To the Left, On the Right

This past Monday we went to see Dr. Lueder, the ophthalmologist. You may or may not remember that Lucas had a vision test and we were told that he had "bilaterally diminished vision related to his brain malformation" and that we should follow up with the doctor in 6-9 months.

After his hypospadias correction, however, Lucas' vision seemed to decline. (Regression of abilities is a frequent occurance post-operatively, so it wasn't a big surprise.) The drifting of his Left eye (strabismus, aka "lazy eye") had seemed to increase as well.

He is recovering splendidly from his surgery in all regards, but there has been some greater delays in his visual tracking and the drifting. This is what prompted our Dr. visit even though we believe that there will be marked improvement with the addition of vision therapy.

So, Monday, we spent almost 3 hours waiting to see the doctor with the great satisfaction (please lay on the sarcasm to my voice in your minds as thick as you can) of about 6 minutes of his time. In that lengthy exam and conversation (keep slathering), We were questioned why we came back early (earlier than 6-9months), told that Lucas needs surgery on his left eye to decrease the drifting tendencies, that we should patch his right eye to increase the brain's response to visual stimulus from the left eye, given about 20 pages of information to read and told that we should "call Kathleen to schedule the surgery in 1-2 months and Kathy will give instructions on patching." As we were ushered out of his little exam room, my arms filled with papers and a fussy baby, he shook my hand and said that I should "feel free to call with any questions". Are you kidding? I have like a million questions and a few dozen more after looking at the paperwork. Then there's the online research Marc has found (because that's what he does :D) which has led to several more questions.

I have yet to call Dr. Lueder's office to attempt to reach him with a barrage of questions or to schedule a surgery for Lucas. We want to consult his vision therapist and Lucas' pediatrician before making any official decisions.

We petition you for prayer for wisdom in this matter and recovery of Lucas' sight, whether that be with or without surgery. Dr. Lueder is a highly recommended ophthalmologist, but we have reservations about any major decision made without, what I consider to be, a thorough examination, especially when that decision carries such possible tremendous side effects from retinal damage and blindness to multiple (usually at least 2) surgeries.

For now, we're patching the right eye and he seems to tolerate it fairly well (especially when the patch comes partially undone and he can peek out with his strong eye). We'll keep you posted with any updates, as they come.

Blessings to you all!

Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus

Who doesn't love Mr. T? We do! While in NY, Lucas was blessed with a super-fabulous t-shirt with the great man saying, classically, "I pity the fool who don't read the Scripturist!" Our friends Mark and Liz who bought the shirt figured that it was supposed to say scriptures instead of scripturist, like some t-shirts seen in Chinatown might read Pespi instead of Pepsi. The woman who was selling the t-shirt said that was what she figured too. As it turns out, however, there is a blog called, believe it or not, the Scripturist, and the picture originated on their website.

Marc e-mailed them to ask about the t-shirts. Turns out, they had no idea, but wanted a picture of Lucas to share with their readers, so he's now (at least for a short while) their poster boy.

I don't know if we endorse everything the Scripturist has to say (we haven't read it all), but for now, we think they're great and Lucas will certainly keep wearing the shirt as long as it fits him and we'll be passing it down to his future siblings.

*Mark and Liz are the first two seen in the friends pictures from Christmas and Lucas can be seen in the t-shirt under the family pictures and, of course, on the Scripturist website.

Some more Christmas pictures

Christmas Vacation Part 2

Some pictures from New York

We've been having a great time in NYC for the past 2 weeks. Here are a few pictures of Lucas with family

Christmas Vacation

Healing up

Lucas is recovering well from his surgery and all that has befallen him since. - He ended up with a urinary tract infection (UTI) and a fever of 102. We then had to switch his antibiotic to a more heavy duty one from the prophylactic one originally prescribed. The antibiotic gave him some fierce diarrhea which made his tush pretty raw. Then he had a reaction to the antibiotic and broke out in a rash. We switched to yet another antibiotic and the rash cleared within a day. He also ended up with a stuffy nose. In the midst of all this, actually before the UTI, he began cutting his 1st tooth!

When we took him in last Wednesday to have his catheter removed, there was a fistula (opening that shouldn't be there) along the suture line, so Dr. Austin decided to put in another catheter for another week and give the incision a bit more time to heal. The new catheter caused a lot more bladder irritation and resulted in frequent bladder spasms which caused a lot of discomfort for my sweet boy. (At one point we were giving him his seizure meds, antibiotics, pain meds and bladder spasm meds, all at specific intervals and several with required spacing between doses of other drugs to avoid drug interactions. It was like I was working in a hospital.)

He is now feeling much better. The UTI is all cleared up, the 2nd catheter was removed yesterday and he'll finish off the antibiotics tonight. We'll then be back down to just one med, except that Monday we'll give some Tylenol because he's having his third round of immunizations. (Will it ever end!?!) He still has his stuffy nose, but it is staying in his nose (I'm sure at least in part to do with his lung clearing screaming when I suck the snot out of his nose!) Through it all, though, as is the testimony of this amazing child, he has remained joyful, more clingy and more easily given to grumpiness, but still frequently bursting forth with joy and a grin that could light the tree in Rockefeller Center.

The fistula is still there, but it is minor. He will return for a quick-fix surgery in 6 months, one that takes about an hour compared to the four hours this one lasted. He looks pretty good "down there" compared to how he first looked when we brought him home. I don't think in a couple months anyone would know the difference (unless they saw some urine escape from his secondary hole!)

He's calling me now, so I'm off to snuggle him and get ready for dinner. Thank you all for your prayers; we know that God is listening and is acting on Lucas' behalf.

The internet has spoken

I found a geneology website that has facial recognition software that can do a couple of cool things. One of them is to figure out who your baby looks more like. Everybody always seems to think that Lucas looks a lot like me (Marc), but don't see much Esther in his face. I tend to think he looks a lot like both of us, and it seems that the internet would agree with me

Thankfully Home

After spending 11 hours at the hospital today, we finally returned home with the sweetest boy in the world. He was pretty knocked out by the dose of oxycodone he got before we left the hospital and slept until I had to get him out of his car seat.

We are super thankful that his surgery was a success and, prayerfully, his recovery will be smooth and as pain free as possible. As of now, he screams any time he is moved which complicates things a bit, but he is also, thankfully, quickly comforted in the arms of Mommy and Daddy. (We're so thankful for him!)

He will have his dressing in place for 3 days (which makes poopy diaper changes a bit messy) and his catheter in place for 2 weeks (which makes every diaper change pretty messy). Dr. Austin, his surgeon, said that the worst of the pain should subside within three days and we have Tylenol with codeine to help as well as a medication to stop the bladder from spasming due to irritation from the catheter. He will be pretty discolored for a while after the discomfort passes. Another example of Marc's thankfulness is that I don't get skeeved with such things and also that I don't mind doing all the diaper changes. :)

We are now thankful to be home and are hoping to catch up on some rest. We will celebrate a quiet holiday, keeping Lucas home and comfortable through the weekend. We are thankful that Marc's company is closed on Friday so we all get to be together for a long weekend.

Most of all, we are thankful that God loves us so much. He is true to His word that "He commands His angels to watch over us and guard us in all our ways". (Ps. 91) We know He was watching over Lucas today as we know He is everyday.

Thank you for your love and prayers. We pray that this weekend (and Every day for the rest of your lives) that you take stock of your life and thank God and one another for the precious gift of life and the many joys throughout it. :)

Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving!