Joseph’s Journey

Dear Family & Friends,

We covet your continued prayers for Joseph!

Last Friday Joseph had an MRI and MRA. Today the results were conveyed to us by the neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital. Although the arteries and general blood flow in Joseph’s head are terrific, the scans did reveal ‘mild’ hydrocephalus (a condition that left untreated could potentially result in blindness, developmental problems and learning disabilities). According to this neurosurgeon, in cases like Joseph’s, shunt surgery is the recommended treatment. (A shunt is a tube that drains excess spinal fluid from the brain’s ventricles to the abdomen.) Since having a shunt is a life-long commitment and has a high failure rate, we want to be sure this is absolutely necessary. The neurosurgeon recommended Joseph get a spinal tap to measure the pressure on his spinal fluid. The pressure of the fluid in his spine is reflective of the pressure of that same fluid in his brain. If this pressure is higher than normal, the Joseph will need shunt surgery.

We’ve decided to postpone the spinal tap until after we see a second neurosurgeon in Madison. Miraculously, the Madison neurosurgeon (who came highly recommended to us) just ‘opened a new clinic’ which will allow him to see Joseph as soon as next week Monday, Oct. 13^th. Thank You Lord! We’ll have more to report in a week. Meanwhile, Joseph is running around the house unhindered and is a good natured as ever; it’s hard to believe this is all actually happening!

Please pray for us to have wisdom in deciding which surgeon is best for Joseph. We also ask you to pray that Joseph’s sweep spirit and tender heart are not hurt through all that he is facing.

Love, Chris, Angela and Joseph

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2003 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.