Answers and new questions

Hi friends

When we accepted Simon's referral and answered the call God placed on our heart for Simon to be our son, we stepped out in faith. It is such a wonderful thing to step with the Lord. We know and felt and breathed in all kinds of His blessings along the way. As we look back there is no doubt that God had Simon in mind for us, that Simon is our son. Many of those blessings and miracles have been documented on this blog. God is good good good.

As we were looking at all of Simon's paperwork and pictures before traveling to get him, we had them evaluated by a medical doctor, someone specialized in adoptions. "Everything looks good" he said "He does seem to be a bit stubborn." Just like his dad (and his mom shhhh). We also knew when we accepted this little boy into our hearts that there may be other problems, other issues.

This morning we finally received some clarification on some of those other issues. Though there could be some big problems ahead of us, I'm so thankful that we are now in a place to do something about them. Simon and I went to see a pediatric plastic surgeon. It didn't take long for him to tell us a little more about Simon's leg and back. Gary and I had wanted to get these evaluated as the scarring looked so bad and the boy is a little lumpy. Both of his tumors had been removed in China, but we wanted to make sure.

Here are the results, edited a bit for privacy and time.

*The tumor on his leg is a vascular malformation. He was born with it, he'll live with it. It isn't something that can be taken out or corrected. We'll be maintaining it.
*It looks like the vascular malformation is a low flow one, so it isn't taxing his heart. YEAH!
*All the bad scar tissue is really a good thing. It is keeping this vascular malformation in check. Who knew?. . . . . Dr. Mann. :)
*The tumor on his back could have been a lipoma, or it could have been a consequence of Spina Bifida. Spina Bifida. Those are some scary words. I sat in the office and just kept writing everything down that the doctor was saying. I didn't cry until the end.

What now?
1. Let's talk with the Lord about it. I'm so glad He was at the appointment with us. He already knows how Simon's body works. He already knows what the doctors are going to say to Gary and me. He is the best doctor I've even known and he's always on call. I love it! I love Him.
2. Schedule an MRI and MRA to look at both his back and his leg. That will give us some answers regarding possible Spina Bifida (Lord, let it not be!) as well as the vascular malformation in Simon's leg.
3. See at Pediatric Orthopedist to X-ray and measure Simon's bones. One of the consequences of this condition is that is could cause his leg bones to grow at different rates.
4. Go from there.

Best case: No Spina Bifida, no trouble with his legs, have leg surgery in several years again to increase the amount of scar tissue.

Please join us in asking the Lord for this "best case scenario" to happen. Also, please pray that all these appointments don't wreck havoc on Simon. When he saw the nurses and doctors in white coats, he was so scared. He clung to me and cried. When he had his surgery in China, he had the operation on July 7 and wasn't discharged until September 17. That is a long time to be a kid without parents in the hospital. He is obviously affected by this and we have many more doctor's visits to go.

We are so thankful that you have chosen to follow along and travel with us. You have been so supportive and helpful. As I left the office with my Simon who began to talk and smile as soon as the office door closed behind him, I held his hand has he jumped into the elevation, he jumped out of the elevator, he jumped over the doormat, he climbed into the car, he sang about Jesus, and he ran into our house shouting his Grammy and Gramp's names. . . he is my boy. I left knowing not what the future holds, but knowing He who holds the future. We'll walk it together holding hands with our Lord.