I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. - Psalms 140:12
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Johnny One Year Later
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. - Psalms 140:12
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
July Post
Quick July update:
Johnny is doing great! His fingers are healing and he is enjoying the pool. No surgeries planned - yea!
Louey is making progress - still challenging but making micro-improvements. Rumination issues still exist.
Carter is getting tall and enjoying swimming this summer.
Kayla is looking more mature and also enjoying the summer weather and getting together with friends.
Perhaps pictures next month.
Johnny is doing great! His fingers are healing and he is enjoying the pool. No surgeries planned - yea!
Louey is making progress - still challenging but making micro-improvements. Rumination issues still exist.
Carter is getting tall and enjoying swimming this summer.
Kayla is looking more mature and also enjoying the summer weather and getting together with friends.
Perhaps pictures next month.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
10 Fingers
Johnny now has ten fingers. One hand has some minor healing concerns, but nothing that he shouldn't be able to heal up - Lord willing. He'll have bandages in between the fingers to help dry them up and heal. The doctor wanted us to change the dressing nightly and come back for another visit on Friday.
It was a bit of a rough evening because not only did the doctor appointment affect the timing of his nap, but he seemed tp have some pain. Had we known the condition of his hands a while ago, we would have likely given him some pain medicine. We gave him some tonight (along with a much needed bath). It is nice to see him without casts and we look forward to watching him explore.
We'll post some pictures once his fingers get cleaned up a bit.
It was a bit of a rough evening because not only did the doctor appointment affect the timing of his nap, but he seemed tp have some pain. Had we known the condition of his hands a while ago, we would have likely given him some pain medicine. We gave him some tonight (along with a much needed bath). It is nice to see him without casts and we look forward to watching him explore.
We'll post some pictures once his fingers get cleaned up a bit.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Casts come off tomorrow!
We are all very excited to have Johnny's casts off tomorrow (Johnny may know his fingers feel different, but he doesn't know that tomorrow is THE DAY)!! We are very curious to see what it looks like under there!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Update March 22
Johnny is doing well. He didn't have to have his hands kept away from him very long. The doctor says that everything is healing well. Now in 2-3 weeks, they'll separate his fingers and thumbs for the first stage and, one month after that, he'll have the second stage done which is the last planned surgery. I am sure that if he knew, he would be thrilled!
This morning Tina went to the hospital for her surgery. Lord willing, she'll be back tomorrow afternoon. So far this morning, Mr. Mom duties are going well (though it's early yet). Louey is all ready to go and I just fed Johnny. Once the kids are off to school, it's me and Johnny!
We are thankful for all of your prayers!
This morning Tina went to the hospital for her surgery. Lord willing, she'll be back tomorrow afternoon. So far this morning, Mr. Mom duties are going well (though it's early yet). Louey is all ready to go and I just fed Johnny. Once the kids are off to school, it's me and Johnny!
We are thankful for all of your prayers!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Johnny's Daily Meds
Thursday, March 8, 2012
No-No Cuff's
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Quick Short Update
Johnny is up to 17 pounds now and is healing well. So well that he is going to have his cleft palate repaired later this week. If all goes as planned, Lord willing, it'll be a one-night stay.
Tina has to have surgery later this month which will knock her out of the game a little bit. She will not be able to lift 15 pounds or more for about 6 weeks. I'll be trying to manage Mr. Mom duties during that time. Maybe we can convince the doctor to put an extra stitch in so she can lift 17 pounds (Johhny).
Blessings to all!
Tina has to have surgery later this month which will knock her out of the game a little bit. She will not be able to lift 15 pounds or more for about 6 weeks. I'll be trying to manage Mr. Mom duties during that time. Maybe we can convince the doctor to put an extra stitch in so she can lift 17 pounds (Johhny).
Blessings to all!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Johnny is Home!
I do not have much energy to write, but Johnny is home now after a fairly significant effort to leave. We'll write more later. Thank you ALL for your prayers - thing are going well - God is good!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Great night's rest
Last night was great. About 7 pm they started an EKG and that lasted about two hours. They took a look at the ASD that he has and also found an unusual artery/vein that may need some work. We'll see. They were concerned because his heart rate was really fast and because of his high temperature - the EKG is something that they had wanted to do for a while because the people in Serbia thought he had it.
He slept through the EKG because they needed to drug him so that he would stop Bruce Lee-ing them and they could get good pictures. The drug helped him to sleep through the night. He got up at about 3:30 and so I fed him about six ounces. He is happily resting on his bed with his toys. He can at least barely see out of his left eye. By the end of the day that might be swollen shut and then the swelling should start to go down. We might get out of the ICU today, too.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Gaining ground
Johnny has been eating today and had a number of connections/tubes removed including on
his one and only disconnected thumb. He was very happy about that. They gave him another pint of blood as he was losing enough through his drain to justify it. During surgery he lost about 40% of his blood - something I didn't mention yesterday.
He is doing better this afternoon. Temp is down. Eating is good. Resting is good.
We're doing everything that we can while he is here. There is someone right now that is doing an EKG because in Serbia it was rumored that he had ASD.
Tina came around 9am and I left for sleep at home around noon. I got a good solid hour of sleep in and it felt great.
Sorry for the random post. I should get more sleep tonight, Lord willing.
The prayers of our friends and family are greatly appreciated. God's grace is certainly all over Johnny's life.
Fairly rough night
Johnny and I didn't get much sleep last night. He seemed to be irritated at anything and anyone. If someone touched him, he would get real upset. His temp was 105 for a while and they had to ice him up.
Then this morning he had enough - he decided to stop breathing twice. The nurses were calm and they handled it well as they tried to get him breathing again. He did start on his own with a bunch of oxygen in his face but it was after 30 or more seconds and his oxygen level down to 2%.
He'll be staying the night in the ICU tonight.
More updates later...
Monday, January 30, 2012
Surgery went well
The surgeon just came out and everything went as expected. Thank you Lord! We'll probably be going to see him in recovery in about an hour. I will update the blog after we get settled in the room - or with a picture on the way there. Thank you for your prayers!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Surgery This Week for Johnny
Johnny is going to have surgery this Monday to make his skull larger which will allow his brain to grow. He'll have to be in the ICU for a couple nights and then in the hospital, but out of the ICU for a couple more days.
He has had swelling off and on over the last week or two in a small open spot near the top of his forehead that is about a quarter-sized hole. The last couple days, it seems to be larger. The doctor didn't put the shunt in a week or so ago, but they still might need to depending on what happens when they get into his head.
We would appreciate your prayers for grace and peace. Going to every doctor appointment is an opportunity to talk about what God has done in our lives and Johnny's life - pray with us that we will represent our Lord well. We'll do our best to update this blog with details and pictures.
He has had swelling off and on over the last week or two in a small open spot near the top of his forehead that is about a quarter-sized hole. The last couple days, it seems to be larger. The doctor didn't put the shunt in a week or so ago, but they still might need to depending on what happens when they get into his head.
We would appreciate your prayers for grace and peace. Going to every doctor appointment is an opportunity to talk about what God has done in our lives and Johnny's life - pray with us that we will represent our Lord well. We'll do our best to update this blog with details and pictures.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Weekend Hospital Trip
We are so thankful to God for how things went on Friday/Saturday!
We went in on Friday morning to start the sedated MRI followed by a shunt being put into his head. When we were speaking with the surgeon, we started to get a little concerned about the actual need for the shunt.
As we navigate these unknown-to-us waters of Johnny's medical condition, we are trying to learn as much as we can. That being said, there is always the thought that we are not the experts/doctors and there come times when you just have to trust what they are doing. When we were being told about the long-term consequences of having a shunt (it's a lifetime situation that will need constant monitoring) we were starting to wonder if it was completely necessary. We wondered that after he had begun the MRI.
The MRI showed the doctor that swelling/hydrocephalus in his brain ventricles had actually gone down a bit since the last CT scan. It had gone down enough that the doctor didn't think the shunt was completely necessary at this point - especially since the tentative plan of advancing the front part of his skull was just about a week away. The doctor decided to wait until that surgery to see if a shunt was necessary. There are so many factors involved that there is a possibility that his body is starting to learn to operate better now that he has proper nutrition - this possibility affects everything that he has going on.
When the doctor came to tell us this, we were very pleased and thankful that he was looking out for Johnny's and our best interest (both long-term and short-term).
Johnny did well in the hospital. It went better than we thought and we were happy to have had the experience of staying there knowing that we'll be back for multiple days in about a week.
I want to publicly acknowledge the Ronald McDonald House. They have a very nice and helpful setup at the hospital for parents and families that are going through difficult times. This free service is so great and beneficial (it will make our next stay much easier), that I have made a pledge (to myself) to top off to the next nearest $10 a donation to the House every time I go to McDonald's (which isn't a whole lot, but I sincerely appreciate this well run organization and would like to help others as much as possible).
Last but not least: a big THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us and Johnny!
We went in on Friday morning to start the sedated MRI followed by a shunt being put into his head. When we were speaking with the surgeon, we started to get a little concerned about the actual need for the shunt.
As we navigate these unknown-to-us waters of Johnny's medical condition, we are trying to learn as much as we can. That being said, there is always the thought that we are not the experts/doctors and there come times when you just have to trust what they are doing. When we were being told about the long-term consequences of having a shunt (it's a lifetime situation that will need constant monitoring) we were starting to wonder if it was completely necessary. We wondered that after he had begun the MRI.
The MRI showed the doctor that swelling/hydrocephalus in his brain ventricles had actually gone down a bit since the last CT scan. It had gone down enough that the doctor didn't think the shunt was completely necessary at this point - especially since the tentative plan of advancing the front part of his skull was just about a week away. The doctor decided to wait until that surgery to see if a shunt was necessary. There are so many factors involved that there is a possibility that his body is starting to learn to operate better now that he has proper nutrition - this possibility affects everything that he has going on.
When the doctor came to tell us this, we were very pleased and thankful that he was looking out for Johnny's and our best interest (both long-term and short-term).
Johnny did well in the hospital. It went better than we thought and we were happy to have had the experience of staying there knowing that we'll be back for multiple days in about a week.
I want to publicly acknowledge the Ronald McDonald House. They have a very nice and helpful setup at the hospital for parents and families that are going through difficult times. This free service is so great and beneficial (it will make our next stay much easier), that I have made a pledge (to myself) to top off to the next nearest $10 a donation to the House every time I go to McDonald's (which isn't a whole lot, but I sincerely appreciate this well run organization and would like to help others as much as possible).
Last but not least: a big THANK YOU to everyone who has prayed for us and Johnny!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Johnny - Medical Update
We have been absent for quite a while. Things have been good and we thank God for that.
We also thank God for the resources that we have available here in MN. From Gillette Children's Hospital to the U of MN Adoption Center, folks have been great in helping us to find the best plan for Johnny.
We found out today that Johnny is at 14.6 pounds - up from about 10 pounds when we picked him up from Serbia. That is great progress in two months! We have had concerns about his soft spot on his head. When we picked him up in Serbia it was sunken in. About two weeks ago, it was protruding and pulsating. We had called to see if they wanted us to come in before our next appointment and they told us that it would only be necessary if he started doing weird things (not sleeping, not eating, etc...).
After today's visit, they seemed a lot more concerned. They were happy to see him interacting with us and to see the weight that he had put on, but his head seemed to be something they want to fix quickly. We have a test to do for his thyroid and pituitary glands/system tomorrow and on Friday they are going to put him under to do an MRI. They are going to take a look at what is going on and possible put a shunt in to drain the pressure from his brain from what they think is hydrocephalus. Next week, he'll possibly go in to have his skull broken/separated and moved forward. This involves either titanium plates that don't go away or this other material that gets absorbed by the body after the body (hopefully and prayerfully) forms new bone to fill the gap. All of this is being done, from my understanding, to make room for the brain. He'll likely need a second, similar surgery a year down the road. I'll post pictures because it will be very interesting to see - the work that they do looks very strange when they are done because of the swelling and...you'll see.
This test tomorrow is supposed to take six hours and, based on prior experience, Johnny is NOT going to like it. We are praying that he does well and Tina can help him to manage the event so neither he nor Tina find the end of their wits. Friday's MRI will be a bit difficult, too, because he cannot eat from 8:30 am until the MRI in the late afternoon - he is NOT going to like that either.
The rubber is meeting the road on this path of special needs adoption. It was appearing that the easy part may be over, but then we realized that, in the words of our daughter many years ago, we have the easy part and God has the difficult part (from our perspective, because nothing is difficult for Him).
We also thank God for the resources that we have available here in MN. From Gillette Children's Hospital to the U of MN Adoption Center, folks have been great in helping us to find the best plan for Johnny.
We found out today that Johnny is at 14.6 pounds - up from about 10 pounds when we picked him up from Serbia. That is great progress in two months! We have had concerns about his soft spot on his head. When we picked him up in Serbia it was sunken in. About two weeks ago, it was protruding and pulsating. We had called to see if they wanted us to come in before our next appointment and they told us that it would only be necessary if he started doing weird things (not sleeping, not eating, etc...).
After today's visit, they seemed a lot more concerned. They were happy to see him interacting with us and to see the weight that he had put on, but his head seemed to be something they want to fix quickly. We have a test to do for his thyroid and pituitary glands/system tomorrow and on Friday they are going to put him under to do an MRI. They are going to take a look at what is going on and possible put a shunt in to drain the pressure from his brain from what they think is hydrocephalus. Next week, he'll possibly go in to have his skull broken/separated and moved forward. This involves either titanium plates that don't go away or this other material that gets absorbed by the body after the body (hopefully and prayerfully) forms new bone to fill the gap. All of this is being done, from my understanding, to make room for the brain. He'll likely need a second, similar surgery a year down the road. I'll post pictures because it will be very interesting to see - the work that they do looks very strange when they are done because of the swelling and...you'll see.
This test tomorrow is supposed to take six hours and, based on prior experience, Johnny is NOT going to like it. We are praying that he does well and Tina can help him to manage the event so neither he nor Tina find the end of their wits. Friday's MRI will be a bit difficult, too, because he cannot eat from 8:30 am until the MRI in the late afternoon - he is NOT going to like that either.
The rubber is meeting the road on this path of special needs adoption. It was appearing that the easy part may be over, but then we realized that, in the words of our daughter many years ago, we have the easy part and God has the difficult part (from our perspective, because nothing is difficult for Him).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)