Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Look Ma, No Hands!!

.... says Daniel.


We have an announcement! After 2 1/2 years of walking with some sort of assistance (via crutches or a cane) ... Dan is now walking like a big boy again!

I realize most blog postings about walking center around 9-12 month old babies, but for us this is a big feat. Here's proof:


Furthermore, I no longer have to carry, drinks, trays, grocery bags, his cell phone, etc. It is a big day! Watch closely in the video and you can see Dan has forgotten some of the things that come along with walking. Such as, swinging BOTH arms. I guess when you are used to using a cane it must feel weird to swing your arm again, but I had to inform Dan that it LOOKS even weirder than it FEELS.

We are also happy to announce the end of Dan's treatment. After lots of prayerful consideration, we feel very confident that this is the time to stop treatment and start getting on with life. I already posted about the great news of the last lung surgery. His doctors feel very confident that the chemo did it's job... while we feel very confident that we have seen a miracle from above. So we are pretty well covered on both ends of the spectrum :)

So, from here on out, they will follow Dan's lungs with scans to monitor any growth. He is also "testing" out his leg to see if the added stress of walking can cause it to fully grow into the grafted femur. We are anxious to see if it will grow in before the plate breaks from the added weight without the cane. Please keep your fingers crossed, as Dan wishes to put surgeries behind him.

We are so grateful for this new lease on life. We have really seen a difference in the past few days. We have a new focus. A normal life focus. And the strange part is... normal life feels abnormal. But we'll take it. We have our Heavenly Father to thank for this miracle, and not a day goes by that we don't recognize that. He really does guide the direction of our lives in more ways than we know.