Tuesday, May 18, 2010

2 days, 2 hospitals, lots of news

Well, looks like I get my wish. I said I'd like to post more and it seems as though I actually have some stuff to put to writing. We spent the day at the Shriner's Hospital in Greenville, SC. Tucker was accepted into the Shiner's medical program for orthopedic care. The reason we looked into this option was that the Shiners help with medical expenses for procedures they perform and medical equipment as needed. That is a blessing given Tucker's needs. HOWEVER, after speaking with the doctor's there and reviewing some x-rays and watching him walk, they concluded that he needs to have surgery on his feet. As it appears, the tendons in his feet aren't "balanced", in other words, some tendons are too strong and overpowering the other tendons. Compare it to me and my fire crew trying to play tug of war with a fire truck...it's just doesn't work. The procedure involves the doctor making 3 incisions around his ankle/foot area and cutting the tendons to relieve the tensions around his ankles and feet. The goal in doing this is to prevent further involuntary movement of his ankles. According to the surgeon, it's a "routine" procedure and quick...but as momma and daddy, it's still more than we want to deal with. We do know, however, that these people at Shiners deal with Spina Bifida patients daily and they know their stuff and we can trust that.

Tomorrow, we have his annual MRI scheduled for 6am. Usually, I'm getting up then...but he's the first on the docket to get his "pictures" taken so that means we should be the first to go home. We are praying for a clean MRI in that there's nothing there that shouldn't be there.

Sometimes going to the doctors office and finding out that something isn't quite right is like getting kicked in the stomach and not wanting anyone to know how bad it was. Sometimes we just want to say, "You don't know our son like we do...you're wrong" and other times we feel like "You're spot on! Thank You for seeing what we see!". Regardless of our initial response, we always come back to the place where we realize that these doctors have been brought into our lives by God either for our benefit, or for the doctors benefit. I struggle with what we've had to experience in Tucker's life at times, but as our Pastor said this past week in Church, "Valleys are inevitable, they always have an end, and in those valleys are where Christ comes beside us and makes us more like him". Thanks in advance for your prayers as we prep for our coming adventure this summer!

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