God blessed us with a flawless day!

Today James had his MRI in Sac. Both my mom and I have been under some stress lately, with my car breaking down, Lance's knee going out and having to go to the ER, and some other things... so we were both a little anxious about our trip to Sac today. But it couldn't have gone more smoothly! People were praying for us, and it really showed!

James did not say a WORD about being hungry or wanting to eat or anything all morning! We checked in around noon, and they numbed his hands and feet with numbing cream in preparation for the IV. They gave him some versed, a drug that makes him feel "drunk" and not care so much about all of the doctors in the room, and the poking, and the separation from mommy and all of that... Dr. Crocket, the anesthesiologist got his IV started on the first try in his left foot, and James didn't even seem to feel it (don't know if I should be happy or sad about that... hahaha)...

The MRI took about 2 hours, and then we went to Dr. Ciricillo's office. We got right in (early), and James was in the best mood! The doctor looked at the MRI from today, and compared it with some other ones that he has had in the past. He said that the ventricles in his head look good, and that there are no problems with the shunt, so that was good.

Here's the deal with the cyst - or actually cysts (plural)... it looks about the same as it always has... there is a long "hot-dog" shaped one, and then 2 smaller ones below that.. and there are a few pockets of fluid that are actually inside James' spinal cord as well... Dr. Ciricillo explained the anatomy in detail to me, and described our options and made recommendations. To make a long story short, he does recommend surgery to place another shunt in the cyst (which would drain to his lung cavity). So, it looks like James will be having surgery sometime in the next couple of weeks... I'm hoping that they have an opening for surgery during the very first week of April, right after the Tatros' visit, leaving plenty of time for recovery before Josiah arrives.

This is all good news. I like when things are very straight-forward, and it is clear what the best course of action is. I have been a little bit unsure of my decision to push for this surgery ever since i started pursuing this actively about a month ago... but James has had these cysts since birth, and the chronic pressure that they are putting on his nerves are probably causing permanant damage. The longer they stay there, the worse things could get. Today, the course of action seemed very clear. Praise God for that!

We will be in the hospital for 1-2 nights, and recovery takes about a week after we get home. I never like to see my baby go in for surgery, but it sounds like this won't be too bad.

So, if you prayed for us today, THANK YOU. And please continue to pray, as i schedule the surgery (probably tomorrow or the next day) and plan the next couple of months.