Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed

Rose and I may be weary from all that's happened in the last 3 months, particularly in light of Jude's recent reherniation and his need for another surgical repair, but our little boy is nevertheless undeterred!

Jude is often irritable and cries from having his stomach and bowel in his chest, he still deals with bad reflux on a regular basis, and he regularly coughs and gags because of has a gastric suction tube in his nose the size of a small garden hose; nonetheless, on nearly a daily basis he's bright-eyed, smiling, and charming his many visitors, especially his parents. :) 

One bit of good news to share with you from the last few days is that Jude received a good report from occupational therapy about his vision! On Friday, OT came by and checked his vision by testing whether he could fix his vision on different images and then follow them with his eyes. He did really well! We are so proud! In light of the fact that Jude has a minor eye condition right now, a good report from OT was that much sweeter!


Pediatric ophthalmology came by several weeks ago and confirmed that Jude has strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes. In his case, the misalignment appears to be a mild case of exotropia, with his left eye turning slightly outward. Fortunately, his condition seems to be intermittent and appears most pronounced when he's tired. There's a possibility that his problem could resolve on its own with the passage of time, but if it doesn't, then surgery may be necessary in the future. To be sure, we aren't too concerned about this issue at the moment, as it pales in comparison to all of the other problems that Jude's been experiencing, but it's something that we're aware of and praying that the Lord will resolve if He wills it.

Things have otherwise been mostly uneventful since our last post. For the last few days, Jude has been holding steady while we all await his surgeon's return. This morning Rose and I were informed in rounds with his physicians that Dr. Hebra, Jude's pediatric surgeon, will return to work tomorrow, so we're hoping that we'll soon have a plan for our little man's hernia repair. (Although some folks might have thought otherwise after reading my last post, Jude will not be going into surgery tomorrow; rather, we're thinking it'll be on Tuesday or Wednesday, although we're only speculating.)

If you would, please begin praying with us that, as surgery approaches, God's would grant wisdom and skill to Dr. Hebra and the other medical staff caring for Jude. Also, please pray for Jude himself, that he will be able to weather the surgery when the time comes.

Thank you for your prayers, everyone. We'll post more information tomorrow once we've had a chance to talk to Dr. Hebra and we learn about Jude's plan of care. Have a good night!