In honor of Joel's birthday, here is the second post.
Joel has been through so much in his little life. He is one of the strongest babies I know to have made it through the past two years. He has a very strong personality that draws you in and makes you want to squeeze him with love and kiss his chubby cheeks.
I want to share with you a sampling of what he has been through in the last year. In December 2006 Joel had about a quarter of his brain removed at UCLA Children's Hospital to try to stop seizures that no amount of meds (even mixed together) could stop. So far they have not returned as far as we know. (Warning: the following pictures are difficult to look at.)
11/06 Joel was bundled like a mummy for his MEG test in San Francisco. I was feeding him in an attempt to put him to sleep.
The MEG test. He had to hold completely still without crying for 30 minutes. You know how hard that is for a 14-month-old baby.
12/06 Joel has been poked and prodded way too much in his short life.
12/14/06 This picture was taken the morning of his surgery. My sweet baby had no idea what was coming, he just knew he didn't like hospitals.
Waiting for Joel's surgery was agony. I felt like I NEVER wanted to let go of him. Part of the agony: knowing that he would return to me without a quarter of his brain. The other part: not knowing what the future would hold for him.
Finally out of surgery, my baby was swollen and attached to all sorts of wires and tubes. One of the tubes was draining excess fluid out of his brain. I was not prepared for that particular tube, so you can imagine how shocking that was.
The day after surgery was difficult as his eye was swollen shut and he was aware of it as well as being in a lot of pain.
Four days after surgery I was finally able to hold him when the tube to his brain was able to be clamped. Before then his head had to be at a certain elevation due to the tube. It felt sooo good to have him back in my arms but was a little scary at the same time.
When the head wrap finally came off we discovered he had 43 staples.
I had to include this picture just because he is so cute sleeping with his teddy bears.
My little "tough guy" with daddy just before we went home the first time. You can see how swollen his head had become pushing his ear down near his neck.
This was just before we left for home the first time. I didn't think we were ready to go home but they insisted he was ready.
Our one good day at home in between hospital stays. Only one week after surgery he sat up,which he had only done a few times before.
After being home 3 days we ended up in the ER at San Diego Children's Hospital on Christmas Eve and he was life flighted back to UCLA on Christmas morning. (Needless to say, our last Christmas was not what I had hoped it would be.) After a lot of testing and waiting they decided he had Chemical Meningitis (which was his brain having a chemical reaction to the surgery.) It was extremely painful with high fevers. Very difficult for us to watch him go through. I would have given anything to take the pain from him.
Joel was in isolation most of his 2nd hospital stay because they didn't know yet what type of meningitis he had.
20 days after surgery we were back at home with a PIC Line for his meds. Being back together as a family in our home was just the medicine he needed to put a smile on his face.
11/06 Joel was bundled like a mummy for his MEG test in San Francisco. I was feeding him in an attempt to put him to sleep.
The MEG test. He had to hold completely still without crying for 30 minutes. You know how hard that is for a 14-month-old baby.
12/06 Joel has been poked and prodded way too much in his short life.
12/14/06 This picture was taken the morning of his surgery. My sweet baby had no idea what was coming, he just knew he didn't like hospitals.
Waiting for Joel's surgery was agony. I felt like I NEVER wanted to let go of him. Part of the agony: knowing that he would return to me without a quarter of his brain. The other part: not knowing what the future would hold for him.
Finally out of surgery, my baby was swollen and attached to all sorts of wires and tubes. One of the tubes was draining excess fluid out of his brain. I was not prepared for that particular tube, so you can imagine how shocking that was.
The day after surgery was difficult as his eye was swollen shut and he was aware of it as well as being in a lot of pain.
Four days after surgery I was finally able to hold him when the tube to his brain was able to be clamped. Before then his head had to be at a certain elevation due to the tube. It felt sooo good to have him back in my arms but was a little scary at the same time.
When the head wrap finally came off we discovered he had 43 staples.
I had to include this picture just because he is so cute sleeping with his teddy bears.
My little "tough guy" with daddy just before we went home the first time. You can see how swollen his head had become pushing his ear down near his neck.
This was just before we left for home the first time. I didn't think we were ready to go home but they insisted he was ready.
Our one good day at home in between hospital stays. Only one week after surgery he sat up,which he had only done a few times before.
After being home 3 days we ended up in the ER at San Diego Children's Hospital on Christmas Eve and he was life flighted back to UCLA on Christmas morning. (Needless to say, our last Christmas was not what I had hoped it would be.) After a lot of testing and waiting they decided he had Chemical Meningitis (which was his brain having a chemical reaction to the surgery.) It was extremely painful with high fevers. Very difficult for us to watch him go through. I would have given anything to take the pain from him.
Joel was in isolation most of his 2nd hospital stay because they didn't know yet what type of meningitis he had.
20 days after surgery we were back at home with a PIC Line for his meds. Being back together as a family in our home was just the medicine he needed to put a smile on his face. 
3 comments:
Annie, you are one strong woman! And Joel is one handsome, sweet little boy! His smile is beautiful! I pray for continued healing for him and strength and direction for you and his daddy.
His smile is precious! Praise God that he an express himself so well.
The days surrounding Joel's surgery were difficult, but our heavenly Father was definitely walking with us through them. The circumstances leading so quickly to his surgery, the highly competent staff that took care of him, and Joel's developmental improvement since then all testify to God's hand. Even the fact that Joel's still-young brothers stayed consistently happy during their month-long stay at Grammy and Grampy's house show God's lovingkindness. Our family is so blessed to have Him walking with us so closely. Thank you, Annie and Isaac, for being so proactive, loving, and strong in caring for our little Joel. We love you all.
Grammy Peg
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