Update from Martin ~ Merry Christmas

Gunnar's second Christmas ~ 2004, as he was two weeks old on his first one.

Luke 2:7-16

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn

And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened

And the angel said unto them, do not be afraid; for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David there is born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord

This will be the sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened
which the Lord has made known to us

So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 10:28
And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand

I Tim 2:6
Who gave himself a ransom for all

Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Hi everyone,

Christmas is but a few days away and the passages quoted above are why we have the reason for the season.

Yesterday was another milestone for us at MD Anderson. We had three appointments and spent the morning at the hospital. It was a very productive and encouraging time.

We saw my dental surgeon who worked on my "new mouth". It was ready for us to try out. The purpose of the obturator is to cover the cavity in my mouth where bone and tissue has been removed and give me the ability to speak, swallow, eat and drink. The new mouth required some modifications after we got it in. It has three hooks that attach to the teeth in my upper jaw. Once we had it in, I was able to speak with a lot more clarity which was a tremendous boost.

My surgeon also gave me a compliment that was overwhelming. He is a US Army veteran who fought in Vietnam when he was a young man. He told Traci and I that from time to time he will look at a person to determine if he would have wanted them in his squad. He told us that I would have made his squad. That compliment from a Vietnam combat veteran was very meaningful to me and one that I will always remember.

Our next visit was with a specialist in the speech pathology dept. to make sure that I could swallow. My swallowing capability had been dormant and there was concern that I would have problems with food or drink going down the wrong pipe. The good news there is that everything still works. However, I will have to retrain myself to eat and drink because of several challenges. I have lost some ability to control some of the muscles in my lips which is creating a challenge.

I also cannot completely seal my mouth so food and liquids have a tendency to take some different routes. This is and will be a source of amusement for the family at the dinner table. I do know that I will win the "messiest eater award" each and every time. To handle this challenge, I will have to learn how to eat again with my new mouth.

I am also having to learn how to chew again as my lower jaw has been dormant for so long. The lower and upper jaw do not line up and so I am having to remind my jaw to line up and guide the teeth to actually meet and accomplish the chewing assignment. It sounds simple, however, at the moment it is not as easy as one would think.

I was given the green light to proceed with eating and drinking and the goal is to be able to sustain myself within three weeks and thus have the gastric tube removed.

Our final visit was with the pain management dept. to review what medications I was taking for pain and what changes we should consider. My physical therapy regimen each day of forcing the lower jaw to the opposite side of the surgical area is creating pain. Add to that the healing process with nerves and tissues reconnecting and that sometimes creates a raging inferno in my mouth.

We ended the day by eating at the hospital. I had mashed potatoes with country gravy (delight), a little macaroni and cheese and some Italian noodles. I also had one of my favorite deserts, a chocolate parfait. What a milestone!

I will be going back to MDA for some additional checkups for the next few weeks and to remove my gastric tube. I will have another progress report at a later date.

Thank you for the ongoing prayer support and also for words of encouragement that we have received. We are also grateful for the logistical support that we have been blessed to receive as well.

We wish all of you a merry Christmas and that we can all be thankful for the greatest gift we will ever, the gift of salvation which is why we celebrate Christmas.

Semper Fi

Martin, Traci, Gunnar, Winston and Tessa