The Doctors - Jessie's Episode on Thursday Sept. 11th

http://www.hemifoundation.org/


Oh, I almost forgot...Jessie's appearance on The Doctors will be on Thursday Sept. 11th. http://www.thedoctorstv.com/

You know, I just realized that it is going to be on September 11th...what an awful day. We will all have plenty to pray for that day.

So, Jessie has about a 20 minute spot on The Doctors. I haven't seen the final results, however, during taping, it seemed that they were doing an incredible job on education and awareness...Of Course on TV, you never know what the final product will look like. The Hemispherectomy Foundation should get a good plug as well.

Jessie was pretty quiet during taping. I think that the studio audience freaked her out a little. Heck, it freaked me out a little too.

The show premiers tomorrow (9/8/2008), but Jessie's episode is on the 11th and will be seen all over the US and world.

Here are a couple of the times that I found for our local stations. It will be shown in ALL cities across the US
Dallas / Fort Worth - The Doctors will air on KTXA - 21 at 5:00PM CST.
Baltimore - The Doctors will air on WMAR ABC2 - at 4:00PM EST.

Let us know what you think about it when you see it if you have a minute to post a comment. We struggled with whether this was the right way to go with this, and prayed often. Our final decision took place way back in June (The day after Jessie's surgery) after talking with our family and was based on the goal of making the public aware of Rasmussen's Encephalitis, hemispherectomy surgery, and The Hemispherectomy Foundation.

Good Night and God Bless,

Cris
Google

Ranger's Game Tonight

http://www.hemifoundation.org/

We had a special day today. We were invited out to watch our Texas Rangers take-on the Boston Red Sox. Our friends, Jamie and Melanie Adams (who were also co-chairs for the Pickin' for Premies" event on Labor Day) invited us out to their suite at the ballpark in Arlington to share a fun day of baseball and meeting some really neat and fun people.

The Rangers lost to the Red Sox, but after what happen to Tom Brady today, well I guess the New Englanders needed some good fortune.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't see much of the game, as I was mesmerized by all of Jamie's cool sports memorabilia and talking to the people who were there watching the game.

About the 4th inning, the Rangers TV people came by and interviewed us, so if you were watching the game, you saw Jessie and the family on TV. It was nice to tell everyone, how much we appreciated the Rangers organization, and about Saltalamachia and Wilson visiting Jessie when she was out in Baltimore for surgery. The Rangers are a top-notch organization, and Jamie, Melanie and Family are Top-Notch people. They work for many charities, and are real, compassionate, down-to-earth, caring people. Next time you see Jamie and Melanie out at the Aledo Atletic Youth Baseball Fields, or around Aledo, or Fort Worth, take some time to get to know them.

Here's the kids taking over Jamie's office. In one corner of the office, he has a signed guitar from George Strait, a picture of his family on Air-Force Once, and autographed picture of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach. Not once did he tell the kids "Be careful, don't touch that."

Here's Matt and I watching the game. The balcony overlooks center field, or you can watch the game indoors in the A/C.

Here's the family (Kristi's taking the picture) with country star Sonny Burgess. He was a guest of the Adam's today too, and a really nice guy who I enjoyed talking to. He was also one of the country stars who played the Pickin' for Preemies event last week. Super guy with a great heart. Check out his music at http://www.sonnyburgess.com/

If you get a chance, read about Jamie and his family in the August 2008 issue of Fort Worth Magazine. http://www.fwtexas.com/ . Get a chance to know one of Aledo's good characters.

Have a great week next week, and God Bless,

Cris

Brag Sheet - Look What Jessie Can Do !!!

http://www.hemifoundation.org/

Jessie has been working really hard for the past few weeks in Physical Therapy, and we wanted to show off the really cool things that she can do !! These do not seem like a big deal on first inspection, but remember that just 2 1/2 months ago, she was COMPLETELY hemiplegic (she couldn't move ANYTHING on her left side)

This is Jessie catching a ball. She is beginning to use her left arm to help catch a ball. Isn't that cool ! The left side of her brain is starting to learn how to move her left arm to do things like this.

This next video is important, because kids play on the floor. To be a kid, you have to be able to get down on the floor. Jessie has only been able to do this for about 2 weeks.

2 weeks ago, she would have fallen flat on her face. This is progress, because now she can get on the floor at school and criss-cross applesauce and listen to the teacher like the rest of the kids. Play games on the mat, and walk around on all floors and play games like "pretend your a doggy". Which is the next video.

She is actually putting some weight on her left hand here, and bending at the wrist. All again controlled by the left-hand side of the brain. Listen to her say "This is boring!" :-)

OK, this last one is my favorite, because once you get down on the floor, you HAVE to be able to get back up, and sometimes there is nothing around to pull-up on. She has only been able to do this for a couple of days.

Being able to get down on the floor, and get back up again is part of being a kid....this is huge!!!! Next to learning how to walk, in my opinion, this is the next most important step in rehab.

Praise to God for each and everything that Jessie learns to do!! Thanks to Him for all the wonderful medical people and rehab people that help Jessie move forward!

Cris

2008 Pickin' for Preemies at Billy Bob's Texas with Charlie Pride

http://www.hemifoundation.org/

Today's blog isn't about Jessie, but about Jake and Josh, two of her older brothers. Jake and Josh are twins and will turn 9 in December. They were born 10 weeks (or almost 2 1/2 months premature and both weighed right at 3 lbs. They weren't much bigger than a rat when they were born, and kinda resembled one. We'll, they're OK now, but we attended an outstanding event tonight that took our focus off Jessie and helped us to remember Jake and Josh and what they went through...and made them feel special. The spotlight was on them tonight.

Here is what they looked like in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).

This is Jake. He was in better shape than Josh, but required caffeine shots to keep his heart pumping. At one point, day one, the nurse ask me to put my hand in the incubator and massage his chest while she went and got more caffeine. Talk about getting a quick relationship with God...


This is Josh. He had the same stuff as Jake, only Josh couldn't breath on his own. Neither had full lung function, but Josh required a ventilator to breath for him. Kristi and I didn't think that Josh was going to make it. He did.

So, fast-forward almost 9 years. Here they are tonight at the 3rd Annual Pickin' for Preemies acoustic jam to benefit the D/FW March of Dimes (Pre-mature babies). Of course they're not happy, because we wouldn't let them play video games on the way in to Billy Bobs. Oh, did I tell you there fine now...just normal, well mannered, straight A student, athletes, that are just like every other ungrateful little 3rd grade boy. Do they have ANY idea what they put us through??? The little turkeys !! Oh well, we love them.

This is the "Why didn't I get to play video games" look.

"Matt and Jessie...You aren't helping !"

The Pickin' for Preemies event was GREAT, and we felt honored to be there. Our friends Jamie and Melanie Adams were the Chairs this year, and they did a SPECTACULAR job! Way to Go Melanie and Jamie!!! Their son Jared was premature as well.

The entertainment was all popular country acts from around the US, and one fella from Canada who held his own. The Entertainment included :

Charlie Pride - Yes, THE Charlie Pride, Stoney Larue, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, Brandon Jenkins, Sonny Burgess, Corg Lund, Jamie Richards, Cory Morrow, Roger Creager, Brandon Rhyder, Blue Edmonsdson, Bart Crow, Bobby Duncan, Casey Donahew, and Josh Abbot. The event was hosted by local country radio personality Justin Frazell, who also had two premature daughters.

We saw lots of Aledo folks there, including Marcus and Shannon Gleaton, and Tracy Tomlin, and Jay Stringer (who did all the printing for the event). We met the Fambrough's and lots of other Aledo people out to show their support for The March of Dimes.

Kristi talked to Charlie Pride's daughter...well, she asked her "Have you seen my Dad?" and Jake and Josh got to hang out on stage some. It was a great time for a great cause. We can't wait until next year.

Here are a few more pictures:

The man, himself, Charlie Pride.

A few of the boys up there having a good time and playin' some good music.

The twins trying to sneak some camera time on stage.

You turn your back for one minute, and THEY become the entertainment!!

God Bless all the committee members, volunteers, entertainers, donors, sponsors, and attendees. This is a great cause, and we felt blessed to be in attendance.

Cris

http://www.hemifoundation.org

On Sunday, we had a special invitation to go to a church service in Azle to help welcome a little boy named Logan home from Detroit, where he underwent a right hemispherectomy. (Just like Jessie). Logan and his mom, Mary, go to The Abby Church in Azle, and we were welcomed and felt blessed to be there.

Logan, had a stroke when he was only 2 weeks old, and has been living with constant seizures since then. After surgery, he is now seizure free.

We had quite a representation from the Hemispherectomy Foundation. Kristi, myself, Caren Jennings, and Laura Rasnick. In addition, we had our kids in attendance.

It was such a special day, as we had two miracle kids together to worship and thank God for the blessings that He has bestowed upon our families. It was touching to hear Mary and her friends as they explained their journey and how similar it was to ours and Jessie's. Everyone was very thankful for what the Hemispherectomy Foundation had done for them, and we were thankful to be a part of Logan and Mary's life.

Carn and Laura are going to help the church with fund raising ideas for Mary and Logan to help with the mountain of doctors bills that they encountered in their hemispherectomy journey to Detroit this summer.

This is Mary Sylva, with Kristi and I.

Logan and Jessie with matching scars.

Logan loves horses.

Jessie and Logan

Rid'em Cowboy Logan.

What a special Day!

Cris