Reviving Landon's Blog

We have decided to, once again, begin posting to Landon’s Update Blog. (This is the original blog. The blog we started when Landon was first born. The COTA blog was discontinued after Landon’s transplant was completed. We will transfer the post from the COTA blog to this blog soon.)

First, let me explain why we stopped posting updates and why we haven’t been posting to it for several years. After Landon’s small intestine transplant, we were watching for any signs of rejection or for anything else that could go wrong. Landon continued to heal and to grow. There was no rejection and very few complications. We were content to just watch Landon grow. He was, and still is, so full of joy and boundless energy.

We wanted Landon to live as normal of a life as possible. A life free from hospitals, doctors, machines, and feeding tubes. That’s what we prayed for and that has become a reality. If you meet Landon today and you didn’t see all the scars on his body you would think that he is just a normal young boy, and he is.

We wanted to protect Landon. Every aspect of his life had been public for several years. After the transplant, we felt like we just needed to huddle around Landon and protect him.

We became selfish with Landon’s life. Many people had followed his story, prayed for him, donated money for his transplant, and helped to raise money for his transplant. Those people, you, invested emotionally in Landon's life. It hasn’t been fair for us not to share the results of those prayers and all the hard work it took to get the transplant for Landon. It saved his life. It couldn’t have happened without you.

We have decided to begin sharing as much as we can about his life and to begin posting regular updates to the blog. Landon might even begin making some post here himself soon. He will not talk about the transplant. He doesn’t like to hear us talk about it and doesn’t like to see pictures of himself in the hospital or with the tubes in his body. If I can get him to do it, writing to the blog might become therapy for him.

I have discovered that there is such a thing as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome after a medical crisis, such as what we experienced with Landon. We have begun working on a book about Landon’s life and his transplant. (I’ll write more about the book in upcoming post.) I have discovered that it’s very hard to write about some of the things that happened without crying, even though I know the outcome is good. Some days I just can’t do it.

Landon's grandfather - Eldon

P.S. - Landon recently had a broken arm and he wanted to show you his cast. His arm is healing nicely and the cast has since been removed.