Things to pray about, Vol. 46259
I am sorry that I have not been faithfully updating this site. At first, my excuse was the holiday season, but that gave way to general apathy on my part. I simply have not had much to say that really fit here, and I certainly don't want to just parrot what I read on other sites.
I have been reading and thinking a lot, recently, about religion and about God (two very different things) and a bunch of us who are involved with the Contemporary service at Marvin UMC are planning on starting a new blog about spiritual issues. If and when I get that going, I will no doubt link to it a lot. Since those issues are the ones I have been carrying with me, those would be what I would write about.
Now, Mia: Mis has been regressing in her physical abilities for a couple of months. She loses her balance pretty frequently, and seems to have trouble with both her "bad," right side and her "good," left side, now. She shuffles her feet and tires out quickly, and generally has a terrible time walking holding a hand. She had been progressing with her walking, prior to the holidays. Anyway, her CT scan was normal, but her neurologist thinks that she is having a pressure buildup in her brain's fourth ventricle, a tiny ventricle at her brain stem. This would be a dangerous scenario because the brain stem is where our primal stuff resides--things like breathing and heart rate and emotions.... So, Monday, we have an appointment with Dr. Dale Swift at Children's Hospital in Dallas (he's who did her shunt when she was an infant). He is a world-famous neurosurgeon who we were just lucky enough to get--though we didn't know it at the time--years ago. He may have to place another shunt into this delicate ventricle to help relieve pressure for Mia, so I am glad he is not just a rock star like all neurosurgeons, but a super rock star; no second stringers should ever fiddle with my baby's brain stem!
So, I will update this site again after Monday, when I know what is what. Until then, please keep Mia and Dr. Swift in your prayers.
Here's her class photo, taken a couple of weeks ago; I cropped out the cute border and the names of all of the teachers and students:
And, here is a close up of just my happy little girl (who really, really loves her school, especially the book center!):
I have been reading and thinking a lot, recently, about religion and about God (two very different things) and a bunch of us who are involved with the Contemporary service at Marvin UMC are planning on starting a new blog about spiritual issues. If and when I get that going, I will no doubt link to it a lot. Since those issues are the ones I have been carrying with me, those would be what I would write about.
Now, Mia: Mis has been regressing in her physical abilities for a couple of months. She loses her balance pretty frequently, and seems to have trouble with both her "bad," right side and her "good," left side, now. She shuffles her feet and tires out quickly, and generally has a terrible time walking holding a hand. She had been progressing with her walking, prior to the holidays. Anyway, her CT scan was normal, but her neurologist thinks that she is having a pressure buildup in her brain's fourth ventricle, a tiny ventricle at her brain stem. This would be a dangerous scenario because the brain stem is where our primal stuff resides--things like breathing and heart rate and emotions.... So, Monday, we have an appointment with Dr. Dale Swift at Children's Hospital in Dallas (he's who did her shunt when she was an infant). He is a world-famous neurosurgeon who we were just lucky enough to get--though we didn't know it at the time--years ago. He may have to place another shunt into this delicate ventricle to help relieve pressure for Mia, so I am glad he is not just a rock star like all neurosurgeons, but a super rock star; no second stringers should ever fiddle with my baby's brain stem!
So, I will update this site again after Monday, when I know what is what. Until then, please keep Mia and Dr. Swift in your prayers.
Here's her class photo, taken a couple of weeks ago; I cropped out the cute border and the names of all of the teachers and students:
And, here is a close up of just my happy little girl (who really, really loves her school, especially the book center!):
