On my back!

Good news!  The neurosurgeon said today that Paton can now lie on his back!  Now we can use the car seat instead of being strapped down face down in a car bed.  And it makes it much easier to hold him and do just about everything.  We are so happy.  It also helps that we don't have to put the protective covering on his back anymore.  That was about a 6-step process that had to be done every day.  The kids had a great time with Paton today.  We are so, so thankful.

All Well

All is well at home with little Paton.  We feel like we are beginning to get back into our "normal" schedules.  The routine has been good for the whole family.  Paton's shunt seems to be working well.  The swelling on his back is much diminished, although it may take some cosmetic surgery in the future to finish correcting it.  The kids are enjoying Paton.  He got to be home in time to celebrate Charis' 4th birthday.  We see the neurosurgeon this week, as well as Early Childhood Intervention.

Home at Last

We are home!  We went in this morning, expecting that Paton would be released around 2 or 3.  However, by the time the pediatric neurosurgeon came and gave us the green light, it was almost 8 PM.  We are so, so glad to be all home together.  The kids were very excited.  We came home to an absolutely beautiful house, thanks to a few of the church ladies!  And we are so thankful, too, to "Da" and "Aunt Terry" and others who've helped with the kids, and to all the many of you who've made such delicious meals for us.  Thank you also, many friends and family, for the many prayers that went up on Paton's behalf.  God has answered in some very specific ways.  We rest content in Him.  So, for now, good night.

Waiting

More waiting.  Paton was scheduled to be released today, but he developed some sort of bowel issue.  We are currently waiting for a pediatric surgeon to come take a look at it.  We still hope to go home tonight.  We'll see.  Also, we got a name for the fluid-filled sack that kept growing on Paton's back.  They call it a pseudo-myelomeningocele.  It is basically a "pop-off valve" for the spinal fluid that would have built up in the head.  Thankfully, since they placed the shunt the sack on the back has not continued to grow.  It might actually have been a blessing, since it kept any pressure from being put on the brain.

Well, hopefully we'll all be at home together tonight!

Going Home

Paton's going home on Monday!  We are so excited.  He's clear of infection, and his shunt seems to be functioning at this point.  The doctors are all pleased with his progress, and so are we.  The bulge at his surgery site on his back is much, much smaller, and isn't continually filling up with spinal fluid.

Hannah so much enjoys her new little brother.  She really wanted to stay with me at the hospital the other day to see him awake again and get to hold him, even though it meant sitting in the hospital ICU for about 5 hours.  She entertained herself by reading, but was thrilled when Pate woke up.  She really wanted to feed him and hold him.  Here are a couple of pictures.  She'll make a great mama some day.

God has been so good.  We hope to be all together again in about 3 days!

Shunt Success, So Far

Paton's out of surgery, and doing pretty well.  The neurosurgeon placed a "V-P Shunt" in the little fella.  It runs from the back of the right side of his head (from the Ventricles) down into his abdominal cavity (the P-word which I can't remember at the moment).  Hopefully the level of resistance in the shunt is less than the resistance in the pathway into the pocket on the back, so that it will not continue to fill up and then possibly put pressure on the brain.  There is a fairly small but significant risk of infection (8%) with this surgery.  There is also a possibility that the body will reject the shunt, as it might any foreign object in the body.  We have a friend whose body rejected three different shunt attempts.  However, at the moment the little fella's doing all right, and resting as long as mom is holding him.  She doesn't mind. : )    We made a friend here who's baby also has a shunt, so the kids all got to see what it would be like.  We have yet to come up with a good nickname for the little fella -- "little fella" might not seem quite right a few years from now.  Yesterday the kids came up with "milkshake."  Hannah is "cheeseburger", David's "chicken nugget," and Charis is "small fry."  Not so sure those'll stick, either.  We're just praying Pate Pate'll have a restful night tonight.  Thanks again for all your prayers.

I Will Give Thee Rest

Little Pate Pate hasn't had anything to eat since midnight, and we were so concerned it'd be a miserable night and morning for him, as he was not taken into surgery until just 45 minutes ago, about 1 PM. But God answered the prayers of so many of you, and enabled him to rest some. We took turns being with him from about 3 AM on, and he slept off and on, but he really wasn't ever too fussy. Finally this morning, he drifted off into a nice snooze before they finally came to take him. This was so much more peaceful that we thought, and we can't help believing this was of the Lord. The Lord also gave us peace and has kept us feeling fairly rested.

Nice Visit Yesterday

We had a nice little Family Time yesterday afternoon. The kids all enjoyed their little brother. Surgery is scheduled today for around noon. Poor little fella hasn't gotten to eat since midnight! :(

A Nice Pic

I thought this was a nice picture of the little fella.  He goes for surgery tomorrow to put in the shunt.  Please pray.  Thank you, and good night!

On Hold

Up and down.  Back and forth.  On and Off again.  This is life in the hospital.  Doctoring is science, to be sure, but it is far from an exact science.  When you really spend time around the medical profession, you realize just how many judgment calls are a part of it.  Sometimes we're tempted to think of doctors as almost omniscient because of all their study and experience, but their work is far from infallible.  This is why our dependence on the Great Omnipotent and Omniscient Physician is so stabilizing.

The neurosurgeons were marking Paton's head this morning in preparation for the shunt placement, when the word came back that there is still sign of possible infection.  They are going to do a culture and hopefully get the results back by this evening.  They're going to watch him carefully for the next couple of days, and try the surgery again probably Monday or Tuesday morning.  So, once again, we wait on the Lord.

Surgery Tomorrow

Please pray for our little fella, if you would.  Things have been moving pretty fast.  The doctors said that he's over his infection, and they are going to do a surgery to put in a shunt tomorrow morning about 8.  Wow.  We thought we'd be another couple of weeks before they thought about that.  If all goes well, he should be in for another week or two for recovery.  Our main request is that God would grant the doctors wisdom.  He is the Great Physician.  We lean on Him.

Fighting Infection

The little fella's new home is in Texas Children's Hospital Level 2 Nursery for at least the next month.  The infection he developed is coming under control, but they still have a ways to go to get it all.  Then, once the infection is completely gone, the doctor has said to "prepare for the fact that he's almost certainly going to need a shunt."  The doctors now believe the cerebrospinal fluid from his head is making its way down to the surgery site on his back where it collects.  The shunt is a small valve and tubing inserted under his skin, running from his head down into his abdominal cavity, where the fluid will be absorbed by the body.

Jen's staying with the other kids in the morning, and then spending the afternoons/evenings with Paton.  Some of the church folks are helping me with keeping the kids some afternoons.  Others have made us wonderful meals.  We're so thankful for our church family.  We're looking forward to the time when Paton can be home for good!