After surgery, Titus will stay in the NICU for several more weeks to stabilize. If Titus responds like he did from his last surgery, it will take several days for all the anesthesia to work it's way out of his system and for them to begin full feedings again. This also means that we are not able to hold him those first few days after surgery. We are better prepared for what to expect after surgery than we were last week. Nevertheless, it is tough to see your child wheeled away and to come back hooked up to a breathing machine. We are thankful that his nurse next Wednesday will be Michelle. She has been with us the majority of the time in the NICU and has become one of the family. All of the nurses and doctors have been stellar, but Michelle has a way with Titus (and with training us on how to care for him). Titus has been gaining weight slowly, so we are really praying that over the next few days, he can bulk up some prior to surgery. He was at 5lb 13oz last night and they are supplementing his feeding with extra calories.
We also received the results back from the "high-definition" chromosone test. They reviewed all the chromosones/DNA genomes to see if any were missing or if there were any other anomolies in his DNA. It all came back negative which means they could not find anything out of the ordinary, wrong, missing, etc. Titus does have an audiologist appt scheduled over the next few weeks. The results from the initial hearing tests are not satisfactory, so they are going to due a deeper level test.
Becky stated this week that "this isn't what how we had planned on spending our December". It wasn't stated in a negative way, but more of a matter-of-fact way. It really made me think on the verse "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. Prov. 19:21". This journey has truly taught us to "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Matt 6:33-34"
What I have come to realize is we "seek first" for today. I can't "seek" for tomorrow or for yesterday - it's my calling to "seek" today. And, I realize that if God had told me His exclusive plans for next week, I would probably forget, mix-up the details, or run away. It's probably the same reason the angels declared to the shepherds "TODAY, in the city of David, a Saviour has been born" - if the angels had stated "Next Thursday at 8:12pm, the Messiah will be born", I'm pretty sure that most of the shepherds (being men) would have forgotten, mixed up the details, or not shown up because something else came up to do. I'm not bashing my gender, just realizing that's what we guys do (as I'm often gently reminded). So, for today, I SEEK to listen, I SEEK to obey, I SEEK to know the Lord's plan and not my own.
Our specific prayer requests this week are:
- Guidance and directions for Dr. Genecov, the anesthesiologist, and the entire supporting staff of nurses/therapists during surgery on Wednesday.
- Titus will continue to put on weight
- Nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors on call this week for Titus. They really light up when we tell them they are being prayed for today.
- Continued health for our family
- Becky's GEMS group meeting on Tuesday evening - our dear friend Jody Krogstad is driving up from Houston to speak. It is so hard to express our gratitude for your prayers.
The last few weeks have been such a testimony to us as a family on how the body of Christ works together. Your emails, phone calls, food, hospital visits, taking care of the boys while we are at the hospital - well, it's just been overwhelming. For the boys, this is such a memorial for them to look back and see how God answered prayers. For Titus, as he gets older, it will be such a story to tell of his birth.
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