Blake's New Kayserbetten bed

We absolutely love love love Blake's Kayserbetten bed.  For over 30 years Kayserbetten has been providing beds to special needs children both in the hospital and in many homes.  We were so excited to learn about these beds.  We talked with our insurance company to order our bed well it turns out that Kayserbetten is not a preferred provider.  So they referred us to WS&S equipment who did not carry any Kayserbetten beds. Sad :-( They wanted to set us up with a regular hospital bed.  We were talking with our Doctor, Dr. Sampson-Fang, and she told us that Blake medically needed the Kayserbetten bed and no other bed would work. Dr. Sampson-Fang did all the required paper work for WS&S Medical equipment to order this  awesome bed.   It was delivered by a semi truck it took 4 adult males to haul in all the boxes and about 5 hours to assemble this bed.  To learn more and order your own Kayserbetten bed go Here.

This bed is ergonomically desingned.  Making is easy for Blake to operate.  One of our favorite features is the bed can be lowered 13" from the ground that is low enough so Blake can just climb into bed all by himself :-)  It can also be raised to a level that Chad can reach, remember Chad is over 6 feet tall, without straining his back.  Awesome!!!!

Blake has never slept better then he does in his new Kayserbetten bed.

Aleah and Blake going for a ride. We love our Kayserbetten Bed. 

Move to Las Vegas

Becky, along with her mother and friends pack and organize the whole house. When our Ward (Ely 3rd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Came to help load the truck they were very impressed with Becky's ability to pack and organize. It made loading the truck so much easier. Our Ely house is listed with Desert Mountain Realty, Inc Go here to see the listing. It's a really nice house. Put the word out if anyone is interested in a beautiful 3 bedroom house in Ely.

Here is our Nephew Dallan super Strong.  Thanks for all your help buddy. After the truck was loaded the Relief Society came and shampooed the carpets. They helped Becky repaint the entire house and get it ready to sale. 

Chad knows a guy that works at Access Securepak®.  Access Securepak® is a program designed to allow family members and friends to send packages to inmates.  Chad asked them to save some boxes for their upcoming move.  Chad said. "It was really nice because they had the same size boxes for all their stuff." Thank you Access Securepak®. 

Our new neighborhood. 

Our new beautiful 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house. 

Thanks again to all the Ely 3rd Ward, friends and family for all your help with our move. And thanks to Curtis Child and his family they helped us unload our stuff in Las Vegas. It was very helpful. In our new home each room has a vibrant color. So when the Child's were helping us unload the truck, we would ask them to put the box in the purple or blue room etc. Made unloading the truck and organizing the boxes easy.

Chad is super excited for his new job at the Prison.  He has already settled in quiet well.  Becky has interviewed with the school district and is awaiting fingerprints and her background check to come back before she signs her contract.  Life in Las Vegas is going really well.  We absolutely love our new house.


It was so sad to leave all of our friends and family in Ely, NV, but we are super exited for our next adventure here in Las Vegas, NV. We are especially excited for all the extra health benefits and opportunities for Blake.

Benefit Dinner

It's been a long time since we have updated our blog.  This will be the first of four new posts.  A lot has happened in the last two months.
  We are going to start off with the Benefit Dinner held June 15th for our Family.  The Event was held at the White Pine High School. Members of our community put together this amazing benefit dinner in just over one month.  There were countless donations and time that went into the planning and carrying out of this benefit dinner. People were very kind and extremely generous. Even businesses through out our town were extremely supportive. Garnet Mercantile ran a special if you purchased a ticket to the Smith's benefit dinner you would get a % off that days purchase. Everyone was so nice and so very helpful in putting out the word and helping to sell tickets.  The local news paper,"The Ely Times", interviewed the Smiths.  You can find the interview article Here. The local radio donated some air time to advertise for the benefit dinner.   They sold 500 tickets, and just under 400 people attend. AMAZING!!!!! We were blown away by the turn out. Our community did all of this for us even though they knew we would be moving to Las Vegas.  We are in awe of this wonderful community. The dinner they served that night included: ham & pineapple, green beans with bacon and almonds,baked potato's, and for dessert they served homemade cupcakes.  Yummy! Chad said, "It was all Fabulous."
That night they had two auctions; a kids auction, and an adult auction. The kids auction had bikes and toys of all kinds.  The adult auction had everything from furniture to vacations.  A local store donated a recliner, we had two vacations one to Montana, and one to Maui. We had some local artist that donated some art, and lots of wonderul handmade crafts. Connie Muir played the piano and Cathy Tuker was the DJ/Announcer. It was UN believable!
We are just so grateful we have been able to be apart of such a wonderful, kind, loving, and supportive community.
We felt so loved and appreciate all the support, time and effort that went into this amazing benefit dinner. Thank you all so much we are going to miss you!
Chad, Becky, Aleah and Blake Smith

Our awesome loving supportive Community.

Some of the items being auctioned that night.

Some Yummy Cupcakes

Surgery Cancelled

As you all know Blake was scheduled for Surgery Wednesday June 6th for his Nissen fundoplacation. Tuesday June 5th Becky, Blake, Aleah and Grandma Fisher headed to Salt Lake City for Blake's Surgery.  Tuesday afternoon Becky and Grandma Fisher took Blake to the Radiologist who changed Blake's GJ- tube (because it was leaking). They also took an x-ray. After the appointments they went back to the hotel. Blake wasn't doing very well. He had a fever, lots of secretions, and a really high heart rate. Becky decided to take him to the ER around 7:30pm. Blake was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) around 1:30am. Blake had a collapsed lung. The Doctor said,"it was the most deflated lung Blake has ever had." :-( Naturally with those symptoms and diagnosis Blake's Surgery was cancelled.

Finally sleeping.  It's been a rough day/night

It was a rough night but Becky and Blake managed to get a little bit of sleep.

Blake hanging out. What a cool Dude.

Blake Perked up a little bit on Thursday he was up and moving around more. They moved him to the main floor Thursday afternoon.  Becky said, "He had more color in his face." That is wonderful news.
 

This cute little Bug is so worn out. 

Blake was discharged from the hospital on Friday June 8th. We are not sure at this point in time when the surgery is scheduled. Maybe the end of the month. It's going to be a little tricky since we are moving the beginning of July.  But we will keep you all up to date as the information become available.

Blake's new equipment.  The Cough Assist

Blake can cough a little bit but not as much as normal.  He needs this awesome new cough assist to help him remove secretions even when he can't cough. Sweet!

***Note don't forget the benefit dinner for Chad, Becky and their family Friday, June 15 at White Pine High School.Contact Amanda Hilton hilton_amanda@hotmail.com   775.293.0117 for more info
***The Smith's made the front page of the Ely Times.  Be sure to check it out. http://www.elynews.com/news/article_ac22a948-b0f6-11e1-9b1d-0019bb2963f4.html Very cool!!!

Riding the "Zoo Train"

Blake and Grandma Fisher riding the train.

One of Blake's favorite signing time songs is "Zoo Time"  Go here to watch a little clip.  The Fisher House had some ticket to Hogle zoo.  It was  a perfect opportunity to take Blake on his very own "Train Ride."  Blake was still a little worn out from his last hospital stay; however, he was able to ride the train a couple times and just loved it.  He had a wonderful time.  We just love making memories with this little guy.  It's so nice to see a smile on his face.  And special time with his Grandma Fisher.
Can you ask for a better day? Out of the Hospital, get to ride the Zoo Train, and going home.  AWESOME!!!

Signing Time + Blake = One Happy Boy!

Blake loves Signing time!

Signing Time is a program that teaches American Sign Language. Blake just loves watching Rachel from Signing Time.  Rachel is one of Blake's best friends. (Some say even his "Girlfriend") Blake watches signing time every time he has a treatment (So several times a day).  He loves to sit on his bike and enjoy his friend Rachel as he watches and learns how to sign. Rachel makes it fun with lots of music and pictures. If you haven't heard or seen Signing time you need too.  Go here to the signing time website.  It's awesome!!!! We have all learned some American sign language thanks to signing time.  Highly Highly recommend it.

We have some very exciting news.  Blake gets to meet Rachel!  She is going to come see Blake when he has his surgery.  Yeah!!! Also, we just got tickets to go see Rachel June 22. She is doing a concert in Ogden.  Very excited! We can't wait.

Chad's in the Hospital

Aleah snuggling her Daddy in the hospital.

Chad came home from work Wen June 6th with some horrible pain in his chest. Chad said, "It feels like glass was cutting him." He had a headache,and a fever. Chad hadn't been feeling well for a couple days. Becky suggested he go to the Emergency Room. Chad was admitted into the hospital Wednesday afternoon. Chad was diagnosis with "Pancreatitis."

 Pancreatitis is a disease in which the pancreas becomes inflamed. The pancreas is a long, flattened, pear-shaped organ located behind the stomach. It makes digestive enzymes and hormones including insulin. In pancreatitis, the digestive enzymes attack the tissue that produces them.

The hospital ran a couple test.  They did an ultrasound to see if Chad had any gallstones in his gallbladder, thankfully that test came back normal.  Yeah!

Chad's blood sugar has been out of control.  They have diagnosis him with "Type 2 diabetes ". This means Chad has high levels of sugar (glucose) in his blood.  Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.  Chad as of now will not have to take insulin.  The main treatment for Type 2 diabetes is diet and exercise.

Chad is still in the hospital today Saturday June 9th. He is having a hard time keeping food down, he still has some pain, and a really bad headache.   Hopefully he can keep some food down and be able to go home soon. 

Please keep Chad and his family in your Prayers. 

Thank You!!!

Chad got home later this afternoon. Yeah.
The best medicine in the world... Aleah!