sorry if it seems pretty lengthy…this is the same email that I had sent out to my family and close friends
Hi everyone
We met with neurologist Dr.Fullerton today and she told us that Nathan has been scheduled for an angiogram tomorrow to better understand the cause of the bleed on Sunday. He will also be under general anesthesia. The doctors are concerned about Nathan’s AVM. They are not sure if the AVM has gotten larger or if new connections have formed which could have caused the bleed. If that is the case tomorrow, they will do an embolization to treat the remaining AVMs. The embolization is the same procedure that Nathan had last April and July where they coiled and glued the malformed connections. We pray that the Lord will intervene in tomorrow’s surgery and that he will heal Nathan by getting rid of all of the AVMs for good. Please pray for the anesthesiologist that he or she will give the correct amount of anesthesia into Nathan’s precious little body. Pray that the interventional radiologists will be alert, awake and precise with what they want to accomplish. Pray that the Lord will guide the neurosurgeons/neurologists every step of the way including the decisions they make and the nurses who will be assigned to take care of Nathan after the procedure.
Dr.Fullerton wasn’t too sure if the bleed had caused additional permanent brain injury but once the blood re-absorbs they will have a better picture on how well they think Nathan will recover and if he will be completely be back to normal or not. She did mention though that she felt optomistic and that she really does think Nathan in time will to be back to normal.
Please pray that Nathan will be back to the same smiley baby we all know.
EDITED-10:30PM
As I was about to send out this e-mail Nathan had a 30 minute seizure. He wasn’t responding, his heart rate was dropping but the rest of his vital signs were fine. They ordered a CT scan and unfortunately it revealed a new bleed within the same area of the previous bleed. The doctors believe that it was the new bleed had that triggered the seizure. They are still not completely sure what the cause of the new bleed is but now they are starting to think that it could possibly be the AVM. Nathan will be transferred to PICU south where it will be one patient to one nurse instead of two patients to one nurse. They will just monitor him throughout the night till the angiogram. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a better understanding what has been causing the bleeds.
Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it’s still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I’m with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can’t find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I’m with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Thank you again for all of your words of encouragement and support.
God bless,
Tj & Jaimee