Whoops! Forgot the Camera

I know... you are probably checking the blog to see a cute picture of Cate riding a horse, because that is what I told you I would post. Well, I am sorry to say that I forgot to bring the camera to her session so no cute horse picture. In lieu of that picture, I found this picture of the kids from the summer when we went on a hike. It's not so great of me, so please try to focus your attention on the cute kids.... Check back soon!

A Father's Love

These pictures were taken on Prudence Island, RI. Pam and Chuck just bought a great little house on the island and we celebrated Pam's birthday there over the Labor Day weekend. Just wanted everyone to see the smile on her face and the love of life in her eyes. Look closely and you can see your prayers working! Please keep them coming... Since you all have started your prayer chain...

We moved a Boston doctor to tears with how much potential she has...

We started seeing a great new "behavior" doctor who miraculously just started at a practice just down the street that normally has a long waiting list and she has 1+ years experience working with kids who have suffered a brain injury...

We also miraculously got into a Sensory Integration Therapy program that usually has over a 1 year waiting list because they all of a sudden had an opening...

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

Please check back soon for pictures of Cate riding - she starts horseback therapy this Saturday!

Thank you for your Prayers - Cate Update.

Thank you for your prayers...

from the Fleury Family

August started out as a very hard month for our family, with some pretty devastating news about Cate's injury and the challenges that still lay ahead for our family. As we did 5 years ago, we reached out to our friends and family to pray for Cate and help us to find the strength we needed to keep fighting the fight for our family.

And again, just like 5 years ago, things have started to fall into place. What we needed 5 years ago were the right doctors, therapist and other specialist to guide us. Your prayers have sent those people to us again! We had a wonderful meeting with some fantastic doctors at Boston Children's Hospital's Brain Trama clinic. Cate's story brought a tear to one of the doctor's eyes and she looked at us and said that Cate has so much potential and that she is so pleased with how strong she is and how much she has accomplished so far. She, and her team, have pointed us in a few new directions and we have now added a Behavioral Neurologist (a doc who specializes in how brain trama affects behavior and what things can be done to help the brain neurotransmitters work in harmony again), a Behavior Therapist (a child psychologist who specializes in the unique parenting skills required to help kids like Cate work through the challenges her injury presents), and last but not least, a Sensory Integration Therapist (don't ask me to expain, it is so confusing I'm not sure I understand it yet) to our ever expanding team of angels working on Cate's behalf!

Keep checking in with the site and we'll be sure to keep everyone posted as to how these new docs are working out and post all of Cate's exciting new improvments!

Thanks for your love, support and prayers,

God Bless,

The Fleurys

First Day of School

First Day of School!

Ben is, sort of, holding up 3 fingers for 3rd grade, and Cate is holding up 1 finger for 1st grade. Everyones first day went well -especially Mommy :-). Ben REALLY likes his new teacher - stating emphatically when he arrived home that "She ROCKS!" and that she is soooo smart and cool. We took that as a sign of good things to come this year. As for Cate, we are just glad that her teachers survived the first few days and that, remarkably, they actually still think she is cute!!! Most are VERY impressed with her basketball shot!

But our most exciting news of the day was that.....

BEN LOST HIS FIRST MOLAR!!!

Yup! He was in the Nurses' office the first day of school because he lost a molar, which he is proudly displaying in the picture above!

He then decided it was necessary to post notes for the tooth fairy so she would be sure to know where to find his tooth and leave the required treasure.

Note over his bed.

Note posted at the front door.

Then to add to all the excitement, he lost the exact same molar on the other side the next day. Two teeth in two days! It does not get more exciting than that for a 3rd grader!!

p.s. Did you know that the going rate for molars is $3.00! Wow - it was an expensive 2 days for the tooth fairy!

August - Prayers for Cate

Dear Lord - Thank you for blessing Cate with the miracle of life. We thank you for all you have done for her and we thank you for the blessing of having her in our lives. After hearing this most recent, and painful, news about the damage done to her frontal lobes, we reach to you again. We ask for your extra blessing on this very important part of her brain, and we pray that she will grow into the beautiful girl you have planned. Amen.




Dear Family, Friends and friends of our family and friends,

Five years ago this month, Cate beat the odds and came home from the hospital. Her future was uncertain, but her survival was nothing short of miraculous. Despite a very bleak medical prognosis, she lived, and has moved on to talk, walk, sing and dance her way back into this world. We know that she beat the odds because she has had wonderful medical care, the support of family and friends, but more importantly she had an amazing number of people praying for her those first few months. We believe in the power of prayer – we have seen it’s results.

Yesterday, our family met with a Neuropsychologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Our goal was to learn more about how Cate’s brain works, and what we can do to help overcome the behavior challenges that seem to be getting in the way on her path to recovery. The doctor confirmed, with a voice that cracked with emotion, Cate IS a miracle and, based on the significant damage done to her brain, her progress is nothing short of amazing. However, no matter how hard she tried to make the meeting upbeat and positive, the prognosis is, once again, very bleak. The frontal lobes of Cate’s brain have been very badly damaged. As these lobes are the last to develop, and become increasingly more important in our lives, it will become harder and harder for Cate to filter the world around her and learn even simple things like socializing, playing with peers, and learning math.

So we find ourselves in the same spot we were 5 years ago, a very bleak medical diagnosis that our hearts refuse to believe. We have the medical team in place, same as last time, but we are once again asking for your prayers. In honor of the month she came home, we hope that you could take a few minute each day in August and say a little prayer for Cate. We ask that you please thank God for all the amazing things he has already done for her, but if possible, could he please send a little extra blessing to those ever important frontal lobes.

We ask that if you are comfortable with sending this along to other friends and family we may have missed, please do so… the more people praying in the month of August the better. Whatever you feel comfortable doing will mean the world to us.

Thank you and God Bless,

The Fleury Family
Audra, Dave, Ben and Cate

We've Entered the World of Blog

Okay - So we have been enjoying Keith and Tanya's blog spot to see what our cute nephew (now a big brother) is up to, and so I have decided to conquer my fears and attempt to set one up to keep whoever is interested, up to date on the comings and goings at our house here in CT.

I'll start off by trying to successfully show a cute picture of the kids on Christmas morning showing off their new Wii...

Okay - that seems to have worked so here are a couple of pictures of our new neice (Pam, Chuck and Michael O'Brien's new addition) and nephew (Keith, Tanya and Andrews bundle of joy)

Welcome Madelyn Suzanne O'Brien

Born: December 14, 2007

Sooo Sweet!

Welcome Jonathan Henry Ayotte

Born: February 4, 2008

Handsome Young Lad!

So Long for now... Keep checking and we'll try to keep adding!

Audra, Dave, Ben and Cate