Great News!

Riley had 4 different doctor appointments today and they all gave us great news! We saw her general surgeon first to talk about the swelling in her left arm and she said that it is not nearly as serious an issue as we thought and that we can treat it simply with massage and special pressure garments (instead of an aspirin regiment or a procedure) and that as Riley grows the scaring from all the IV's and such will become less and less an issue. Then we saw her gastroendonologist who we had been going back and forth with about if Riley needs a surgical procedure to help with her reflux issues but he said that he is so pleased with her growth and health right now that he is happy to put off the surgery and we might not need it at all if she continues to do so well. Next we met with Riley's nutritionist and found out that Riley has improved greatly with her weight gain and is now nicely within a healthy range and we are able to put her on a more complex (lower cost!) formula. But the best news of the day was from her pulmonologist. He was very pleased with her growth and respiratory health and said that Riley is now strong enough for us to try out a valve for her trach that will allow her to speak! Since Riley was immediately intubated at birth and then her trach was put in when she was only 1 month old, we have actually never heard her make a sound before so we are ecstatic at the thought that we might soon be able to hear her cry, babble, and eventually talk! We are amazed at God's faithfulness and the fact that Riley continues to reach milestones we once thought of as unreachable.

Riley update

Riley has been having trouble with her left arm lately. It has been swollen off and on for about three weeks now and her doctors still aren't sure why. We have run a few test but can't find the cause. Right now the best guess is that due to all of the central lines and IVs that have been put in that arm in the past that she might have some scaring that is causing circulation issues and therefore that arm is not draining well. We are taking her in to see her general surgeon soon to run some more test and hopefully get some answers. Please join us in praying that this be resolved soon and easily.
But other than the issues with her arm, Riley has been doing really well. Her lungs are nice and healthy and she continues to show improvement in many areas during her therapy sessions (all but those involving her left arm - the swelling has been causing her difficultly lately). One thing her doctors did say is that most of the time these type of things just go away on their own so we hope that will be the case and we will have good news to post soon.

Thanks for your prayers and love!

Much love,
The Turners

FAILED Christmas card photo shoot

Thank you Aunt Whitney & Uncle Nic

We are so unbelievably blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends and family. We want to say a BIG thank you to Riley's wonderful aunt Whitney & her new uncle, Nic, for their recent donation. In lieu of favors at their wedding, Whitney and Nic made a donation to Riley's special needs trust fund. Whitney and Nic we love you and we are so thankful for both of you. Your thoughtfulness and generosity on your big day blew us away. Riley is so lucky to have an aunt and uncle like you guys. THANK YOU!

Much Love,
Becca and Josh

Here is a picture of the new Mr. and Mrs. Moerings :)