Surgery #2

1 Peter 1 :6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Surgery scheduled for 9:00 am. On December 19th at 7:45 in the morning, we waited for Noah to be admitted. Reimplantation of the right ureter was necessary to correct the severe reflux ( urine going back into the kidney). The surgery would last 3-4 hours. At 15 months of age, my baby boy is one brave little warrior and has a couple scars to prove it.

 

 

 It was hard not to let the nerves get the best of us, but through all of it we knew God was with us. It got worse when surgery was rescheduled for a later time. Noah didn't seem to mind.

 

 

 At 12:00,  Noah finally gets a sedative to help with separation anxiety. As they pulled him away, I couldn't hold back the tears. My baby was taken in to be sliced open and I couldn't hold him through it. Buddy (his tubie friend) was there all along.

 

 

We found some comfort in the lobby where other nervous parents waited. We heard other parents' stories and the tough situations they were in. I came across a woman. I recognized the fear in her face. That fear and sadness that no mother is ever ready to face. Her struggles were tough. Her 5 week old baby girl had already had open heart surgery in her short life. This time around she was getting a g-tube placed in her tummy since she wasn't able to eat. I offered some words of encouragement, like the ones that were offered to me when I needed them most. I managed to get a smile out of her as her eyes seemed glazed over with heaviness.

Then Santa came to spread some joy. I was the first to jump and request a picture. Tension was broken and in the hours that followed there was no more silence. We swapped stories and the experiences  that seem so odd to an "ordinary family" were so easily exchanged with  complete strangers who we could totally relate to.

Surgery ended!

Doctor stated there was a 90 % percent chance the reflux would no longer be an issue .YAY! those are great odds.

A JP tube would remain attached to him to observe the blood output and a chatheter from his penis to check on the amount of blood coming out for the next couple of days.Tubes were everywhere!

A catheter would be left inside his bladder to help against edema and other threats of damage to his kidney. Noah will have to return a second time to have the cathether removed. As of now, we will focus on a day at a time to get him back to his normal routine.

 

 

 

                    

And an awesome clown paid us a visit. Noah slept through it, but we were glad to have such a joyful visitor.

We love you Driscoll Clowns!

The first day and night were very rough. Noah was in pain and cried every time I put him down.

 

 

 

He finally stopped crying.

                                                          

                                            And we went for a ride.                                              

                                                            

Noah felt better and this time we were out in time to spend Christmas at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As promised, we delivered the soda can tabs to the Ronald Mcdonald House Charities. Thanks for all of you who helped out.

 

 

I continue asking for prayers for Noah.

Joyful moments

Psalm 66: 1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

Joyful moments...

 

Last year, around this time, my son was being admitted to the hospital at the young age of 4 months. Little did we know that we'd spend both Christmas and New Year's in the hospital.

 

We didn't celebrate Christmas last year ,and the gifts remained unwrapped until mid-january and then the second trip to hospital came. Joy was hard to find back then and in all reality the pit of despair we seemed to be falling into consumed us and sucked the tiniest bit of positive emotion out of us.

 

This year, even though a second surgery(reimplantation of the ureter) is scheduled on 12/19/12, we've realized how joyful life can be if you care to appreciate its beauty. Like when my boys hug and kiss each other goodnight after bouncing on the bed, I call that joy. My husband reminding me that he loves me on a daily basis, brings me joy.  Being able to have both my parents alive and kicking and enjoying their home visits, brings joy to my heart. And, the lady who rings the bell in her super red lipstick as she collects coins for the salvation army. Her super white teeth glow right at me as she smiles. Smiling back isnt difficult, she spreads some joy. Then there are those beautiful people who intentionally give out of their hearts desire to make someone happy.

 

This South TX College Biology Club was kind enough to greet us at the Dr.'s office with a gift.


We've tried to make the most out of the holidays and hoping that we are out of the hospital before Christmas. We really want to be home. Anxiety will try to creep in soon, this I know. At the moment, I find peace in my heavenly father, who has lifted us up from the worst time of ours lives and brought us to this time of year again. My father who has come to our rescue time and time again.

 

 

Having fun at the festival of lights.

We continue asking for prayers for Noah.