Month #2 Update

It feels like we went to Panama six months ago, not two! Today is 66 days since Nolan's last stem cell treatment! Hunter and I didn't allow ourselves to get our hopes high we decided to go ahead with booking the treatments and even on our flight home. Over the past seven years we have tried so many different things to help Nolan live a happier life. Some things were a big fail! And while there are some things we did that definitely helped, it was always a very slow process.

In the first month after stem cells we saw improvements with Nolan but honestly, we were hesitant to say 100% that it was from the treatments. It was just too soon to know. After all, the doctors told us that it is most common to see the biggest changes three to four months afterwards. The small improvements started to give us hope though!

Here we are two months after leaving Panama and I can officially say there isn't a doubt in my mind that Nolan's body has welcomed those cells and is using them to heal! God is just so good! It is so hard to describe the changes we have seen, so I'll give a few examples!

-He engages and interacts with others and he makes eye contact more and it doesn't seem to bother him!

-When we eat supper at the dinner table he usually gets up and takes his stuff in the living room so we usually just let him play and eat in there. But lately, he has been bringing his things to the dinner table when we sit down and stays with us while he eats!

-Nolan is typically a very active boy. He NEVER sits down for very long unless he is sick or sleeping. However, lately he sits and plays with his toys or watches his videos for 10-15 minutes at a time. It's almost like when he is calm, it is calmer than usual.

-He has come out of his world more. Before stem cells, when Hunter got home from work he would have to go up to Nolan and make him acknowledge him and say hi. A few weeks ago, Hunter came inside and Nolan immediately looked up and said, "Dada!!!"

-He is saying more words!! Nolan continues to say more words everyday and some are ones we've never told him to say. For example, he pointed at a dog in his book and said, "yellow dog." Simba in The Lion King is "cat" and the his dad is a "lion." He pointed at pumpkin and said, "pumtin." He showed me a picture of a slide and said, "go slide." His class went on a field trip a few weeks go and he got to ride the bus there. He LOVES to ride the bus! Ever since then, when we get to school he will say, "yeyo bus!"

It's kind of unreal. We know the stem cells are working because we've never had progress this rapid and major before. It is almost like a fog has been lifted from him and we are so thankful to be more apart of his world! As far as side effects go, we have had a few 2am wakings where he is 100 mph until 9pm that night. We've had a few days of agitation and saying, "sad" too. We were told this is common and temporary though, and so far they have been.

I've said it before, but I'll never stop: thank you so much to everyone who has checked in on Nolan and has been praying for this journey. We feel it everyday and the love shown to our child is overwhelming. I pray that anyone who reads our updates is inspired to never stop giving up!