Josh Playing Outside

The grass is getting green now and the kids are really enjoying all the outdoor fun after the long long winter! Josh was rediscovering the joys of running through the grass in his bare feet! And the second picture was of him on top of the play house/slide thing in the yard and wondering how he was going to get back down! He has grown up so much in his mind in the past six months, really understanding and grasping many things that he didn't before his surgery. He takes life more seriously, and appreciates certain things more. These pictures were taken the day before we drove back down to Grand Rapids for his six month post-surgery check up (actually it has been 7 months now). The checkup went well; his blood pressures were even in all 4 limbs (before the surgery he had high blood pressure in his arms and very low bp in his legs.) and had another echocardiogram done which showed a nice open aorta without much scarring and no indication of further problems, so we won't have to go back for another 2 years!!! Yea! Praise the Lord! We were also referred to a pediatric enterologist (sp?) for further testing on his vocal chords. His cardiologist was fairly certain that his voice change is from damage to his vocal nerve, which has caused permanent paralysis to one side of his vocal chords. Usually there are no complications to this other than the breathy voice, but sometimes the paralyzed side can sag and cause choking, and sometimes the scar tissue can cause tightening which can lead to a feeling of not being able to breathe. So these will be things that we watch for. I watched a video taken of Joshua last year at this time singing "Jesus Loves Me", and the difference in his voice was overwhelming. I'm sad to see that go, but I know that I would much rather have a healthy boy than a singing boy any day! And to be living in an age where surgical repairs of any kind that give him a full future is a blessing indeed! April 21, 2008