Praise Him in the Storm

Hey everyone, Benson here. I am going to update the blog with a few journal notes I posted on Facebook once we found out about our son's condition so that we can keep all our story on one site. We pray that God blesses you as your read our story.

April 28th, 2010

Some of you know, most of you don't, that Kristin and I have had an extremely tough two days. There are, and will be, a lot of questions so I decided to journal for all to see. Let's get started...

Several weeks ago Kristin had her first ultrasound at Taylor Regional Hospital. Our baby boy was lively, and perfect. The only question was the radiologist could not clearly see all four chambers of his heart because the baby was too active.

Fast forward to last week...We returned for an ultrasound at Taylor Regional Hospital to examine the chambers of the heart. However, the radiologist determined the baby was in a bad position to clearly see the heart. So, our doctor sent us to Lexington for a fetal echocardiogram.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we visited Dr. Berry Campbell in Lexington. Upon arrival they told us they were to look at the heart and from all indication there were no abnormalities. However, once the sonographer examined the baby they still could not see all four chambers of the heart. They sent us to another sonographer that specializes in hearts. She found the four chambers but determined the left ventrical and atrium were underdeveloped. We then returned to Dr. Campbell's office and were met with a fantastic medical staff that treated us like their own children. We found that our son has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, meaning that once born his heart will not function to keep his body alive. This completely blew our minds.

Today, Wednesday, we met Dr. Arensman in Louisville, a pediatric cardiologist. According to his dictation he saw more than the doctor's yesterday but determined that our son does have Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. He was very encouraging saying that several years ago there were no medical procedures to correct the defect, but today there is a series of three surgeries. The first is called the Norwood procedure that happens two-three days after birth, the second is called the Glenn procedure that will take place around 8 months, and the third is the Fontain procedure that will occur around 18 months. Our son is in line for a lot of medical treatment early in his life with these open heart surgeries, but we are confident that he is in very good hands. We will meet with the pediatric cardiologist and surgeons in the coming weeks to complete our intended plan of action. However, the official diagnosis will not take place until the baby is born and a full analysis of the heart is completed.

Here is the good news. Kristin will have a normal childbirth with no risks for our son. He will be normal size and no one will be able to tell that anything is wrong with his heart. All his other organs are fully developed and/or developing and he is perfectly healthy inside the womb. He will be hooked to an IV that will help the blood flow until the first surgery is complete. He will be in the hospital for approximately three weeks. He will be in the hospital around 5 days for the second and third surgeries.

Here is the GREAT news. Kristin and I serve a great God! He has comforted us and given us a peace that is undescribable. He has taken away our fears and given us vision. We are not looking left or right, but straight ahead with our eyes on the Cross. Satan will not still our joy and he has been defeated. Better yet, our sons heart disease has been defeated. When Christ died, He died for sins but he also conquered the grave, sickness, sorrow, and all things that are not of God's nature! Healing is there for all to receive, and we claim our sons healing in the name of Jesus Christ! Through our son's medical situation something great will happen that will bring ALL glory to God. We will not stop praising Him for even a second! He created our son in His image and will continue to bless him throughout his entire life. Our sons heart does not have the word syndrome attached to it, instead it has Jesus written across it!

Please join us in giving all praise to God, and continue to keep our family in your prayers. I will update as we know more.

-- Benson