Surgery

     Pardon the silence! It's been a good thing (mostly). As you know, we've been home over a month now. Ethen is doing well. We did have a follow-up appointment with the pulmonologist two or three weeks ago, which went well. Ethen is still on a steroid breathing treatment, but this is to help prevent any acute respiratory distress during cold/flu season should he catch something. Helping give himself the treatment has been one of Ethen's favorite things to do in the past two weeks. "Shake, shake," he reminds us. "I do it," he says as he connects the inhaler to the chamber. He's progressing right along. Picking up words here and there. He's also been walking with more confidence these days, which is, simply put, awesome.

(pants on pants)

     Another awesome thing is that he had surgery this morning to remove his Hickman line. The surgery went smoothly. The surgeon came out about 20 minutes after we left the pre-op room to tell us he was done. A simple snip of the stitches and a slow, sure tug on the line got 'er done 😏. We're glad to be rid of it. No more flushing lines. No more changing dressings. No more fear of snagging his line on something that will yank it out. No more risk of line infection landing us in the hospital. Ethen does still have his G-tube, but we can remove the connecting tube when we're not using it. (Currently, we have no timeframe for getting the G-tube out.) Speaking of using it, we were on a good feeding schedule up to about a week ago, but then a stomach bug passed through the house and messed Ethen up for a few days. We'll get back on schedule soon, which will help Ethen to gain weight.
     Please continue to pray that Ethen gains strength and confidence walking and doing other 2-year-old things. That's right—Ethen's two now! Also, we have two more cycles of Accutane; pray these go well. Lastly, please pray for our mentality as parents. It's easy to be preoccupied with the thought of a relapse and all that would entail. Obviously it's a possibility, but please pray we aren't concerned about it. Pray he is totally healed.

(big 2-year-old in his new chair)