Where did March go? Andrew's Emergency

The day of my last blog post, March 16, our family experienced the beginning of the toughest trial we've faced.  If you know Damian and I personally, you probably know a little bit about what's been going on in our family recently, but there are lots of details that weren't shared, and other readers are still in the dark.  I think I'm going to attempt to write about our family crisis.  Everyone has been curious to know how in the world my healthy baby boy ended up being flown to Dallas for emergency lung surgery when he was 6 weeks old. 

I'll try to fill in the details for you, and also for anyone else who experiences the same situation, because Andrew's lung condition is so rare that it's hard to find information about it.  I can find clinical information about it, but certainly no one's experience with their baby.  And when I look for information about his recovery from lung surgery, all I can find are the experiences of people with cancer who have had similar surgeries.  A baby heals so much faster than an adult, so these accounts aren't at all helpful. 

I've read that Andrew's lung condition, called Congenital Lobar Emphysema, occurs in 1 in 20,000-30,000 people.  Our pediatrician thinks it's even more rare than that, since none of the doctors in his very large medical group have had a patient with it, and he's been in practice for over 20 years.   

So I'll try to fill you in on what happened, but how often I blog will depend on my time, energy, and inclination.  I do think it'll be helpful for me to process all that we've gone through.  I can promise you, I will not over dramatize any of it.  The entire thing has been dramatic enough on its own that there's no need to elaborate or play up any of the events. 

God saved my baby's life.  There's no way around it.  It sincerely was a life or death situation, and we were dealing with a very small time frame.  According to his doctors, when we arrived at the hospital in Dallas, Andrew only had hours or minutes to live.  It's a reality that has only just begun to sink in now that we're back home and attempting to get back to normal life. 

Fortunately, we will have a normal life.  Now that Andrew has had surgery, during which half of his left lung was removed, he will eventually be a normal baby.  His lung will actually grow back!  The human body continues to regenerate lung tissue until the age of 8.  His breathing in his remaining half lung isn't at full capacity yet, but once it is, he should be a healthy baby, and with time, he'll have two perfectly healthy lungs.  Praise God!

This has all been so incredibly hard.  But I know that never in my life have I ever felt so loved, protected, and provided for by the Lord.  And we'll never know just how many people were praying for Andrew's little life, but we know those prayers were answered and continue to be answered.

Andrew's Emergency: It's Not Just a Cold
Andrew's Emergency: Flight
Andrew's Emergency: Surgery
Andrew's Emergency: Recovery
Andrew's Emergency: Mommy, I'm OK