. Continue to pray for healing of his brain, his vision and his diabetes. We are so blessed to have such a close family. God has been so good to us and Jonathan continues to progress beyond all that we could ask or think. Praise God – He always keeps His promises! Have a great week.