Wow, so much has happened since the last post. I will try my best to update everyone on everything that has happened in the last few weeks. About 2 weeks ago, Atticus had to have exploratory surgery on his intestines because the doctors noticed that he had "free air" on his abdomen in one of the ultrasounds. This is generally an indicator that there is a hole in the intestines somewhere. Thankfully, the doctors didn't find any holes, but it did leave Atticus with a new scar from the incision. They followed up last Monday with an Upper GI with Small Bowel Follow-thru, which is where he "drinks" the barium and the doctors take x-rays of his abdomen to follow it through his intestines, to make sure that they didn't miss anything in the exploratory surgery. Thankfully again, this procedure revealed no holes in the intestines, but they did say that his digestive system was running kinda slow. Understandable considering all the different meds he's had, and the fact that he's never really eaten.
All seemed to be heading towards full recovery when things took a turn for the worse. The general pediatric surgeons came to look at his leg and to "debreed" it, which basically means they pull the scabs off the leg to make sure no infections are building up behind it. As they began the procedure, the nurse began to fuss at them because she hadn't given him anything for pain yet. The doctors replied that it was dead skin anyway, so he shouldn't feel anything. I was present and could see his ventilator rate jump to double what it had been, and he hadn't been breathing over the ventilator all day. Needless to say, they stopped and the nurse proceeded to give Atticus morphine. However, immediately after they resumed, Atticus began to have seizures again. The seizures were almost constant. As soon as one would stop, the next would begin, to the point that without the EEG machine, you almost couldn't tell one from the next. This has been particularly hard to watch, and lowered my spirits to almost a breaking point. I never doubted that God was in control; just that He was going to spare my son. But God often leads us to our absolute breaking point so that when He works a miracle, we will know that it was Him.
After many days of prayer, God turned Atticus around when the doctors could do nothing for him. He has now been seizure free since 9PM Thursday night. My words cannot express the depth of thankfulness and gratitude I feel at this point. God has heard the crying-out of my soul and performed a miracle for my son. I cannot truly express what a relief it has been. Atticus even opened his eyes and looked at me when I arrived at the hospital yesterday. Atticus is continuing to improve on other fronts as well. His leg has completely returned to a normal color, and has only the spots where the scabs were to continue healing up. The sores near his groin from the IV have completely healed, the incisions from both surgeries continue to heal, and he is even able to get feedings of breast milk again. The only other bad news is that Atticus did loose the very tip of his right earlobe today. The same thing had happened to it as with his leg just after the Cath procedure, however, circulation never returned to it. I am still very thankful that if he had to lose something, that it was only the tip of his earlobe instead of his entire leg!!
Please continue to pray for Atticus. He still has such a long way to go before he'll be able to leave the hospital. Please also pray for Sandy and Gideon. It has been hard on them to not have me around like they're used to. I talked to Sandy on the phone the other night and she told me she was ready for me to come home. Gideon would talk to me, and then run away with the phone whenever my Mom tried to get it back from him. Please also continue to pray for Robbie and myself; that we have the strength to handle the things God has in store for us, and that we can be together again as a family soon. We know that God is in charge, even though we don't know/understand what He has planned. Thank you for the prayers, the cards, the emails, and the phone calls. You are all truly a blessing to us! Please continue to pray!
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