Forest Gump

Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are going to get.

I am going to talk to you today about something that is going down in my life.
I have always been open about my life and I don't see a reason to stop.

My wife went to the doctor on Monday morning. Because she is 39 years old, and because about a year ago we were pregnant and she had a miscarriage, we decided to go to a high risk OB-GYN.
I did not go with her because I had a previous appointment. And I really didn't see a need for me to go. "I will watch the kids, you go. "

But when she came home she was a mess.
This is what she said happened...

She said they brought her back right away. She had a regular ultrasound done and one of those cool 3-D ultrasounds. The tech was oohing and awing about how good the baby look. She was saying how he/she is moving and waving and all that.
Then the doctor came in. He looked at all the stuff and very curtly said there is a problem.
The baby has something called a cystic hygroma at the base of his/her neck. Apparently there are some ducts that allow lymph to flow from the head to the rest of the body. If the ducts are blocked it is will swell. This is what is going on.
I called the doctor to get the information myself. He is not a very emotional guy. He basically says it like it is. The neck is suppose to be 3mm and it is 5mm. This could mean a couple of things. We will do an ultrasound next week and everything could be fine, he claims there is a 25% chance of this (that is not very good odds).
There is a 50% chance there is a chromosomal problem such as Downs or Turner's syndrome,
and a 25% chance it will get worse and the baby will die in utero.
Wow. I know I have just hit you with a nuclear bomb. Now you know why my wife was a total mess when she got home.

The doctor sent her home with a xerox copy of a medical journal article on Cystic Hygroma. The article was all in medical-eze and impossible to understand, and the article included all gorey pictures of what you kid could look like when it is born.
You know how there are people made for certain jobs and some are not. Well this guy was one of these guys that wasn't.
You know like the pediatric dentist that hates kids. Yeah, that guy.
To his defense he is a high risk pregnancy guy. He is going to have to deal with a lot of issues and if he involves himself in all his patients and their problems then he will go coo coo for coco puffs.
You would just hope he would get involved in just one case...OURS.

I want to tell you how I am doing.

I am okay.
As you know I am Christian. I believe there is a God up there and He is looking out for me. I believe He has a plan and it is just my job to live it out.
It is not my job to question it, it is my job to obey.
He never said it was going to be easy. He never promises a cake walk.
If you read the Bible it is filled with stories (not stories like fiction, more like history) of people the Lord molded.
It is filled with success stories of people being obedient to God and tragedies where people were not.

I try not to hold on to things of this world too tightly. Money, job, house, friends, family.
I know stuff is going to happen to me. I know stuff is going to happen to my family. I know stuff is going to happen to my kids. I try to prepared myself for this.

I love my kids and my wife more than word can describe. I thank Him for my kids every night. I thank Him for keeping them healthy that day. But...I know that things could change tomorrow.
You remember Heather, the 11 year old that has brain cancer.

So when we got pregnant I thought this is the best thing ever. But I have reserved some space for some issues. Does that make sense? Am I a walking Psychology text book, or what?
I don't think there is anything we can do about it. I don't think going crazy right now is the best thing to do.
I was telling my wife, "We can handle this."


I wanted to tell you this for two reasons...

#1. If someone knows anything about Cystic Hygroma and could maybe shed some light on what is going on for me. I would love for you to email me. If someone knows someone that knows something about this, let me know.

#2. I believe in the power of prayer.
If you all could pray that we are one of the 25% of the cases that things just work themselves out.
But if we are not then I ask you to pray for my wife and I to be able to handle anything that is put in front of us.
That we will be able to glorify Him in the way we handle ourselves.

That HE gives and HE takes away. It is not easy sometimes and I could get all Jesus freaky on you but I won't.

Thank you in advance for your prayers.
I appreciate all of you.
john