Kyle

November 2009
Kyle started high school this summer. He loves it. He has already gone through a string of girlfriends in the past three months! Kyle is not only doing well socially in high school but also academically. While he is enrolled in a special day class, Kyle takes several regular education classes as well. Kyle's eagerness to participate in classroom discussions and his willingness to complete his homework is a big step forward for Kyle. Kyle was definitely ready to make the transition from middle school to high school. Kyle has taken the increased responsibilities and required maturity very well.

June 2009
Kyle did very well this school despite being home taught almost the entire school year last year. Kyle's attitude in school has made a huge turn-around. In fact Kyle got a huge award for being an excellent eighth grade student. Every time I met with Kyle's teacher this year, she had nothing but praise for Kyle's academic growth and his leadership skills. This was such good news as it was a rough start for Kyle when he first arrived home from Florida. From the very beginning we were dealing with his pressure sores and I had to be the strict mother demanding that Kyle spend his summer in bed. What a way to start with a new family and what a way to start being a teenager. Those were definitely difficult times.

Since Kyle has healed from those initial wounds Kyle has become a much more pleasant person to be around! I love hearing about all of his progress in school. Socially, Kyle has friends at school and in the neighborhood. He is not nearly as angry and he certainly not unhappy anymore. Next year Kyle will be attending Fountain Valley High School. He is very excited about being a high school student!

November 2008
Kyle is finally back up in his wheelchair again. Since his pressure sores are completely healed, Kyle no longer has to stay in the Clinitron bed 24-hours a day. Kyle does have a specialized mattress now and must get off of his bottom periodically throughout the day. Kyle is happy to get back to school and back to the swing of things. After school he enjoys hanging out with his friends. On the weekends Kyle like to be outside. He especially enjoys riding his bike with his brothers and his friends. Now that Kyle is back up in his wheelchair he is looking forward to all of the holiday activities that he missed last year. Its good to see Kyle out and about again. We hope he will never have such severe pressure sores and have to go through that extremely long healing process again!

September 2008
Kyle's adoption was finalized this month! Since Kyle had to remain in bed we were able to complete the adoption via phone with the court in Florida. We had to be sworn into the court by a local Notary Public. Afterwards the entire proceeding was done over speaker phone! This was a new experience for us. In any case we are thrilled to be Kyle's "forever family." Kyle was excited about the adoption too although without the actual court experience it was a bit anticlimactic. We did celebrate with Kyle's favorite meal (double crust cheese stuffed pizza and rootbeer) and two of his favorite presents (large Lego building kits). Kyle also celebrated his 14th birthday this month. Since he is still stuck in bed while his pressure sores heal, we had the his party at home. Kyle's favorite gift was an X-Box system with several games. Kyle hopes to be out of the Clinitron bed and back in school by the new year!

July 2008
Kyle has spent the past couple of months in a special Clinitron bed in our livingroom. Kyle has been in this bed following surgery he had to close on one of his pressure sores. The Clinitron bed maintains a flow of air and a sand-like substance in the mattress which allows Kyle's wounds to heal without any pressure that would normally happening in a regular bed or wheelchair. Kyle has seemed exceptionally happy being stuck in bed. Probably he hasn't complained because he has his game system and lots of toys. The other kids are spending a lot of time hanging out with Kyle which has also been nice. In August Kyle will have the other wound closed and will again spend two-three months in the Clinitron bed to allow the wound to completely heal. After his wounds heal completely Kyle should be back in his wheelchair and able to do most of the activities that he was doing before his surgery. We will be happy when this wound care will be finally over for Kyle and for those of us providing his care.

May 2008
Kyle finally has surgery to close one of his pressure sores. He is presently laying a special bed at home for the next six weeks as the closed wound heals further. After this wound heals the doctor plans on closing the second wound. Kyle will then require another long recovery time in the special bed. We have the bed set-up in the living room so Kyle can be in the middle of all of the family happenings. During his recovery time he is receiving home teaching from the school district twice a week. In between he has enjoyed watching movies and playing video games. The current challenge is to keep Kyle from sitting up in bed as it is best if he lays down on his stomach or his back for proper healing. We hope to be rid of these pressure sores once and for all by next school year. We know Kyle will feel better and have better behavior once everyone is able to stop nagging him to get out of his wheelchair and to stay off of his butt! Kyle is looking forward to participating in some of his favorite activities like swimming and bike riding, once his wounds have healed completely.

February 2008
Kyle seems to be settling in to the swing of things over here. His attitude has been much improved as of late and he is even eating better. Kyle continues to need to be off of his bottom most of the time which is the most frustrating to Kyle. We have ordered a gurney so that Kyle can be off of his bottom but still have some freedom of movement. Luckily our house has large enough hallways for a gurney to get through. With the gurney Kyle will also be able to move around the school and resume attending his elective class and PE class. Kyle has also started counseling which we hope will help Kyle work through his issues of abandonment and loss. Overall it is great to see Kyle begin to realize that we are his "forever family" and we want to help him work through his anger issues and we especially want him to have a nice and enjoyable childhood.

November 2007
Kyle is still dealing with some pretty severe pressure sores on his coccyx area. Kyle had been treated for these same sores while in Florida. Since joining our family we have had consultations various professionals on how to best treat these large wounds which tunnel down to Kyle's bone. Ultimately, the professionals agree that the best solution is to keep Kyle off of that area 100% of the time. With no pressure in that area the healing time might take eight months to a year! Much to Kyle's complaining, we have made every effort with Kyle to keep him out of his wheelchair and off of his butt. As you can imagine this is a very difficult task as we are dealing with a hyperactive 13-year old boy! Kyle is frustrated and angry much of the time. There are days when he goes on a hunger strike or destroys property. Even our best efforts aren't enough to heal those large wounds quickly and permanently. It looks like Kyle may need surgery to close the sores, followed by several months of bed rest. The doctors would prefer not to do surgery as this type of surgery can only be done a few time over the course of Kyle's lifetime. On the other hand, asking Kyle to stay in bed for a whole year would almost be considered cruel. Currently Kyle is out of his wheelchair at school and most of the time he is at home. A final decision on the treatment plan for the wounds will be made after the new year.

September 2007
Kyle seems to be happy to get back to school. He is a sixth grade student at our local middle school. Kyle enjoys going to the neighborhood school with his friends and brothers. Everyone walks (or rolls) to school together in the mornings and back home together in the afternoons. Kyle says he likes getting himself to school rather than taking the school bus. Kyle and Paul are in the same class which is nice when they can work together on their homework. Besides Kyle's day-to-day activities, three days a week Kyle participates in an adaptive rowing program at the Long Beach Marina. Kyle says he loves rowing because he feels "free" on the water and away from his wheelchair. Hopefully, Kyle's sores will heal and he will be able to go swimming again as well!

August 2007
Kyle arrived home finally, June 23 2007. Since that time he has clearly become a full-fledged member of the family! Kyle's adjust has gone very well. Thankfully his previous foster parents prepared him well and the transition has gone better than expected! Kyle is getting along with his new brothers. He is sharing his toys and his adapted bicycle making him a big hit around here! Kyle has been involved in several day camp programs this summer and has also spent a good deal of time at Disneyland. Which, according to Kyle, is much different that Disney World. Kyle is disappointed that he can't go swimming this summer due to some healing pressure sores, but we are making sure that Kyle has an exciting summer anyway. Kyle will start 6th grade at the local middle school in early September. We are thrilled that Kyle is finally home!

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2006

We meet Kyle (11) several years ago at Give Kids The World in Orlando Florida several years ago.  He was traveling there with his foster family while we were there as part of a "Make-A-Wish" travel trip.  We enjoyed a meal with Kyle's foster family and got to spend some time with Kyle.  We told the foster parents that we really enjoyed meeting Kyle and should he ever become available for adoption to please pass along our name and number to Kyle's social worker.  A few years passed and our family grew.  We still thought about Kyle but had lost track of him when he moved to another foster home in Florida.  

About two years ago, out of the blue, we heard from Kyle's current foster mom.  She said our phone number was given to her when Kyle was placed with her family.  The foster mother told me that the county was ready to start looking for a permanent placement for Kyle.  She asked if we were still interested in adopting Kyle and we said "yes!"  Since that time Kyle's foster mother has worked tirelessly to help facilitate Kyle's adoptive placement with us.  

As soon as the ICPC (interstate compact) paperwork is completed Kyle will be allowed to join our family.  We do not know how long that paperwork piece will take but we are keeping our fingers crossed that Kyle will be able to join our family before the start of the 2006-2007 school year.  In the meantime Ann made a trip to Florida to visit with Kyle and continues to call him several times a week.