Dan Gould

Tag: Parenting

  • Our Healer

    I know the writer of this song faked his illness, but this song ministers to my heart every time I hear it.  It really has become an anthem that I sing, to myself, every time Jackson gets sick.  The words are so powerful and expresses so much of the things we feel and pray for Jackson.  But it reminds us of where our hope and healing lies!!!

  • Jackson Update #4 from Childrens Medical Dallas

    We made it through the night after a scary beginning.  Jackson fever spiked to 103 at about 8:30 and took awhile to come down.  Early this morning the nurse put him on an IV drip because he didn’t eat or drink much yesterday or last night.  The good news (drum role please) is his fever has finally dropped!!!  Our goal today is for him to take in fluids on his own so he doesn’t need the IV, and to get off of the Oxygen by maintaining a good level!

    Right now he is sleeping.  Seems to be sleeping ok but everything is still hooked up to him.  We will have to wait and see how he responds without those things.  We are still waiting on the swab test they took yesterday to see if he picked up a virus.

    Stephanie and I are very tired!  Personally, I feel like I have been hit by a bus, a big bus at that.  We are trying to get sleep when Jackson sleeps at night.  Last night I think everyone got about 5-6 hours since Jackson slept for that long without waking up.  Lucky for us Stephanie’s mom came to town and is watching Josiah.

    Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray for us!

  • Jackson Update #3 Childrens Medical Dallas

    Well today didn’t go like we expected.  Jackson has kept his O2 on most of the day.  When they take it off his level drops so they have to put it back on.  They tested today to see if he picked up a virus other than the croup he has.  At this point it seems like the original reason why we were here has become secondary to the condition he is in now.  He has slept all day and has to be held by Stephanie or myself.  If not he cries.  The Nurse sucked his nose and throat to remove some of the mucus.  It made him very upset and seemed to have a little affect.

    So, we go into the night with a lot of questions and not a lot of answers.  They did a swab test today and we will get those results in the morning.  They have pretty much put him in a quarantine set up, doctors, nurses and visitors have to wear mask.  Kinda reminds me of ET but not that extreme.

    The doctor just came in and asked if he Jackson was RSV positive.  So they said they will continue the O2 and and suction all night.  Sounds like tonight isn’t going to be fun!!!

    His fever just went up to 103.  For Jackson that is beyond the danger zone for seizures.  It’s starting to come down now we have to keep it down so we don’t have to worry about seizures on top of the other stuff!  Please pray everyone gets some much needed sleep!!!!

  • Jackson Update #2 from Childrens Medical Dallas

    Update, Jackson is in a regular room now, things looked like they were getting better last night, until about 11:00pm when he started having some difficulty breathing and they put him back on O2.  We were hoping to go home today but have been told we can’t leave until Jackson is eating on his own (which he is not doing), off of O2, and has been monitored in both a day and night setting.

    Today, he acts like he is sick.  He wants to be held all the time, which is not like Jackson, and his eyes are red and puffy.  His stomach seems to be bloated, it’s really stiff, from what we think to be air.  But we are not doctors just parents.  They are getting ready to suction his nose right now.  The nurse agrees that Jackson looks worse today than yesterday.  So I don’t exactly know what that means yet.  I guess we will see how the day goes . . . kinda scary to be honest!

    We continue to pray for God’s healing, strength, perseverance for ourselves, and wisdom for the doctors!  We are so thankful for friends and family!

  • Jackson ICU update

    As many of you know at the conclusion of the Grace Fusion Bowl during the Chili Challenge, Jackson had a seizure while at church.  His seizure only lasted a bout 5 minutes but his eyes didn’t look normal.  We took him to to the ER at Children’s Medical Center Plano.  While there, Jackson had another seizure.  This happened while they were poking him trying to get blood.  They poked several times, very frustrating when they turn your child into a pin cushion.   After about 2-3 hour in the ER with several nurses attending him they transported us to the ICU at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.  I guess seizure + croup = ICU

    We have made it through the night, Jackson is still fighting a fever, up and down, up and down.  His room is a refrigerator.  The attendant says that Jackson will be moved to his own room this afternoon.  We will be here at least another 24 to make sure he transitions to oral meds ok.

    Both Stephanie and I are tiered from the fun football tournament yesterday.  We have one champion in the family.  Stephs team took first place in the girls division.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get the luxury of sleeping in our own bed, Stephanie, got the luxury of sleeping on the fold out chair in his room and I got the not so awesome recliner in the waiting room.

    Thanks for all the prayers and texts.  It really speaks to our heart and is so encouraging to read the words and see the support.  Things like this make you feel isolated and lonely, something the enemy takes pleasure in.  However, seeing these just reminds us of Gods love and Faithfulness to us.

    I will update my twitter (check the side bar for updates, or follow me as a friend) and facebook more often than this blog so check there so you can know how to pray as things arise!

  • What a Day – Family Fun, Cussing, and a Seizure

    Yesterday started as any normal Friday does, everyone sleeping in a little, before the day get off to a start.  Stephanie had the pleasure of having lunch with Kristy who has been a huge encouragement and blessing to our family, while I had the pleasure of hanging out with the boys at Chick-fil-A FOREVER.  No it wasn’t that bad.  The boys had so much fun!

    From there we went to visit one of our students in the hospital.  If you will join us in praying for Brittany Stene, that would be awesome.  Brittany for the last year has been battling cancer and now has to battle a blood clot in/near her heart.  Praying with and hearing their story made Jackson seem very healthy.  Just reemphasizes that everyday is a gift from God, and one that should be cherished, enjoyed, and put to good use making the most of the opportunities presented.  I don’t know all that is in store for Brittany, but i do know that God is growing her faith and using her to grow the faith of her mother as well.

    Since we were in North Dallas, we decided to make our 2nd visit to North-park Mall.  This time was much different than the first visit in the fact that you could park, and walk through the mall peacefully.  We ate at PF Changs which has become one of our families favorite restaurant.  The boys love the chicken fried rice.  As we walked the mall, we did hit up some stores.  I found a good deal on some sweat pants that I wanted to try on before I bought them.  I take Josiah to the dressing room with me and as we are talking I am trying on the sweat pants, without missing a beat Josiah looks at my sweat pants and says, “Dad, you can’t buy those they are to f****** long!” . . . . . . . . yeah, that’s what I did also.  I thought maybe I had not heard him correctly so I asked him to repeat what he said!  Yep, he said exactly what I thought he said.  I know what you’re thinking, Yes, I am a pastor, and yes, he is a pastors kid.  I told him that’s a bad word and we don’t talk like that.  I tried to get him to tell me where he heard that but he couldn’t answer.  So, we are in the process of evaluating how and where he could be picking up language like this!

    Once we got home, we put the boys down for bed and then Jackson decided to have a seizure.  This is the first time that I felt like I knew what to do.  Jackson’s seizure only lasted for 3-4 minutes, it’s still 3-4 minutes to long.  After his seizure was over we took him to the ER at Centennial where he had another smaller seizure as we were walking in.  The doctors were great.  They put him on oxygen and gave him some Valium.  After 3 hours we were able to go home.  We don’t know what the nexts steps are.  Jackson has had a seizure every month at the first of the month now the last three months.  We thought we were one the up and up, but I guess we now have more questions that still need to be answered.  The Good news, Jackson is back to his normal self and already getting in to things he is not supposed to.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue the journey of finding out why he is having repeated seizures and/or get his medication under control!

  • Lessons for a 4 year old: Stealing is Wrong

    Today, we took Jackson to get some test run and while we were there Josiah played with the toys in the waiting room like always.   No big deal right!  Well when we got home I happened to notice that Josiah had a car from the doctors office.  When I saw the car I asked him how it got home with us?  He said, “I put it in my pocket because I wanted it.”  As I looked at him, I was saddened that he would do this, but knew it was a teaching moment.  We talked through why it was wrong for him to take the car and how we needed to take the car back after Christmas.  I know there will need to be some follow up conversations because after he figured out we weren’t taking the car back until after Christmas his next question was, “well can I play with it until we give it back?”

    Being a Dad is a big responsibility.  As our boys grow up it is going to cause us to really watch how we raise them by what we model, and teach with our actions and words.  I don’t believe Josiah thought anything was wrong with him taking the car, but the lesson is one that I would rather teach earlier than later.

  • Friday Frenzy

    After a rough start we ended up having a great day yesterday as a family.  We took Jackson to an allergist to rule out or find out if he was allergic to anything that could be causing him to have pneumonia so often.  If you have never taken your child to an allergist be thankful, after the pokes were finally done he did ok!  We found out the he has no allergies but the things that were high were dogs and cats.  We have both!  The doctor said we didn’t have to get rid of them though, that was was good news.

    The rest of the afternoon was filled with lunch, a little shopping (very little praise Jesus), a haircut for Stephanie (is that what women call it) and then off to see Santa.

    I have to say, the Village at Allen has the best place for  Santa, filled with, real reindeer, elves and a large fake Christmas tree!  There are several place to take other photos also.  Next year we will go here to take Christmas Card pics unless we use the tree at Grace.  Lucky for us it was in the 70’s yesterday so it was perfect to be outside and wait in line to have pictures taken with the Jolly old Man.  If we were to do it again, we would go a night so you don’t see the cars in the background through the fireplace.  You probably don’t notice it but that what happens when you have a perfectionist mentality!   We ended the day at Pete Pipers Pizza, which is like Chuck E Cheese and got home to open a package full of Christmas Gifts for the boys from my MOM, Grandma Sheila!

    We are getting ready for Christmas, family coming in, and Christmas less than a week away.  I have been asked to be Joseph for the Nativity this year so I have been growing out the facial hair, (I hate it).  I have my first rehearsal today at 1pm.  Hate the beard but excited to do it!

    Here are some pics from our adventures.

  • A Sad Celebration

    Today was Josiah’s Christmas Party at Grace.  This year has been a hard year for him given all the things that have been happening around him.  The party was filled with Cake, juice, presents and parents.  The kids had such a good time.  Afterward, Mrs. Janet passed out gifts, I expected a little gift but Josiah walked away with a little Bible, a transformer, and a snow globe Manger.  Mrs. Janet and Mrs. Erin really went out of their way to make this party special for each kid.  Thank you so much!!!!

    However, today marked the last day that Josiah will have Mrs. Janet as his teacher.  He has taken it really well so far, and even though she was dying on the inside she held her composure today.  It had to be hard for her because her love for these kids oozes out of her.  As a parent, I have seen Josiah learn so much just from Mrs. Janet’s way of teaching, especially the Bible Stories!  The next teacher has some big shoes to fill.  Mrs. Janet will be greatly missed!

    Thank you Mrs. Janet for your faithful service to Grace Community Church and the “Funky Frogs”!!!

  • Christmas DVD

    For the last couple of years we have made a DVD of pictures with music in the back ground to give to family members as Christmas Gifts.  This years dvd will be no different but it will include a section titled Hospital.  It was pretty hard to make when I realize how many times we have been there with Jackson.  I am excited about the DVD but this section was challenging!