3/11/09 - Serious Life Magazine

Serious.Life Magazine

Serious Life Magazine just published it's March issue yesterday and Kayleigh's Story is a feature in this issue. Last months issue had over 700,000 hits, so Aimee and I are ecstatic about the lives we will be able to touch and with Kayleigh's story and God's word this month. If you have not read the magazine, click on the photo above or click here: Serious Life Magazine

I wanted you to know about this FREE publication as it is a very high quality magazine and I know every one of you will really like reading it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (www.riggsfamilyblog.com). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues.



Kayleigh is doing great, although we may have an issue brewing ahead of us. Kayleigh's eye doctor came in to do a four month follow up on her eyes. Well, from his thoughts, he feels that Kayleigh has "little" or "No" vision. When Aimee and I heard this, we were dumbfounded as Kayleigh reacts to our movement, and she even goes cross eyed when something is too close to her face. There is something no right and this can not be true. So the doctor is going to come back and do another test on Sunday and dilate Kayleigh's eyes this time and do a more in depth testing. I believe they are already going to schedule an MRI shortly after that around the beginning of next week to give us more answers. So please pray this is not as bad as he made it out to be.

We are still waiting to hear back on the reflux/aspiration tests to determine whether or not Kayleigh will need the G-tube and Nissen procedure. I will be sure to update everyone as soon as I can on that.

Kayleigh has been practicing on her bottle lately and is not being very successful. However, she did take the most she has ever done last night, which was only 5 ml's. I really think that she is not hungry and is just not that interested in taking the bottle, but I could be wrong. It is no rush and we'll just take it a day at a time. Kayleigh has speech therapy working on her and PT/OT coming in throughout the week to work on her development.

Other than that, Kayleigh is doing great. The doctors are changing her machinery to the take home machines such as her feeding, respirator, and medication. This way we can familiarize ourselves with the machines before we take her home. Aimee and I changed the trach yesterday by ourselves, so we are getting more comfortable with doing that.

For all of those who sent us gifts in the mail or donations, thank you so much! We are trying to put together thank you notes, but please understand that we have been swamped in work or at the hospital when we are not updating you all on here. My new job is taking up a lot of my time, so I will not even be able to post but ever so often. I appreciate your understanding and we appreciate your love and support so much.

Everyone has been so wonderful and we are so blessed.

God Bless,

13 comments:

Brent Riggs said...

Adam & Aimee,
Thanks so much for the kind shout out for the magazine. We loved having your story in the issue.

Thanks so much for keeping us all updated about Kayleigh, for having Abby's badge on your blog.

Blessings,
Brent (Abby's Dad)
Editor, Serious.Life Magazine
www.seriouslifemagazine.com
www.riggsfamilyblog.com

Anonymous said...

I'm glad things are starting to go a little smoothly. Please be weary about what some of the doctors say. Get a second opinion on her eyes. Your family and your precious little girl are always in my prayers and thought. I wish I could have met you when you were in Oklahoma, I was just a skip away. Good luck with everything. Kisses and hugs to all your kids.

Val said...

I pray for Kayleigh everyday. I'm sorry the doctor has caused more worry upon your shoulders, but I do believe anything is possible with GOD. I look forward to any updates on her. She's such a beautiful girl and has touched my life in a way I thought was never possible. I thank you for that. God bless.

The Carpenters said...

Wow...the take-home machines? Just another glimmer of hope that HOME is in sight!!! Way to go, Kayleigh!
Praying that the doctor is wrong about the eyes, and that any fault in eyesight can be corrected.
Thanks for taking the time to update us through this blog. We know your time is valuable and long for our updates on our Miss K. :)

Anonymous said...

Freeman's:
I am so glad to hear little Miss Kayleigh is doing wonderful. I am going to sign up to receive the magazine, it sounds great. I will be praying for Kayleigh's eyes and about the next procedure that may or may not take place. I know God never gives us anything we can not handle. You faith in him and Kayleigh prove this day in and day out. You two are awesome and Kayleigh is so fortunte it to have you two. I know it has to be hard keeping up with all the posts and updates but I appreciate you two doing so. I feel like I am apart of your family and I haven't even meet you. :) I am contuining to pray for the donation going on and pray that God will move in this. I will donate Friday on payday to you. Thanks so much for sharig this miracle that has touched me to so many ways.

The Pyrat Family said...

We wer told that our 27 weeker was blind and deaf. I knew that he could see me and hear me because he reacted to me. so I just talked to him and got close to his face when I did. and the next Dr. appointment they cinfirmed that he had ROP, but it was not as severe as they had found in the NICU. when he was 6 months old, I was told he was completely deaf. 1 month later he said his first word! LOL>> and he has not stopped talking since.. that was 5 1/2 years ago. and he has great vision and is starting to read and write. medicine is science and science does not have all the answers, only the means to find them. trust God and your parental instincts!

jlwgator said...

What would have caused her to lose vision?? Definitely get an opthalmologist, not just an optometrist, to examine her. We just had our daughter checked for the first time. It is not as difficult as it sounds to determine if a baby has good vision or not, but you need the correct specialist to do it. Good luck and please don't abandon your blog here.

Danyele Easterhaus said...

amazing stuff there...and i have to say that i'm befuddled about the vision. praying for quick resolution of that as well. you guys are doing great! congrats on being in serious.life. the riggs rock it hard...awesome fam!

Stephanie said...

Praying that the eye test is successful and they are able to figure out what's going on. Seems odd that they would just now figure that out especially since she reacts to you and Aimee.

Glad to hear she's doing well otherwise. Keeping you all in my prayers.

elteescat said...

There's no way she's blind! I've seen tons of pictures and video of her and I swear she's looking at stuff!! I still don't want her to get the g-tube or the nissen! I was also thinking that maybe she isn't hungry enough to take the bottle. Maybe they could cut off her feeding for a few hours and see.

Jennifer said...

Praying for good results for another eye exam. Kayleigh has surpassed so many hurdles and has reached so many milestones thus far....Believing, hoping and praying that she will reach so many more. Grow Kayleigh..grow.

Hugs & kisses,

Jen said...

Just wanted to give you another resource to check into for when Kayleigh gets home..... NC Early Intervention Services (http://www.ncei.org/ei/itp.html)

This program would serve Kayleigh and your family until she turns 3 (when they would transition her services to the school system). You submit a referral and an Interim Service Coordinator typically gets the process rolling with necessary assessments by speech therapists, audiologists, occupational therapists, developmental specialists, physical therapists, etc. They can also get Kayleigh set up with assistive technology. And the best thing these services are provided free to those eligible. An ongoing service coordinator will help you with IFSPs (Individualized Family Service Plans), making sure everything is going the direction that is best, and helping you to find additional resources in the community all the way through her transition point. All services are provided in your home. It is definitely something to look into.

My son went through the program in a different state and it was great.

Cindy said...

I thought I had read about your blog before. Wishing you all the very best.