Translate This Page To: Spanish German French Italian Portuguese Norwegian Brought to you From FreeTranslation.com Simon M. UPDATE: 7-18-09 Hey folks: I would appreciate your prayers for Simon on Monday, July 19. He will be having his 28th surgery. This one is for shunt replacement. Pray the surgery will go well without any complications. The shunt working properly is very important to keep fluids drained off his brain. God has always been faithful and we are trusting Him again for this need. Love, Gerry UPDATE: 5-2-06 Yes, things are going very well.  After a slump in school,  Simon is has all of a sudden picked up steam and doing great. . .lol Of course, we know it is prayers.  Pam just got accepted into an RN Nursing program with a 4.0 average. UPDATE: 12-6-05 Simon and Owen participating in the 2005 Oak Ridge Christmas Parade. Theme for Calvary Kids and Royal Ambassador's float, "Heaven Our Real Home." It was very cold and rainy, but fun has enjoyed by everyone. UPDATE: 11-5-05 Simon Mull is at Spina Bifida camp this week end in Kingston, TN.  Pray that it will be a blessing to him, that he will stay safe, will not get home sick or afraid.  He has always loved it before and I know God is present with Simon.   Missing him, Grandma UPDATE: 10-1-05 I would love for you to join me in praises to the Lord for all he has done in Simon's life.  We have gone through some very difficult times physically.  He has had over twenty surgeries not to mention other infections, etc.  He turned 9 years old June 24, 2005.  The biggest problem he has now is scoliosis that continues to worsen.  A body jacket is used to help him set up straight and have upper body balance.  It is not very comfortable for him, but he never complains.  The Dr. does not want to put a rod in his spine until he is 13 or 14 because it will affect his growth if done sooner.  Simon gets therapy at school and just recently started more intense therapy at Oak Ridge Therapy Center.  He thinks it is pretty cool that he gets to go for therapy at the same place his Grandpa goes for therapy following a brain hemorrhage that happened July 11, 2005.  Again, God proved to be faithful and has brought healing that has amazed the neurologist, the Patricia Neal Staff, etc.  We do not hesitate to say, "That is God."  Grandpa was in hospital for six weeks.  Of course, the therapists are crazy about Simon as is everyone that meets him.  He has a very friendly outgoing personality and is very comical.   The above picture is Simon "cracked up" over a Sponge Bob Square Pants cartoon.  It is his favorite and he can quote most of them by heart.  Simon is very smart and loves school.  He is in regular class activities with some special resource just because of the neurological problems that causes him to be slower than others.  Because of fine motor skill problems, his writing is not great, but readable.  We are very proud of his accomplishments and look forward to a great future.   October 7th, Simon and his mom will be flying to Orlando to swim with the Dolphins.  He is very excited about this because he loves Dolphins and swimming.  We have family that lives in Orlando so that will be an extra blessing to get to see them.   We have had several crises in our lives since our last update, but as usual God is faithful and has nurtured us through them all.  I praise Him so much for his comfort and care at all times.   Praying blessing to all of you, UPDATE: 7-31-04 Simon is doing absolutely fantastic. He has been all most a year since he has had to be in the hospital. During mine and Owen's prayer time, he say, "Grandma, lets be sure and thank God that Simon has not had to go to hospital for a looooooong time." This is words from a five year old. They both love school and can hardly wait to get there each day. Simon, Pam and Owen went to a Spina Bifida Seminar in Washington this past June. They loved that also and Pam learned a lot of things that will be helpful for Simon. The boys had day camp activities while Pam was in classes. I am still claiming that victory that you and I have been praying about for Simon. As soon as I can, I will send an update with pictures to put on his page. Thanks for continuing to be faithful in praying for Simon's needs and his family. It is hard to believe that he is eight years old now. Wow, God has been so awesome during all of those eight years. UPDATE: 4-25-04 Simon will not have to have surgery on his back at the present time. We took him to the orthopedic doctor last week for his yearly check. He wants to wait until he gets older. If they did the surgery to put two rods in his back now, it could affect his growth. They are going to make a different soft body cast that he can wear all the time for his 70% curved spine. Right now he has a hard body cast that he just wears a few hours a day. It is not comfortable for him. We are so thankful for the wonderful year Simon has had. We continually thank God for His goodness and His blessings on Simon. He is playing softball now and doing very well in school. He is a very active young man even with his handicap. Thanks for continued prayers and caring. UPDATE: 2-16-04 Here is a link to Simon's on-line album from his Breckinridge Trip. You may have to fill out a small online form to register if you are not an image station member but there is no cost/obligation. http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4287689539 UPDATE: 2-5-04 The Spina Bifida Association of Tennessee is flying Simon and Steve to Colorado Feb. 10 for a skiing trip. They will be gone for six days. Please pray that Simon, Steve and others who will be going will stay in good health and that the weather will cooperate. There are ten parents with Spina Bifida kids that will be participating in this event as well. Will send you pictures of the trip when they return. Can't you just see Simon and all these kids skiing down a snow covered hill with the wind blowing in their faces? WOW! Thanks, Gerry UPDATE: 8-02-03 Your prayers were answered. Usually a temp like Simon had last night leaves him very lifeless. He had the nurses and doctors in laughter the four hours we spend in the emergency room. Praise God it was not anything serious. He is being treated for a urinary tract infection. Due to cathing, Spina bifida children are prone to infections. We are so grateful for all that God has done to Simon's physical needs. Please pray that God will restore and straighten his little spine. He also has a shunt in his head to drain off fluids from his spinal. He is a very intelligent little boy, but needs continued prayer for his physical needs. He is paralyzed from waist done . . . but, hey, God can fix that with no problem at all. HE IS AWESOME!!!! Simon's Grandma Gerry UPDATE: 8-16-03 I talked with Pam and she said Simon is doing great. Gerry is out of town so that is why we didn't get an update on him. Pam said they never really knew what caused his temp to rise to 106 but he is over it and doing well. Thank you for the prayers. We don't know why it came but we know why it left....Elizabeth UPDATE: 8-01-03 Please pray for my 7 year old grandson who has spina bifida. He has a 104 degree temperature. Pray that God will touch him and make him well. Gerry UPDATE: 4-16-03 Praise the Lord and rejoice with us. Simon's orthopedic Doctor decided it would be best to wait until he is 10 years old to do the two back surgeries that we were anticipating happening in the next few weeks. The last time Simon saw the orthopedic doctor, he had 65% curvature, this morning they checked and he was down to 54%. . . 40% is considered severe. Praise the Lord . . .His hand is continually on Simon. Waiting will give him chance to grow because once the surgery is done, it will slow down his growth. Pray for research that is continueing to be done for this type of problem. A lot of children, especially Spina Bifida children have scoliosis real bad. UPDATE: 4-08-03 I just could hardly wait to share this with you today. I had Simon at my house last evening. When I went to take him home, I put him in his car seat and I did something to his leg and he responded as if he had felt my touch. . .I thought . . .like the Doctor said this is probably just reflex. I did something else adjusting him in his seat and I got another response from him. Could this really be happening? I hesitated a minute. . .no, it is just my imagination . . .but I felt led to check this out. Simon was in a position where he could not see my hands and what I was doing. I started pulling his toes and said, "Simon, do you know what Grandma is doing?" He said, "pulling on my leg . . I mean pulling my toes." Could this be God at work? OF COURSE IT COULD BE!!!!!!!! JOIN ME IN PRAISE AND THANKSGIVEING Gerry UPDATE: 3-28-03 We were able to visit with Simon today. He is such total blessing to be around. He was so happy and energetic. He named the planets for us and explained that Pluto was the smallest, said the pledge for us and sang for us. Then he worked with his grandmother on the computer to make his Dad a birthday card. He is very bright and learns so quickly. I was truly amazed. He gives so much love it just shines through him. It was the most wonderful visit. Simon has spina bifida but I believe that God will allow him to walk one day and we ask that you join us in that prayer. Thank you, Elizabeth UPDATE: 1-28-03 We are praising the Lord daily for Simon's good progress. He was fitted last week with new body cast and braces. He has scoleosis (spelling?? real bad. If his back does not straighten up, he may have to have a rod put in his spine. Hey, God can take care of that too. . .I know you are continuing to pray healing for Simon and I am still claiming victory in this also. I can hardly wait, but I know it has to be God's timing. Gerry UPDATE: 12-27-02 Here it is December 27th. What a glorious celebration we had of the birth of Savior. Simon recently had another shunt operation. This one has taken a little longer to get over that the one he had in August. With the Lord having His hand continuously on Simon, he has recovered from several surgeries over this past year. We have so much to be thankful for and praise God for always taking care of Simon and for giving us the strength to see him through all of his surgeries. He has had 18 surgeries now in his young six years of life. Two of these pictures are when Simon went to Spina Bifida Camp at Camp Montvale this past fall. He was not feeling well due to a really bad cold, cough and shunt surgery in August. However, being the trooper he is, he went on and still managed to have a wonderful time. Even though mommy had complete confidence in the camp staff, it was difficult for her to leave Simon for the week end with strangers (except for Dr. Preston Smith) who we knew would keep a close eye on him. The picture with the hats was Simon and his camp partner (one-on-one) They had met at a conference this fall that his mom and I attended the previous year. The hats was for "Hat Day" The picture with the greenery was for Spring Day. Simon was a tree. How fitting for this little man. He is as strong in his spirit as the biggest tree in the world. Each camp day had a special enphasis. Our next adventure will be next week. Thanks be to God and the Dream Connection, we are being flown to Disney World for a week. This has been a dream of Simon's for a couple of years. He had been one time and that is all he can talks about. After each surgery he would say, "Mommie, can we go to Disney World yet?" We are thanking God now for blessing this trip for Simon and his family. It has been a tough year. This little guy has so looked forward to this trip. Happy New Year to all of you and thank you so much for all the prayers that you have lifted up for Simon, our family and all of our Children of the Promise. I pray for God's blessings on all of our children and their families. It is so exciting to hear all of the prayers that are being answered in some of our children through prayer and especially since we had a special prayer service for each one here at our church. We are still in awe at what God is doing for these special children. If any of you have an opportunity to invite Elizabeth Ricard and Children of the Promise Organization to your church, please do so. Our people are still talking about what a blessing it was to see so many of our children and youth be a part of that prayer meeting. To see these young people bow on their knees on behalf of each child that belong to Children of the Promise was quite an awesome experience. In Christ love, Grandma Gerry UPDATE: 8-29-02 Praise the Lord!!! Our Simon will get to go to Disney World courtesy of Dream Connection. Thank you for your prayers for Simon he is doing much better since his last surgery. UPDATE: 8-26-02 Well, this past week end was another visit for our Simon at Children's Hospital. Mom, dad, brother Owen and Simon had gone to Pigeon Forge for an overnight trip. They had told Simon as soon as he got rid of all of his tubes, bags, etc. from his bladder and colon surgery they would take him swimming at a hotel (he loves doing this). As soon as they arrived and went swimming, they had to load up and get to Children's Hospital. He started throwing up and crying with a headache. He had not been feeling real good all week, but we thought he was probably from his earlier surgery. When Simon would not play and enjoy the water, they knew something serious was happening. Playing in the pool is one of his favorite activities. A cat scan was done in the emergency department and they immediately prepared him for shunt surgery. The shunt had a blockage in it. Just like the "TROOPER" that he always is, he came out smiling again. In fact, they had him in ICU following surgery and about 3:00 a.m. they "kicked him out" he was doing so good. "Said, we need this bed for a sick kid." Ha! This is a kid that just had his head cut opened. Wow!!!! God is so good - God is good all the time. He came home on Sunday and went to school for a couple of hours this morning. It is amazing how different he was after having the blockage removed. Both ventricules of the brain were swollen. Again, I praise God for answered prayer and for keeping His hand on our precious Simon. Grandma Gerry UPDATE: 8-22-02 Simon has a doctor appointment today. He was bleeding from the bowel program and when Pam cathed him last night there was so bleeding. Pray that does not mean any complications are going on. He seems a little depressed to me. Cries very easily. They are a little nervous about starting to cath him again because of the previous problems. They all still need a touch from Heaven as God does his work. I have a request and I hope it is not a selfish one. I put Simon on the list of the Dream Connection. He wants to go to Disney so bad!!! Because of timeing they will not be able to go to spring. The Dream Connection is meeting today to review the children's dreams. I want God to help the team decide who gets to receive this special gift. UPDATE: 8-19-02 Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!! . . .and again I say rejoice. Simon started back to Willowbrook School last week and did just wonderful. He was so excited to be back with his teachers and friends.....and they were pretty excited to have him back. He will have his last tube out of his bladder this Thursday. Pray for parents as they will again start doing the cathing themselves and I am sure they will be pretty nervous because of all the problems he has had. WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE TRIPS TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. Amen? Please continue to pray that the surgery he had will be a success. The doctor said we would not know about the colon surgery for two or three months. God is able, God can do it!! Thanks to everyone for continued prayers for this precious little one. Grandma UPDATE: 8-07-02 Hi! Have you been praying for Simon. If so, I would appreciate you sending me a little message or prayer that I can add to his scrap book. Thanks Grandma UPDATE: 8-06-02 And it is gone!!!! Praise the Lord. We worked with him until 9:00 last night and got it down to 102. This morning when he work up, it was down to 99. He felt good even though he had the high fever. He was pale and had circles under his eyes. God is still protecting and watching over Simon. UPDATE: 8-05-02 Some of you already know that Simon's surgery went extremely well. After the surgery the Dr. said, "I am very pleased with how the surgery went and it was because of prayer." God is faithful and keeps His promises. We are full of praises and thanksgiving. Simon came home on Saturday and was he ever happy. We are so thankful to have a doctor that cares so personally for his patients. Tears came to his eyes once again as he told Mom and Dad the results of the surgery. Today: Pam called and said Simon has a fever of 104. Of course, this is a little alarming to us, but again we are trusting that this does not mean anything serious. Home health nurse came out to draw some blood, etc. Will know results of test in a day or so. Continue to pray much. Our families appreciate all of you for being so supportive and mostly for all of the prayers. We are still and always will trust our Lord to care for Simon because He loves him even more than we do. Will keep you posted, Gerry UPDATE: 8-04-02 Simon was released from the hospital yesterday and he is now home. I will give more details on how he is doing as soon as I get them. Thank you for your prayers. They made all the difference. Continue to claim total healing for Simon. We believe God will grant Simon full recovery and in time...total health and wholeness according to His promises. Elizabeth UPDATE: 7-31-02 Simon had his surgery today and Praise God... things went much better than expected and the doctor said he was very pleased. He will remain in the hospital until Saturday or Monday depending on when he starts eating again. Please keep Simon covered in prayer. Pray for healing without infection or complication of any kind. We have claimed total healing for Simon and believe that it is done. Now, we wait and watch as God brings him forward to complete wholeness and health. I'm told that already he has made great strides. His surgery today was very serious but God went before him and I praise His Holy Name. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will keep you updated on his status. It was a great joy to be with them today and see how God had worked. His family thanks you all deeply for your dedication to praying for Simon. Elizabeth UPDATE: 6-20-02 We had the honor and priviledge six years ago to welcome Simon Patrick Mull into our family. What a precious gift from God this little boy is and what joy he brings to all who know him. Our family is so blessed by the goodness of God for so many reasons. Even though Simon was born with spina bifida which has multiple problems associated with this birth defect, God deserves all the praise we can give him for all he has done in the care of Simon. In Simon's six years he has had 16 surgeries. Several of them were very serious. Our Father continues to shower us with His blessings of love and protection as we claim His promises for Simon. We know God has a perfect plan for Simon's life. Simon is excited about his sixth Birthday party. His favorite cartoon is Sponge Bob Square Pants, so of course, that will be the theme for his party. He and his family have so much fun together. They love to go to Disney World, the beach, picnics and just have a lot of fun at home. Even when in the hospital, they try to make that experience as pleasant as possible for him and include three year old brother Owen in these situations. Simon is a big part of everything the family does and adds so much to our family life. Even though Simon has paralyses from waist down, he is very intellegent and is above average for his age. With help family, friends, church and therapist, Simon is gaining a lot of strength in his upper body which helps with his wheel chair maneuvering and some walking with braces and walker in therapy at school. He loves school, church, going to Grandma's office at the church and going to Grandma and Nanna Bob's house. He also loves books, computer games and any learning activity. He is a whiz on the computer. Swimming is another love of his. Simon and brother Owen are so excited that they are going to have a baby sister added to their family in October. Both will be good "BIG BROTHERS" Simon is scheduled for another surgery July 30, 2002 at Children's Hospital. This surgery will include colon and bladder surgery. Since birth, Simon has had continued problems due to paralyses in his lower body. Cathing worked until he started having bladder ruptures. This has happened three times in the last few months. The plain is to remove part of his colon and use that part to repair his bladder. Colon sugery has been in the planning for a while because of blowel problems, but the Doctors wanted to wait until his bladder healed. However, due to the ruptures, the Dr. said the bladder is not getting a chance to heal and he needs to go ahead and do both surgeries. We ask all Prayer Warriors to remember Simon in his special physical needs. We need God's continued love and protection over Simon. Pray that God will fill the operating room with the presence of Christ and His sweet peace as well as the waiting room as we wait for the surgery to be done. Pray that the power of God will give divine intervention and wisdom to the Doctors as they perform the needed operation. We praise God for Simon and are so thankful that he is a part of our lives. I am so thankful for his mom and dad and the love they give to each other, their children and family members. They are people of faith and we are all so thankful for God's grace and mercy as we strive to live for HIM. We are so thankful for all of the prayers that have been lifted to the Lord on Simon's behalf. We are also thankful for the support of our church, family and friends who are always there for us and encouraging us in the faith. Added: February 28, 2002 If you would like to add a page for your child, click on "Add A Child" below. Please be aware that once a child's page is added to this website the information becomes public. Please keep this in mind when posting information. It is recommended that you DO NOT post your full names or addresses unless using a post office box. We can not be responsible for who views these pages as they are open to the general public. We suggest a password protected page for optimum privacy. Need information? Contact: Elizabeth Ricard, President Children of the Promise, Inc. 405 Shady Pine Lane Newcomb, TN 37819 866-565-KIDS president@childrenofpromise.net JOIN FOR DAILY UPDATES Please join thousands of prayer warriors around the world as we pray for our children. Simply send us an email with subscribe as the subject. Children of the Promise is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. This website's purpose is to provide pages for children so that others may learn of their needs and pray for them as well as provide a central location where family and friends can receive updates on children and offer encouragement to their parents. You will find no solicitation for funds or support of any kind other than prayer and encouragement. We appreciate your prayers and look to the Lord to provide our daily needs. 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