Support

I don't even know where to begin on this topic. We have so much support, and it comes from every single direction we look.

When we got Matthew's diagnosis, we spent a lot of time on the phone. I felt like we were spending more time talking to people about Matthew than we were spending with Matthew. So, we started looking at other ways to get the word out. You can't possibly call every person that would want to know. And everyone wants details, which you get really good at reciting. Finally, we decided that we better put something on Facebook. Together, we devised a basic message, and put something similar on each of our walls. Then, the support exploded. Friends started prayer chains, and people who don't pray were still thinking of us, and "sending good thoughts out to the universe" for us. It's amazing how people of such diverse belief systems and backgrounds, in so many places all around the world can come together for one child. People we didn't even know were rooting for us.

We had constant visitors at the hospital (which was a really super good thing, because whenever people weren't there, I would start to lose it). My husband's bosses came, and people from the daycare, and family like crazy. Everyone brought presents and food.

While we were at the hospital, people were feeding the rest of our kids, and dropping in to tell them hi so they didn't feel alone. People took them out to lunch, and to movies to keep them occupied. Family came and scrubbed our house from top to bottom, making sure all the surfaces were sanitized so that it would be safe for Matthew to come home. They did all of our laundry, and I was WAY behind on it! They took it home with them to work on it.

Word spread fast among our ward family. People were praying for him constantly - they still are. I have never felt the power of prayer like I did in the hospital, and it's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. My ward fasted for us. We had an old friend drop in on us, and he is not a religious person at all, but when we explained about the sacrifice of fasting, and how it makes you stronger in spirit, he said he'd go the rest of the day without food too, for Matthew.

I met another mom in the laundry room at the hospital, and she was amazed that I wasn't a huge mess. Haha! I was just in shock, I think, because I really lost it later, after we went home. This mom was a member of a support group on Facebook. There are 100 members right now. It's been incredibly important to help me get through this, because I have 99 other moms who are going through, or have been through the same thing as us. They are a wealth of knowledge and have these amazing, huge hearts.

We joined Hope Kids, which is an organization that does special family outings for really cool events to give the kids something to look forward to - so they'll have hope and fight harder. There are a lot of other organizations out there with similar purposes, and I'm in the process of finding as many as possible to sign up for them. I can see that it will give my whole family something to keep us strong together.

What really amazes me is that we asked for almost none of these things. People just creatively found ways to help us. What's more, there's no possible way we would be getting through this without so much support. We would be in a living hell, but instead, we're inspired and strengthened, and we're getting through it one day at a time.

Thank you. Everyone. Thank you for all the creative ways you have found to help us. Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. Thank you for the support.

Thank you for loving my little boy!