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3.4.08

Gooey

That happens to be one of Ella's many nicknames for our sweet little boy. It also happens to be Josh's favourite out of all the options, and what he is often called. Poor kid. Anyway, this post is not about his nicknames, but about his heart. He was born with a heart murmur, something quite a few kids are born with, but they are often closed up by the time they are 6 months. Well, at a checkup at around 5 1/2 months his doctor decided to send him to a cardiologist. They made an appointment for May 12. Since then he has not been gaining weight, and even dropped down at one point. So, she requested that his appointment be moved up. So, today we headed down to the Children's Hospital for a echocardiogram. They took pictures of his heart for about three hours due to the fact that I think he had a crush on the ultrasound technician. He just smiled and charmed her, and wouldn't hold still, so they had a hard time getting a good picture. He is such a sweet little boy. He hardly cried at all with all this poking and prodding. Just kept smiling. In the end, they told us that he has something called Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a congenital heart defect that means (in my very medically uneducated terms) that he has a large hole between two of the chambers in his heart, and that his pulmonary valve (which brings blood to his lungs) is too narrow. I think there are 2 other symptoms, but they didn't seem as serious to me. Anyway, the bottom line is that he will need to have open heart surgery probably within the next month to repair the hole and expand the valve. I'm sure you can imagine that this is extremely hard for a mother to hear. I am having a rough time, but I keep reminding myself that God is in control. So we will be heading up to Edmonton for about two weeks while all of this happens. It all seems so overwhelming right now. One good thing about having your appointment at the Children's Hospital is that you get to see that this is really quite a minor thing compared to what some kids go through, but it doesn't feel very minor.. So, please continue to pray for all of us - we really need it! I'll let you all know when we hear more.

7 comments:

Karen said...

O my goodness. I'd hardly call that minor! But thankfully it IS a minor thing to the Lord. We'll be praying for all of you, and especially for Gooey. What a difficult thing for parents to deal with!

Unknown said...

Wow, praise the Lord they were able to detect the problem so quickly! Oh my, I can't imagine having to watch my baby go through surgery. I know that God will be full of grace and comfort and peace for you all though. Keep us posted and let us know when the surgery date is so we can pray!

Also, as an encouraging anecdote, I have a good friend whose 4 day old baby girl had to have a heart transplant. All went well and the baby (who is now 8 months old) is thriving and functioning well!

the johnson crew said...

dear kelly,

i am so sorry to hear about Gus' heart condition. i will be praying for you all as you go to Edmonton for the surgery. please let us know when the surgery is. we have been teaching our kids about prayer and we will be praying with them about gus as well.

i love you. i would be scared too. gus sounds like quite the trooper if he handled his scans so well. i will pray that the Lord will give you the faith to trust Him through this trial and that he will comfort you and give you strength and provide all you need.

i love you so much. and i really miss you a lot.

janelle

Kelli said...

I will definitely keep you all in my prayers!

undergroundcrowds said...

I wouldn't have been able to even comprehend your anxiety until having my own son. Even still, I can't imagine what I would do if it were Keane. Stick to your positive attitude. The Lord is bigger than this. I'll be praying.

Sara said...

I will be praying for you, Kelly. I cannot even imagine, but you are right, so many have it worse than we do. God will take care of little Gus. And as a side note, Ella sure is looking like a big girl-what a beauty!

joan patz said...

Kelly
As a mother you feel a strong empathy, you hurt for them, you hurt for yourself. But you become strong for them, and I know you will carry on through this surgery and be what you need to be, his mother, wife of Josh and a prayer warrior. May God give you opportunities to be used of Him in this difficult time.
We will be praying for you.
Jer 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Love Mrs. Patz