An Update On Our Boys

So we went to hospital appointments for both boys the other day.  When the appointments ended up overlapping, we had Tommy and Cass on one side of Shreveport and Aiden and I on the other.  But it worked out well with my Dad being in town to get Aiden for a week of Papaw fun.  He was able to shuttle us across town in time for most of Cass' testing and appointment!

Cass and Aiden

Some of you may remember and most of you may not actually know this because it's been so unnoticeable from a distance for so long.  Aiden was born with a club foot.  Our little trooper had 8 different casts on the first 11 weeks of his life.  Before they put the last one on, they 'nicked' the tendon that goes up the back of his heel so that it would allow his foot to continue growing in the new position.  Then he wore shoes with a brace for quite some time.  I called him my 'little houdini' because he was ALWAYS able to get out of them!  Then another single brace for a short time a few years ago.  And then we were good to go unless he started having problems.  Over the last few months, we've noticed him falling down alot if he's barefooted and his foot seemingly turning inward again.  That leaves for one worried Mama and another trip to the wonderful Shriner's Children's Hospital in Shreveport.  Talk about people knowing how to do what they do so well and even more, loving the child and family along the way!

After checking him out, we've come to learn that yes, his foot is turning more than it should and we will have to intercede with a little help.  The good news is that it's not in his bones, which means no bone rotation that would require hardware in his leg.  He's been fitted with another brace to wear inside of his shoe that will hold the position of his foot correctly, hopefully to help with the falling down and to prevent it from getting worse.  The not so settling news to our little boy is that he has to do this until surgery.  They will have to go in and lengthen tendons at some point down the road.  The object is to buy time right now with the brace.  The younger he is when he has the surgery, the more likely they'll have to go back in and do it again at some point.  So we go with the brace and in six months they'll check him out again and measure his growth.

Aiden needs alot of prayer with this.  When he hears surgery, he thinks about what I've gone through the last few months.  That's very, very scary for him.  As much as I try to comfort him with the fact that his surgery will be nothing like Mama's major surgery and recovery, my words don't compare much with the memories of our early summer.  And, we're talking about the kid who has MAJOR issues with needles and shots.  So please keep him in your prayers and ask that God prepare his heart and comfort his worries! 

And for our little Possum, Cass man, Casserole, Mr. Munchkin, red headed baby boy.....

By the way, he all of a sudden thinks he's a monkey.  Don't feel sorry for his expression of great worry here.  I promise it's not because he's afraid....it's only because he's been caught and knows Mama's coming to get him down!

Cass got great news from his Pediatric Urologist!  Tommy was able to be there for this visit and he did such an awesome job with Cass.  He has this calming effect with him that touches my heart to the very core.  Cass knew he was safe with his Daddy.  He didn't even cry when they put in his IV!  And he was an ideal patient, even when strapped down to the imaging bed.  Twice that day we were told that he was the best little one they've ever had to work with!  One tough little guy!  To catch you up with little man....he was born with a UPJ obstruction on each kidney.  This means that there's either a kink, a narrowing, or an obstruction on both sides where the kidney drains into the Ureters.  This leaves his kidneys holding fluid, which can cause damage if it leads to infection.  Praise the Lord, he's never had any problems and so far, we've just watched, worried, and prayed for him.  He had another nuclear imaging test (the Willy Wonka test) on his kidneys to show their flow and function.  Our kidney's ideally function equally, at 50 percent for each kidney.  His showed functioning at 49 and 51 percent.  Pretty great if you ask us!  His urologist said that we don't have to do this test again unless there's ever a problem or concern.  So, we'll just continue to watch the fluid level on his kidneys through Ultrasound every 6 months and thank God in advance for completely healing our little boy!

At one time, this amazing kid was my smallest baby boy! And he's forever my oldest boy!

And now that 'smallest boy' title forever belongs to this sweet, full of life little one!

I love my boys!  We've been very blessed with them both.  All of this will work out for the best and we love having them both in our lives!  I heard the other day that 'God's will is what we would choose if we knew all of the facts'.  Stop and think on that one for awhile.  I love you Aiden James and Cass Lee and I thank God every day that He allowed me to be your Mom!