REAL Salt Lake Tickets!!

REAL soccer has a program called "Heroes Among Us" where they honor certain people who have done great things. They are honoring the UFA and especially Ladder 104, for everything they have done for Gage. This will happen BEFORE the game on SATURDAY APRIL, 7TH. So go early! They will take Troy, Gretchen and Gage out on to the field with OUR hero firemen and give a short tribute to them. 
To purchase tickets for this game go to the link below. $5.00 of every ticket purchase will go to the Gage Thompson Fund!
www.realsaltlake.com/tickets 
SCROLL DOWN TO ENTER THE PROMO CODE BUTTON, click on it and enter GAGE

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!! THANK YOU REAL SALT LAKE

Arrival

Typically, newborn babies sleep. A lot. Their soft eye lids droop. They nestle into whomever is swaddling them and drift. They yawn and give in to the exhaustion within their little growing bodies.

Except for our little Gage.

After gulping his first breath Gage was burrito wrapped and placed into his mothers' loving arms where he stared. At everything. With wide-eyed, slow-motion curiosity, Gage would cautiously look around the room and gaze at his parents smiling faces, drinking in every moment, memorizing every person. Gage would reverently study all that he could. Barely blinking he stayed awake almost the entire day, an astounding seven hours.

Knowing Gage now, this small detail of his birth proved to be a fundamental part of his personality. It's almost as if he knew from the minute he focused his eyes that life was worth living.  He evades sleep, thinking that he may miss out. He is eager to participate, experience and learn. He showed us early on that he was ready. He was taking everything in. And, in true Gage fashion, he wanted to get going.

I think Gretchen and Troy have been running to keep up ever since.

Love the Slideshow

Let's talk about cousins for a minute.

Sometimes the strings that all tie us together as families get overlooked or taken for granted. We forget how woven our lives are to each other. How affected we get when one of our fibers is hurting. And I think it's quite clear how all of Gage's cousins have reacted to the news that one of their littlest (but biggest tease to boot) has a brain tumor, has to have surgery, and will take a while to recover. 

I saw the processors in my kids kick into gear. Questions spilling out of their mouths before they can even take a breath of air to ask more. But the first question and the most important of all, "Is he going to be ok?"

When we are threaded together tightly, we need to know how to help fix what is hurt. And part of that healing is watching, being and loving Gage. His cousins have rallied around him. To shyly say hello. To make him giggly with toilet jokes that only cousins can get away with. To hold his hand at school. And to share with the world, through a slideshow, our love for our Gage.

Senekah, Gage's 14 year old cousin, made this slideshow for Gage. She used the song I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts. Troy and Gretchen's song to their kids.  And while this song is strong and meaningful to Gage's parents, I think the sentiments bleed through to his cousins as well.

It hurts my heart

To see you cry

I know it's dark

This part of life

Oh it finds us all

And we're too small

To stop the rain

Oh but when it rains

I will stand by you

I will help you through

When you've done all you can do

And you can't cope

I will dry your eyes

I will fight yoru fight

I will hold you tight

Gage: 

We will stand by you and hold you tight. 

All of us.

Love, 
Your Cousins.

Recovering

Gage and Reese

Things you do when recovering from brain surgery:

1. Get out in the sunshine. 

2. Go for (wobbly) walks. 

3. Visit your friendly neighborhood firemen. (of course)

4. Tease your little sister. (Laughter is the best medicine after all) 

5. Get plenty of hugs and cuddles.

6. Get plenty of visits from family and friends.

7. And most importantly, whatever you do: DO NOT take a nap.

Real Life Hero

Gage (what a stud!) with the Amazing Dr. Walker

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” -Elizabeth Stone

Part of the parental job description is to simply 'make it all better'. Vague, I know. But try and count up the hours you spend kissing imaginary 'ow-ies', snuggling away scary monster dreams, hugging broken hearts and band-aiding small boo-boos. That is a huge category in the parenting handbook: To be the Master Fixer. And you welcome the job. Because no one can love your baby like you can. No one can calm their nerves like your touch. No one can soothe their spirit like your voice. It's the gift we receive and embrace as mommies and daddies. And though there are times when we pat our little ones on the head and push them into life we still relish those tender moments when our child seeks our healing heart.

Before letting her little Gage go into surgery land, Gretchen qualified one thing. 

"Do you have children?" She asked Dr. Walker. 

He quietly nodded his head and softly said, "Five." 

"Please. Just treat him like he's one of your own." She plead. 

With that request, Dr. Walker, through tears and hugs, committed to give Gage the best care possible.

It is a helpless feeling. To have to ask someone else to kiss your baby's 'ow-ie' all better. It goes against nature to send them off into a sterile room with unfamiliar faces. Your arms ache from the absence of their hug. Your heart quickens your breath with worry. Someone else is doing your job. Fixing a hurt that you can't fix. And you can only pray that they will know the language of your child. That they will treat your child as one of theirs.

In Gage's case, Dr. Walker filled in seamlessly for Gretchen and Troy. He worked miracles, operating not only for 12 hours with Gage, but other surgeries in between. His stamina, determination and optimism lead to Gage's successful outcome. He was not going to give up until that tumor was gone. Dr. Walker meekly entered the waiting room post surgery with tears in his eyes stating, "I have some great pictures to show you!" Pictures of their son, tumor free. 

One can't help but be awe-struck by the talent and skill these doctors, surgeons and nurses share. They put their physical needs on hold and give of their time to rescue these little babies, like Gage.


To Dr. Walker and his surgical team: Words cannot fully contain the amount of gratitude and love that fills our hearts. Thank you for tirelessly working for Gage's well being. Thank you for putting your arms around our family and fixing the 'hurt' we couldn't. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for healing our family. Thank you for treating Gage as if he was one of your own.

It's a Boy

A little back story:

Gretchen's side of family was in Jackson Hole for a fun filled family vacation in early June of 2007. The plans were to go horseback riding, float down the Snake River, take numerous strolls through downtown Jackson Hole.  The entire family stayed in a quaint little cabin just off main street with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents together in a 4 bedroom space.  It was that trip that Troy came sauntering in to the front room wearing a T-shirt that said, "World's Greatest Dad" announcing the forthcoming arrival of Gage.  Wahoo!  The family celebrated with hugs and tears at the announcement.  

Gretchen started feeling some uncomfortable pain which soon turned unbearable and was rushed to the ER.  Gretchen's abdomen was bloated and she was writhing in pain.  Left to the night crew at a small hospital in Jackson Hole, Gretchen and Troy bounced from doctor to doctor as they hurried frantically to diagnose her.  They were notified by doctors and nurses that her pregnancy was in jeopardy and that she may be ectopic.  It was finally discovered that Gretchen was bleeding internally due to a ruptured cyst on her ovaries.  The doctors took her to emergency surgery where they raced to save her life and the life of her little Gage.  The entire family scrambled to our knees in prayer that Gretchen and her baby would be saved.  That night, Gretchen lost 1/3 of her blood but thanks to a wonderful skeleton crew of medical staff, they were successful in keeping both of them alive.  

Gretchen and Troy have not taken one minute of Gage's precious life for granted.  Since the declaration of his arrival until today, Gage has been teasing the family and pulling at our heart strings.  Reflecting on this short life of Gage, he has been a unifying force for everyone that knows him and his wonderful parents.  Through Gage, we have grown closer as a family and more keenly aware of how precious and fleeting this life can be for all of us.  

The miracle of faith, the miracle of prayer and the miracle of family can be summarily declared as the miracle of Gage.  We are very grateful for our little Superhero!  

Snapshot

Captain Gage.

Get better Buddy.

You Can Be Super Too

Gage and his cousins, Senekah, Izabele, Oliver & Soyer

How goofy would you act for that smile?

Angels

These guys are miracle workers.  (aka wicked awesome.)

So, Gage has these incredible friends. 

They are the firemen at L104 in Holladay. 

These guys are Gage's real life superheroes. He loves to visit them, take them cookies and walk by their station everyday just to check it out. 

Well, these Men have in turn "adopted" Gage as their own and have time and time again left us in tears and disbelief at their generosity and love toward Gage.

Tonight was no exception. They made a personal visit to Gage's house to welcome him home from the hospital, to show their love, and to give him a real fireman badge. 

There is nothing that makes Gage smile bigger than these guys.

To quote Gretchen: 

"The most AMAZING men we know. Thank you for giving us our boy back. We love you all so much and are so incredibly grateful for you!!"

We all LOVE you L104..Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Brown Eyes and a Grin

Super Gage, leaving the hospital

Home.

For Gage, it was one of the only words he could mumble during his six day stay at Primary's. 

Diagnosed with Cerebellar Mutism, a depressing side effect of surgery that can last anywhere from 6 days to 52 months, Gage has retreated into his own mind. Communication is felt through hand squeezing, mothers intuition and reading those beautiful, intelligent and mischievous brown eyes. 

Gretchen, Troy and Gage have been here before. With his previous brain surgery, Gage experienced Cerebellar Mutism. He hasn't been talking. He does cry and whine to communicate discomfort. But, we have been able to get some grins and giggles with silly antics and jokes.

For now, the family is healing. Their home is full of snuggles and super hero movies. Gage is being gobbled up by his friends and family. He is being watched over by his L104 Firemen. His countenance is calm. He is working on getting better.

We have been privy to the quiet miracles that occur when an outpouring of love holds a family together. We have no doubt that through you, not only Gage but his whole family has been lifted and comforted. You have helped to heal.
And we will never forget that.
Thank you. Times a billion. 

Update

Gretchen, seeing Gage after surgery

Receiving the news. THE TUMOR IS GONE!!!

Gage conquered his 12 hour surgery yesterday, resulting in 100% removal of the tumor. 

Let's just read that sentence again.

I know, right?!

After the first grueling 8 hours, the surgeons took Gage to the MRI room with fingers crossed, hoping they got all of the tumor. Unfortunately the MRI showed that they had only scratched the surface, removing a measly half. The good side to it was the surgeon now knew the exact location of the tumor and the best way to attack and remove it. So, at that time they took Gage back into surgery for another 4 hours. During this tedious surgery the tumor reared it's ugly head, swelling up like a mushroom. With some precise cuts the surgeon extracted the whole tumor, giving Gage back his life and back to his loving parents.

Gretchen and Troy are beyond relieved, as is palpable by the above photos. The outpour of love, concern, well-wishes and genuine compassion has fueled their hospital stay. Gretchen told me today through exhausted eyes that she feels at peace and comforted. Troy is still in shock with the success of the surgery and the speediness of the recovery. Words cannot contain their gratitude for the healing power and divine love invested in Gage. We have felt your thoughts. We have seen your prayers in action. And we have been ridiculously blessed.

And then there's Gage: our jokester with a heart the size of the Atlantic. He is slowly waking up from the anesthesia. His nurses are removing IV's and tubes making Gage more comfortable. And although he still hurts, through a growling voice and uncomfortable eyes he lets us know how he his feeling, even if it is to say, "You're stupid, mommy."  or "Get me out of here."

Gage will have another week in the hospital to continue recovering. And then months of occupational and physical therapy to repair the damage brain surgery brings. This road may be a bit longer and somewhat bumpier but we have no doubt that Gage will conquer it.

He is, after all, a super hero.

Thank you, again, for your continued prayers, sincere concern and generous donations to this little family.
You have changed their lives.