Caroline’s Thoughts…

A day in the life of a TeSelle.  Monday, February 2, 2009.  Greg left for work at his usual time around 6:20 a.m.  Today he was taking the train because one of our cars has been in the shop getting something with the transmission fixed.  He had been taking the train for a week now.  I was going to sleep in a little bit because the boys had off school today but after Greg left I couldn’t go back to sleep.  I got up and turned on the coffee pot and was checking my emails.  It was 6:40 a.m.  Normally, I would have my first cup of coffee and have some quiet time to myself before the kids woke up, check the weather and get the breakfast table ready.  Not today.  The door bell rang.  Now, if you have ever heard our 1950s doorbell, you know it makes your heart jump a little because it is very loud.  I’m not kidding.  When it rang this time, my heart jumped A LOT!  Who is ringing our doorbell this early?  I was almost a little upset because I knew all the kids would be up after hearing it.  My first thought was it was our neighbor Rudy with an issue at his house or something.  I never thought it would be Greg when I peered through the window.  Now, my heart is really pumping.  I opened the door and he said, “It’s not going to be a good day.”  He was grasping his left arm with his right arm and leaning over in pain.  He told me in short sentences that he was attacked by a German Shepherd and that he needed to get to the ER.  He laid down on the floor to keep from passing out and I immediately got on the phone and called Karrie to come over to take care of the kids so I could get him to the hospital. I will let Greg tell his side of the story and the details of what happened.  This was not what we expected to happen on this day.
A day in the life of a TeSelle:  Your husband was attacked by a German Shepherd as he was walking to the train station.  As he was defending himself, he was knocked down to the ground and was trying to brace his fall and broke his arm.  His radius near his wrist is shattered to pieces and it will require surgery.  The surgery needs to be soon.  The couple that owned the German Shepherd took the dog immediately to the vet and had it put down.

Today is the surgery.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please also pray for our kids, especially the boys.  Most of you know that Gunnar had a crippling fear of dogs.  So bad that he wouldn’t want to be outside if he saw a dog walking by and if he was outside, he would run inside at the first sight of a dog.  He wouldn’t want to go to his friends house for a playdate if they had a dog.  He didn’t want to walk around the neighborhood and trick-or-treat.  Just last summer, he conquered this fear.  Now, we are forced with the reality that what we have been telling them isn’t always true.  We have been telling them that dogs bark at you to say hi.  We put our hand out if they are on a leash with their owner to smell your hand.  The reality is, that there are some dogs out there that have an intent to harm.  Greg crossed it’s path yesterday.  We will have a family meeting to discuss what happened.  Pray for our words to be full of wisdom.

No Comments | In: Family | | #

We have endured one of the hardest things our family has had to face thus far in our life. And we’re only half way through it – Eden was in a spica cast for 57 days. Now she’s in a brace for 2 months, or longer. There has been a resounding phrase that many have said to us, and perhaps I said myself in the beginning too…”the good thing is she’s young, she won’t remember this.” As a parent, I hate to see my kids suffer or hurt. I’m sure if you are a parent, you think the same way. If you aren’t a parent, you have perhaps had those thoughts about your loved ones. We do not want them to be in pain or to suffer. Do we? However, isn’t it during the painful moments that we learn the most??

I want Eden to remember. I will share with her what we, as her parents, had to decide to do for her. In order for her hip to be fixed, we had to give her to the doctor to break her and cause her to be in pain, temporarily, to fix her. She is too young to remember any of this – the pain she feels or felt those first few weeks, the uncomfortable feeling of being in a spica case, the sponges baths, the crazy diaper changes, the crying that starts as soon as we pull into the parking lot at the doctor’s office, and so much more. I do want her to know how much we loved her to allow this to happen. I want her to remember how much her brothers loved and cared for her and prayed for her and brought our family closer together as we prayed for her each day. I want her to remember how much her relatives and friends cared for her and prayed for her healing and recovery. I want her to remember that so many gave her gifts of love and encouragement and pink stuffed animals and blankets and meals for our family. I want her to remember. That’s why we took pictures and videos and journaled. That’s why I saved a part of her cast. I want her to remember….so I will never forget God’s love and faithfulness.

Caroline

No Comments | In: Family | | #

Hey Friends,

Just a quick update on Eden.

As many of you know, we have been taking Eden to a couple doctors, and gotten some x-rays, etc to see what / if any problem she was having with her left leg being shorter than her right leg.

Here is the latest info…

We took her to a pediatric orthopedic specialist today in Joliet today. Dr. Moran.

After some additional x-rays, and an evaluation, it was pretty clear that Eden’s left hip is actually completely dislocated. It has been dislocated since birth. It’s called Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip, or DDH.

Because of Eden’s age, an open reduction of the hip is required. In other words, she will need surgery. Surgery is scheduled for October 7th at 7:30am.

The procedure will take about 1.5 to 2 hours to do. The doctors will make a 6 inch incision and clean out the hip socket and re-locate the femur into the hip socket.

Fortunately, Dr. Moran has worked side by side with the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon Team that invented this surgery for many years.

We feel comfortable with him, his team and his experience.

Eden will then be placed in a cast for about 6-8 weeks. This plaster cast will be from right above her knees to her lower ribs. It’s called a Spica Cast.

After the cast is removed, she will then be fitted and placed in a special brace for an additional 8-12 weeks. While she is in the cast and brace, she will be unable to walk or crawl, and unable to fit in normal strollers, car seats, etc. Special car seats, etc will be required.

After her casts and braces are removed, we will need to do some physical therapy to strengthen her muscles as we re-teach her how to walk, run, etc.

We are talking about a 5-6 month process.

A challenging time is ahead for the TeSelle family.

Your prayers and help are requested.
Thanks ahead of time.

Greg and Caroline TeSelle

No Comments | In: Family, General Life Stuff | | #

since we could not escape the slow going thaw of the winter tundra of lemont this year for spring break, we had the boys make a list of things they would like to do for spring break. each day we are crossing off those things on their list. well, most of them. we couldn’t do the cruise or the trip to disney world this time. maybe next year. maybe. anyway, the ones that could be accomplished we are having fun with them…until our family bowling outing yesterday.

it all started out just fine. we got our lane and our shoes and started the process of getting ready to bowl! then…..
1- greg smashed his finger looking for his bowling ball – couldn’t control the bleeding for a while.
2- stone didn’t want to wear his bowling shoes and had a mini-tantrum
3- the computer wasn’t working so we had to manually keep score (taking bowling in college 14 years ago paid off – sort of)
4- stone rolled his first ball down the lane and it went so slow that it stopped before it hit the pins.
5- gunnar, tygar and stone proceeded to walk down the lane to try and get stone’s ball.
6- eden is putting up a big fuss watching all of this from her stroller.
7- we get 3 frames of bowling done, and they tell us that the computers are now working, and we get to start all over!!
8- we finally take eden out of the stroller to let her stretch her legs but of course she doesn’t want to sit on my lap and watch, she’s ready to roam around.
9- greg gets a work phone call that he has to take but of course it’s too loud so he has to walk to the lobby to hear.
10 – it’s my turn to bowl, but greg is still on the phone so i have to straddle eden on my left hip, and bowl. i just about sprained my ankle on my first approach. not easy to bowl holding a toddler.
11- after every ball that the boys roll down, you have to push the reset button because their ball isn’t going very fast.
12- thankful for the bumper rail!
13- pizza and drinks come! and a chicken ceasar salad!
14- greg is still on his phone call.
15 – standing up, cutting chicken with one hand while holding a toddler and feeding it to her.
16 – stone drops his pizza on the floor.
17 – stone drops a piece of chicken on the floor.
18 – finally greg is back.
19 – we finish 10 frames of bowling. that only took 1 1/2 hours.
20 – while we were getting our shoes back on, stone decided to pick up the strip of chicken that fell on the floor and eat it. he finished the entire piece before we realized it.

anyone want to go bowling with us next time???

No Comments | In: Family | | #

I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve written on here. Sorry for any of those faithful ones who have been checking the blog!

All of the kids are doing great and summer is in full swing. We have a some fun times together – bowling a few times, playing outside with our new sprinkler, having a birthday party for Gunnar (he turned 7 on 6/8), lots of laughs…one the other side of the spectrum it has been hard saying goodbye to our dear family friend Karrie who moved to Wisconsin the end of May. We all miss her alot, especially Stone! Another challenging thing has been these crazy 17 year cicadas! My kids have a love-hate relationship with them. One minute they are picking them up and playing with them, the next they are running away screaming because one of the cicadas flew in their face! It’s funny most of the time! And Gunnar, the one who just turned 7, has a fear of dogs. He’s ok if the dog is on a leash, and there’s a leash law in this town, but it seems that most people walk their dogs without a leash or there is a dog that is loose and is just running around. If Gunnar is outside, it seems like there’s always a loose dog running around. That has been somewhat challenging. Anyone have any ideas on how to help him get over his fear. I can’t believe we even thought this, but we discussed getting a dog to help him. I’m not sure if I have the energy to take care of 4 kids AND a dog! Maybe one that’s an adult and already used to things. We’ll see. We’re still mulling over that one.

Eden is doing great. Growing up quickly. She will be 5 months old on the 24th. She loves to have the boys entertain her and she is quick to smile when they talk to her. She enjoys being outdoors and she loves to be carried around. And dressing her in cute little girly clothes is fun too!

Greg and I are going on a little weekend get-away the end of this month. Karrie offered to come back and watch the kids for us. I am planning the trip so some of the things will be a surprise to Greg, which is fun. He’s always the one that surprises me so now it’s my turn. We will just be going into downtown Chicago – so not too far away but far enough:) After we go, I will post a little update on what we did.

Some more fun news – Courtney and Justin are getting married in September. Most of you probably already knew that. Yesterday she asked me to be a bridesmaid! Very honored and excited for that. Now I have a little more incentive to lose some weight. But I did learn yesterday at church that power without desire doesn’t do anything. I believe my level of desire has increased! I don’t believe that my physical appearance will be the same as it was when I was 18, but the desire is to be healthy. That’s what I’m working on, taking care of myself, eating right and doing some exercise – yes, you read that right, exercise! I joined a gym here in Lemont and take a class where I’m lifting weights and getting some cardiovascular exercise in there as well. So, faithful readers, ask me how it’s going every now and then!

I suppose I should be going. It’s hotter than Atlanta outside so the boys want me to hook up their sprinkler. We will be dodging the cicadas and running through the sprinkler. Come on over!

No Comments | In: Family | | #