My son's story
Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:56 am
Yesterday my son turned two years old. I thought I would share his amazing story here to praise God for His grace and mercy.
In 2008 my wife and I found out that we were expecting our third child. As was the case with our other two boys, the pregnancy was going great. Around week 30, the OB/GYN wanted to do an ultrasound just to see how big the baby was getting (both our other boys were 2 weeks early and at least 9lbs) in case they needed to induce early. During the ultrasound, the technician got really quiet. She left the room to get the doctor. There was something on the baby’s brain in the ultrasound, so they referred us to an OB/GYN specialist.
Immediately we went home and started researching what it could be on the internet. We found descriptions of arachnoid cysts, which we read are usually harmless. We were still nervous, but we felt a little more optimistic than before. When we went to see the specialist, the doctor did not mince words. As easily as she could say it, she said it was really bad. She said the baby had a massive brain cyst that was just above his spinal cord. She said that due to the size and the location of the cyst, the baby would probably die in utero or shortly after birth. She even strongly recommended against having a C-section because she said we could only have a few minutes with the baby after birth, time Mom would miss with him after a C-section. She said that if the baby survived past a few minutes, he would probably die within hours. And if he happened to survive, he would be looking at severe complications (not breathing on his own, feeding tube, paralysis, blindness, etc.)
Needless to say, we left that appointment devastated and in tears. I tried to be strong and supportive for my wife, but it was devastating. In an ironic twist, it just so happened to be her birthday.
The next few weeks were a rollercoaster ride of emotions for both of us. Some days were better than others. We both found comfort in our faith, knowing that although we didn’t complete understand everything, we knew that God did. We both found peace in knowing that no matter what happened, God had a plan for him. But we also had to face the reality that the plan might not be what we wanted. As tough as it was, I tried not to ask God to “just fix him” but I had to trust that His will was best for him. I personally took great comfort in 2 Samuel chapter 12. King David’s wife gives birth to a child that is going to die. He mourns for the child before he dies, but then after he dies he stops mourning. His servants are all puzzled by his behavior and his answer is “Can I bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me”. I took great comfort in knowing that if my son left me, I would one day go to him.
About a week before Wade was born, I asked God to please let me know what we could expect to be facing. This part of the story sounds a little strange, but as they say truth is stranger than fiction. A few nights later, I had a dream that we brought Wade home from the hospital and he was completely healthy. In my dream he had jet black hair, which seemed a little odd. I already had peace, but now I had a different kind of peace. I didn’t tell anyone about this because admittedly it all sounded pretty crazy. My wife was emotionally fragile, so I definitely didn’t want to tell her.
The morning my wife was scheduled to be induced we drove out to the hospital. We both were strangely calm and in a good mood. About 30 minutes before my son was born, I told my wife about the dream. I told her that I just felt like everything was going to be alright. Prepared for the worst, there was a whole team of specialists in the room waiting to deal with the worst after he was born. When he was born, he was kicking and screaming his lungs off like any normal baby. It was the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. He looked exactly like he did in the dream. He even had jet black hair.
They immediately moved him to a table for the specialists to look at him. They were all looking at him and laughing. I figured that was a good sign. They said there was nothing wrong with him. A little while later, they said that due to the size of the cyst they needed to airlift him to Duke University to drain the cyst. They took him in the helicopter, and we followed as fast as we could in the car.
The next two weeks were pretty tough. Wade had his first brain surgery at seven days old (and another one when he was a few months old). My son was at Duke for two weeks. If we hadn’t had that ultrasound, he would have been born and we might have never suspected anything was wrong with him, possibly until it was too late. I don’t believe it was a coincidence. When we finally brought him home, I ran into a friend and we started talking. I told him about my dream, and he said he too had a dream that he was born and was fine.
My son Wade has had two brain surgeries, countless blood checks, dozens of trips to specialists, doctors, and hospitals, and hours of physical therapy. It has been a tough road, but it has been a great road. Wade is an amazing little guy. Anybody who knows him knows he has the best personality. He’s doing great now, and you would never know he ever had anything wrong with him. Doctors, specialists, neurosurgeons, and neurologists have continually said they can’t understand how he is doing so well and that he is nothing short of a medical miracle. Usually when I tell people about him, they say that God must have big plans for him. That might be true, but I think God has been using him since the day he was born. Since then his story has continued to amaze and touch people. Hopefully that is happening now.
In 2008 my wife and I found out that we were expecting our third child. As was the case with our other two boys, the pregnancy was going great. Around week 30, the OB/GYN wanted to do an ultrasound just to see how big the baby was getting (both our other boys were 2 weeks early and at least 9lbs) in case they needed to induce early. During the ultrasound, the technician got really quiet. She left the room to get the doctor. There was something on the baby’s brain in the ultrasound, so they referred us to an OB/GYN specialist.
Immediately we went home and started researching what it could be on the internet. We found descriptions of arachnoid cysts, which we read are usually harmless. We were still nervous, but we felt a little more optimistic than before. When we went to see the specialist, the doctor did not mince words. As easily as she could say it, she said it was really bad. She said the baby had a massive brain cyst that was just above his spinal cord. She said that due to the size and the location of the cyst, the baby would probably die in utero or shortly after birth. She even strongly recommended against having a C-section because she said we could only have a few minutes with the baby after birth, time Mom would miss with him after a C-section. She said that if the baby survived past a few minutes, he would probably die within hours. And if he happened to survive, he would be looking at severe complications (not breathing on his own, feeding tube, paralysis, blindness, etc.)
Needless to say, we left that appointment devastated and in tears. I tried to be strong and supportive for my wife, but it was devastating. In an ironic twist, it just so happened to be her birthday.
The next few weeks were a rollercoaster ride of emotions for both of us. Some days were better than others. We both found comfort in our faith, knowing that although we didn’t complete understand everything, we knew that God did. We both found peace in knowing that no matter what happened, God had a plan for him. But we also had to face the reality that the plan might not be what we wanted. As tough as it was, I tried not to ask God to “just fix him” but I had to trust that His will was best for him. I personally took great comfort in 2 Samuel chapter 12. King David’s wife gives birth to a child that is going to die. He mourns for the child before he dies, but then after he dies he stops mourning. His servants are all puzzled by his behavior and his answer is “Can I bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me”. I took great comfort in knowing that if my son left me, I would one day go to him.
About a week before Wade was born, I asked God to please let me know what we could expect to be facing. This part of the story sounds a little strange, but as they say truth is stranger than fiction. A few nights later, I had a dream that we brought Wade home from the hospital and he was completely healthy. In my dream he had jet black hair, which seemed a little odd. I already had peace, but now I had a different kind of peace. I didn’t tell anyone about this because admittedly it all sounded pretty crazy. My wife was emotionally fragile, so I definitely didn’t want to tell her.
The morning my wife was scheduled to be induced we drove out to the hospital. We both were strangely calm and in a good mood. About 30 minutes before my son was born, I told my wife about the dream. I told her that I just felt like everything was going to be alright. Prepared for the worst, there was a whole team of specialists in the room waiting to deal with the worst after he was born. When he was born, he was kicking and screaming his lungs off like any normal baby. It was the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. He looked exactly like he did in the dream. He even had jet black hair.
They immediately moved him to a table for the specialists to look at him. They were all looking at him and laughing. I figured that was a good sign. They said there was nothing wrong with him. A little while later, they said that due to the size of the cyst they needed to airlift him to Duke University to drain the cyst. They took him in the helicopter, and we followed as fast as we could in the car.
The next two weeks were pretty tough. Wade had his first brain surgery at seven days old (and another one when he was a few months old). My son was at Duke for two weeks. If we hadn’t had that ultrasound, he would have been born and we might have never suspected anything was wrong with him, possibly until it was too late. I don’t believe it was a coincidence. When we finally brought him home, I ran into a friend and we started talking. I told him about my dream, and he said he too had a dream that he was born and was fine.
My son Wade has had two brain surgeries, countless blood checks, dozens of trips to specialists, doctors, and hospitals, and hours of physical therapy. It has been a tough road, but it has been a great road. Wade is an amazing little guy. Anybody who knows him knows he has the best personality. He’s doing great now, and you would never know he ever had anything wrong with him. Doctors, specialists, neurosurgeons, and neurologists have continually said they can’t understand how he is doing so well and that he is nothing short of a medical miracle. Usually when I tell people about him, they say that God must have big plans for him. That might be true, but I think God has been using him since the day he was born. Since then his story has continued to amaze and touch people. Hopefully that is happening now.