Jonathan Cooper Update

We hope this Christmas Eve finds you and your family well and enjoying this wonderful season. We had a good, full, busy week and there is much to tell you. Monday was Grandma Smith’s birthday, so we spent most of our day in Ft. Worth. In the middle of the day we went to see the gait specialist at Cooks. We went, not really knowing what to expect. Jonathan was a little nervous but Uncle Timmy went with us and helped to distract him. There was about 5-6 people who came in to talk to us about Jonathan; one was Dr. Marks and several other PT and OT therapists. I began to recount the events of the past two years and we discussed many things about Jonathan. They watched him walk and run and moved his feet around to see how far up and down they could get his feet to go. They told us that the left foot could move to about 90 degrees and he likes to see it at 100 degrees. That should be achievable with some extra exercise on that foot. The right foot, however, will never work properly without surgery to lengthen the muscle or whatever it is in the back of the foot. The reason his foot turns out is because it can’t move forward or upward properly, therefore it pulls it outward in order to function. Although I didn’t know what to expect, I definitely didn’t expect to hear this. He said there was no reason to even consider dealing with that right now because he was much more concerned with his weight gain. Of all the doctors we have seen to date, this guy was more concerned with his weight gain than anyone else has been. He started throwing out all the possible diseases that he could have that would have caused this weight gain – thyroid problems, damaged pituitary glands, cushings disease, and some new disease that I have never heard of called prader willie (?). I told him that we had just had blood drawn to check the thyroid but I had not heard back from the doctors about the results (and I still haven’t heard back from anyone yet). I also told him that I would not be returning to Cook’s endocrinology either because I did not feel Jonathan was getting the individual care he needed to be getting regarding this weight issue. So this doctor wants to do an MRI and have blood work done to check the cushings and this prader willie thing, which means Jonathan will have to have blood drawn again. And then he wants to see us back again in January. I don’t have to tell you how this visit affected me. You all know me well enough from two years worth of journaling to know that I hate doctor visits that end up like this. So many things are thrown at you at one time and I am not able to process things that easily that quickly and it completely overwhelms me. Jonathan’s hopes of an easy solution to his walking issues were completely demolished as we walked out of the room. It was all I could do to keep him from crying. He was so discouraged and very disappointed. I managed not to cry in front of him because I didn’t want to upset him anymore. He has such a strong faith even in the midst of such discouragement. He knew I was upset and probably knew that when I disappeared, I was off crying somewhere. Whenever I returned, he would stop and hug me and tell me things were going to be okay. Oh if I could only believe like Jonathan believes. As I have gone throughout this week, I have been able to process all of this better and I’m not so discouraged by it as I was originally. The MRI is scheduled for Jan. 9 at 4:30. I was very firm with the doctor about our caution in doing anything that would require anesthesia, so he suggested we do it without. He will have to lie still for 20 minutes in order to have it done. We also have a lab sheet to have these other two blood tests done but were told to wait until they heard back about the thyroid. Our return visit to this doctor will be Jan. 17. We are in desperate need of your prayers regarding all of this. First of all, please pray that I will have time to do some research regarding all of this and that I will know whether to keep these appointments or not. Please pray that I will be able to find a new doctor that will be able to help us as we pursue the help that Jonathan needs regarding his weight. Pray that I will not be afraid to go through with all of this but that I will trust God to orchestrate these events just as He has so faithfully done throughout this entire experience. Also, begin to pray now for Jonathan as he has to have blood drawn again. Pray for whomever we will encounter that will do it as well as Jonathan’s peace about having it done. Begin now to pray for him that he will be able to handle this MRI without any problem and that he will be able to lie perfectly still without any trouble. I am asking God and Believing God that each of the diseases that they are testing him for will come back negative and that the MRI films will bear witness to God’s miraculous healing of Jonathan’s brain. And one last thing regarding all of this is to pray that we will trust God to provide for us financially throughout all of this. Remember the Scripture that I shared with you last time?
2 Corinthians 1:9-11- Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers.
This is another crisis of belief that God has brought our way to cause us to rely on Him to deliver us and to gain strength from your prayers for us. The promise is that: Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. I am looking forward to sharing with you how God is going to deliver us and show Himself strong on our behalf through this situation. Please pray and Believe with us!
Well, Tuesday we went caroling at the nursing home with our home school friends. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed ministering to the precious people there. Later on that night, Jonathan had his drum lesson and did very well. On Wednesday, we welcomed home Grandpa Cooper and Uncle Chris from Israel. It is great to have them home. The rest of the day Wednesday and all day Thursday was spent finishing up our Christmas shopping. Friday we wrapped all our presents and Saturday we did our baking. On Saturday evening we visited with all the extended family on the Smith side. This morning we had a wonderful service at church. It was awesome to see the entire church full of people. The rest of our day was spent just hanging out with our family and getting ready for Santa to come tonight. I just love Christmas! We are looking forward to a wonderful day tomorrow with all our family.
We want all of you to know how much we love you and how thankful we are for all of you who have loved us and carried us through these past two years. Without the “prayers of so many” we would not be where we are today. So we want to wish each of you a wonderful Christmas and God’s most wonderful blessings in this New Year. We also want to invite each of you to join us again this year on Saturday, December 30, to celebrate the wonderful things that God has done in our lives throughout 2006. Last year we did this on the anniversary of Jonathan’s illness and it was such a precious time for our family to have so many of you join us in celebrating God’s gift of healing in Jonathan’s life. While this year’s event will also be on the same anniversary, I want it to be a time when we all can look back over the year and share how God has worked miracles in our lives. Miracles are all around us and our God is great and greatly to be praised. So we want to invite you to come fellowship with us and come ready to honor our Lord with testimonies of His love, faithfulness, provision and miracles in your lives. May God bless each of you with a very Merry Christmas!

All our love – The Cooper Family

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to come with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, they would be too numerous to count. Psalm 40:5