We know y'all are eager for updates on Caden and our little family, and we could not be more grateful for the interest and support and encouragement that everyone has been pouring out on us. It's a little hard to put my thoughts together right now, and I'm not promising this is going to make sense, but here's the latest on our little guy.
(side note: Adam is the most amazing dad ever, and I am lucky to be loving Caden alongside him)
Caden has been scheduled to have his surgery on Monday. We don't have details yet about what time, or even what exactly the procedure will be - but his surgeon said we do know he needs his heart fixed and we are going to plan on doing it on Monday. We will let you know when we know more. For now, all we know is that it will be a pretty intensive open-heart surgery that will likely last most of the day. He will by on bypass and on a ventilator and everything, which is basically terrifying and I start shaking a little just thinking about my sweet little baby boy having open heart surgery. I'm praying hard for peace for our hearts about the whole thing because right now, I'm terrified. Flat terrified.
We have been blown away by the support and encouragement that everyone has been showing us. So many people have been asking about the best ways they can help us right now. And we could not be more grateful. But the truth is that right now, I have no idea what I need and I think Adam would say the same thing. Everything feels remarkably like a bad dream that we will wake up from at any minute. We know that people have been asking for ways to help us financially, and we are working on figuring all those details out. I will post information here and on facebook once we have it. One way that we would love for you to bless Caden is with notes of encouragement and love and prayers. We have set up an email address (cadenstanley@gmail.com) that you can send them to and we will print them out and read them to him so he knows how loved and covered he is by so many people.
I remember one time, not too long ago, Jayci was playing outside at my parents' house, running in circles around the driveway/yard, and my dad and I watched as she just stopped watching where she was going and ran smack into the side of the car. Not grazed the corner, but ran head on into it. And that's pretty much exactly how I feel. Like one minute I feel ok (not good, mind you, but like I'm making it) and the next minute I see something or think about something that feels like running into the broad side of a car. Like when I saw the picture of Jayci proudly holding her "super incredible big sister" book. And I'm laid flat. Because this sucks.
But while I'm flat on my back, bowled over by my fears and hurt, I am looking up. And I realize that our Father is holding me. And holding Adam and Jayci. And holding our beautiful little boy.
The truth is that your prayers and notes of encouragement on here, Twitter and Facebook have truly been a balm for our ragged souls. I can't tell you how many times I have read something out loud to Adam or he has read something to me that has reduced us to tears, not only because we are overwhelmed by all this, but because we are overwhelmed by the beauty of the body of Christ and the way He is loving us well through you guys. I wish I had the emotional strength and capacity to thank you each individually, because you truly have no idea how much your words and prayers mean to us. No idea.
More than anything, we covet your prayers for our little one and for our family. We recognize that this is either going to destroy us or deepen our dependence on Christ, and we are determined that the outcome of this whole thing will be a stronger faith and a stronger family. So keep praying, keep passing along our story, and keep sharing about our amazing little boy and the amazing things the Lord is doing and is going to continue to do through him.
*Please pray especially for wisdom for the surgeons as they make decisions about how to proceed, for peace for all of us, and for the surgery to go perfectly on Monday!
(side note: Adam is the most amazing dad ever, and I am lucky to be loving Caden alongside him)
Caden has been scheduled to have his surgery on Monday. We don't have details yet about what time, or even what exactly the procedure will be - but his surgeon said we do know he needs his heart fixed and we are going to plan on doing it on Monday. We will let you know when we know more. For now, all we know is that it will be a pretty intensive open-heart surgery that will likely last most of the day. He will by on bypass and on a ventilator and everything, which is basically terrifying and I start shaking a little just thinking about my sweet little baby boy having open heart surgery. I'm praying hard for peace for our hearts about the whole thing because right now, I'm terrified. Flat terrified.
But while I'm flat on my back, bowled over by my fears and hurt, I am looking up. And I realize that our Father is holding me. And holding Adam and Jayci. And holding our beautiful little boy.
The truth is that your prayers and notes of encouragement on here, Twitter and Facebook have truly been a balm for our ragged souls. I can't tell you how many times I have read something out loud to Adam or he has read something to me that has reduced us to tears, not only because we are overwhelmed by all this, but because we are overwhelmed by the beauty of the body of Christ and the way He is loving us well through you guys. I wish I had the emotional strength and capacity to thank you each individually, because you truly have no idea how much your words and prayers mean to us. No idea.
More than anything, we covet your prayers for our little one and for our family. We recognize that this is either going to destroy us or deepen our dependence on Christ, and we are determined that the outcome of this whole thing will be a stronger faith and a stronger family. So keep praying, keep passing along our story, and keep sharing about our amazing little boy and the amazing things the Lord is doing and is going to continue to do through him.
*Please pray especially for wisdom for the surgeons as they make decisions about how to proceed, for peace for all of us, and for the surgery to go perfectly on Monday!