A Glimpse

Dear Life,

Kalani and I worked together to create a video that shorts a very small amount of what he has felt and been through in the past year.  He wants to be able to show other teens dealing with mental health issues, that their lives are worth getting help.  He is such a huge example to me!  He is not afraid to share his journey in the hopes of helping others.

Last year, Kalani was unable to go to basketball, unable to practice with his team, unable to even watch their games.  He was unable to go to school or leave the house.  He was trapped in fear, and anxiety and depression took a toll.  He gained over 30 pounds in three short meals, he wasn't sleeping and he was not acting like the same kid I was used to.  He was either angry or sad.  Every night he turned into a very angry person who couldn't be around anyone.  He couldn't sleep in his room, he slept in mine.  He started hearing voices, and seeing people that didn't exist.  He thought he was crazy and thought he had to go to the hospital.

As a family, we were determined to help him while he stayed at home.  We got him into a special outpatient program through the county, and he was assigned to a psychiatrist and therapist.  It took many many weeks for Kalani to trust his therapists.  He was given medication to help with the depression, anxiety, and voices he was hearing.  It was a very scary few months, and honestly, we never expected him to play basketball again.  We were so sad that our boy had to fight so hard to just live, and often times the voices told him to quit. He got so tired.

He had a major breakthrough three months ago.  He was able to talk about something that has plagued him for years.  He is still working through this, but he was able to complete a semester of school, a session of summer school, and summer basketball.  We are so proud of him and all of his hard work.  He still has work to do, but he's in a completely different place than he was last year.

He created this short video to show a little of what he has been through. Thank you for everyone who supports our family, for those that have been kind and supportive to our boy, and to those that share his journey in hopes of helping others.  #ItTakesATeam

#BeyondLimits with Spina Bifida

Dear Life,

9 years ago, our lives were rocked when we walked innocently into an unltrasound office to determine the gender and overall health of our fifth child.  As the tech rolled the camera around my quite large belly, she was very quiet.  And she spent a lot of time doing things.  I didn't really think anything of it, as I was really concentrating on my very full bladder.  Finally the doctor came in, spent even more time looking at things, and then said the words that we were not prepared for.  "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the fetus (yes...not a baby) has Spina Bifida, Hydrocephalus, two club feet, and possible other issues.  Due to the severity of the birth defect, and the lateness of the pregnancy, you don't have that much time to terminate your pregnancy."
Well.  OK then.
We left the office obviously in tears and horribly scared.
9 years ago there wasn't the amount of social media there is today.
We made a huge tactical error.
We went on Google.
If you are told you have a medical issue, don't go on Google.  Just don't do it.
We had to wait a whole weekend to meet with the OBGYN.  
She also offered us termination as a "solution".
We told her in no certain terms that we wanted our son.

Time went slow during my pregnancy.  
We met a lot of doctors and did a lot of planning.
But there was a lot of unknowns.

FINALLY, on December 20th, 2006 an amazing gift was born.
Luke Kumakalehua Jensen.
Best Christmas Present ever.

He was born with a huge hole in his back.  
We could see his spine.
It was very scary.

He needed surgery right away.
Six hours after he was born, he was whisked away in an incubator.
His back was closed and a shunt was placed.

We were originally told he could stay up to a month in the hospital.
He rocked it even back then and left in six days.

Over the next three years, we were very focused on his health.
Physical and Occupational Therapy twice a week.

Multiple feet surgeries.
His first 8 months of life he lived in casts.

3 shunt revisions.
Multiple hospital stays for UTI's. 

We thought this was going to be life for Kumaka.
Something changed when he hit four though.  
He had his hardest surgery to date. 
12 hours of hip surgery.
12. 
Hours.

The next day he needed a blood transfusion.  
He was in a spica cast for 6 weeks.

And then the weekend he got out of the spica cast he broke his right femur right above his knee in HALF.
And ended up in the spica again.
But a very special person came to visit.
Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham, the first every wheelchair athlete to land a backflip and frontflip in a wheelchair.
Kumaka has watched his YouTube feed for years.

Aaron came to hang out with the kid in the giant green cast and we thought that was the coolest.

From that meeting, Aaron told Christiaan "Otter"Bailey about Kumaka.

We met Otter that year as well, and when he saw Kumaka's 35 pound wheelchair he was determined to get him into a better chair.  
Early the following year Kumaka was allowed to borrow a 14 pound chair.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE.
NO ANTI TIPPERS.
NO HANDLES.
Better figure it out!  
And he did.  
That summer he went to his first Life Rolls on "They Will Skate Event" in Venice California.
He had a BLAST.
That was the beginning of Kumaka realizing HE CAN DO STUFF and it was pretty cool.

We started taking him to the skate park pretty regularly.
He got braver and braver.

Then he went to a surf event with LRO.
He loved surfing.

One more thing he loved.
And something he can do with his dad and his brothers.
It was amazing as parents to watch Kumaka grow and learn and literally FLY.
Then this summer we did something outside of OUR box.
We let him go to summer camp.
Like he went away for a week without us summer camp.
He's eight people.
He cried.
My heart broke.
And then he came back a different kid.
A grown up kid.
A more independent kid.
And I knew.
He's learning the best things.
He's learning to be a kid.
At the skate park.
At the beach.
On the basketball court.
At camp.

It's not about that diagnosis.
Yeah, we have to manage it.
But it's now about how he LIVES IT.
And let me tell you,
HE LIVES IT.