Seeing through Suffering

On Monday, March 9th, we took Samuel into Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for a sedated MRI of his brain.  He has been complaining of headaches since late January, and after experiencing other symptoms of nausea and dizziness, though these could signal a sinus infection or migraines, our pediatrician saw signs of neither.  After his exam, he felt it best that Samuel have this test done.  We were expecting the results but not as quickly as we received them.

On Tuesday, the next day, our pediatrician relayed the news that Samuel, in fact, had two abnormalities on his MRI.  We were informed of them and waited for our next call.

On Wednesday, we heard from the neurosurgeon nurse practitioner who explained the MRI results and gave more details about what we would do from this point.  We were to begin taking detailed notes of Samuel's symptoms, and he would be having an MRI of his spine two days later.  She also informed us that Samuel would meet with his neurosurgeon on Monday, March 23rd.  The seriousness of the situation began to sink in.

On Friday, Samuel had a sedated MRI of his spine.  He handled it all very well, considering how challenging it must be for a four-year-old to process.

Over the next week, we continued to journal Samuel's symptoms, and they progressively worsened. From dizziness and itching to tingling hands and numb feet, he went from what we thought was perfectly fine in December to having difficulty holding his toothbrush and using his scissors in March. There have been moments when he is unable to stand because his feet are numb and nights when he cannot sleep well because his head aches so fiercely.  He appears fine to most, but there were definite changes... and we saw them.

Do you know what we also saw?!

We saw God open doors miraculously.  We saw Him take care of our son when we felt unable at times.  We saw friends love us through calls, texts, and meals.  We saw the church pray, and we FELT it.  We saw the Word come to life.  We saw the importance of staying IN the Word and filling our hearts and minds with truth from it.  We saw how necessary it was to love each other.  We saw the need for being thankful for what we have.

It hasn't been easy, but I KNOW that God didn't make mistakes when He made this precious boy of ours.  The doctors say he has a Type 1 Chiari Malformation which is a brain defect, and he also has a cyst on his pineal gland.  Both of these are making it difficult for spinal fluid to flow freely and putting pressure on his brain.  Although we are, I know that God isn't surprised by these.  God still has a plan to receive glory through this situation with Samuel, and we are praying to that end.

We will communicate from this point forward on this blog to keep you updated and provide you with specific ways on how you can pray for our family.

Please respect that we are shepherding our children through this process and ask that you refrain from speaking about it to them.