There Is An End In Sight!!
>> Thursday, September 17, 2009
There is a HUGE mix of emotions that I have been dealing with the past couple of days. As we talked about in the last posting, Max had to have surgery to fix his reflux issue, and things went really well. The surgery was a success and they were about to get things fixed so he should not have any issues in the future. Currently, Max is not eating milk right now and is hooked to an IV for the next couple of days. They said that he will be able to start trying to eat again on Sunday.
This is really where we will need your thoughts and prayers for the next little bit because this is what is going to determine how quickly we will be able to come home. If Max is able to tolerate his feedings this time around (using both the bottle and his G-Tube) we will be able to take off back to Arizona. Don't get me wrong...we really have appreciated Florida and everyone here, but we are MORE than ready to get back to the dry air.
Other than that, the only issue that we ran into after surgery was an issue with his circumcision. YIKES! I guess that there was some skin that was being pulled by the sutures and he was having some bad bleeding from his "tinkie". They had to put in three extra stitches to get him all fixed up. Poor guy!!! We felt bad enough for him that he had to go through three separate procedures, but that is NOT fun. We did have a little laugh afterwards as we were thinking that we have one of the best surgical teams in the country and the issue that Max had was with his circumcision!! They have repaired a hole in his diaphragm, put him on ECMO, wrapped his stomach around his esophagus, put in a feeding tube, and we had NO issues. They cut his little penis, and THAT is what he decided to make difficult. No worries though...they said that everything is fine, and that everything will be good in the future for him. :) (Daddy is happy.)
That is really it for the Max update. Things are looking good. We hope to be heading home in about 2 weeks if things go well.
We never get tired of how amazing you all are that read our blog. There are so many of you that follow our sons story and have never even met us. The fact that you care enough to read and to pray with us truly floors us. I just want to say a HUGE thank you to YOU. We are very grateful for the prayers and everything you all have done for us. We wish that there was something we could do to show you all how much we care. That being said...no plans are set in stone just now, but I know that we are planning to have a "Welcome Home" party for Max when we get back to Arizona. As we get details, we will share them, but we would like to invite anybody that has followed to story of our son or prayed for us to come and celebrate with us his Arizona homecoming!! Thank you all again, and we love you all sooooooo much!!!
Live, Laugh, Love,
30 comments:
Sorry to hear about Max's "issue." Sean had a "issue" too...not fun to deal with...makes you feel so bad for them! ;)
Glad things are going well. Praying for you all.
Can't wait to see Max!! :)
So glad to hear that Max made it through another surgery and is on his way to recovery....and HOME, soon!! :) We are praying that everything goes well on Sunday when they reintroduce the milk!! Just make sure he doesnt' get 'too worked' up during the UF/Tennessee game on Saturday!! Go Gators!! I look forward to seeing ya'll soon....just let me know when Max is feeling better....no rush.
take care...
So glad surgery went well. poor Max and his thingy. I hope Max will be able to take in milk very soon. Praying for a speedy recovery so your whole family can go home. Wish I can meet you all in person someday.
Love,
Dai
I have never met you, but I am a friend of Kim Dodridge, and found your blog on her blog. I have been praying for you and your sweet little one, and just Praise God that He is taking such good care of you all. I anxiously check out your blog on a daily basis to see what Max is up to, and the progress that he is making. I guess that would make me a blog stalker. I pray that God will continue to bless your special family. I know that God has special plans in store for little Max! He has already made it very obvious!
Sorry about Max's "pee-pee." (Jared had problems, too...Jaime isn't even circumsized yet, as they will do this in the OR.)
Hope all goes well this weekend and that you can get back to successfully feeds and to Arizona!
:-)
Love and prayers coming your way!
Sheryl
Hi All,
Incredible news! Max is on his way!!!
Thrilled to hear about the possibility of you guys heading home soon! We'll continue to pray that Max gets the whole feeding thing down soon! Love you guys! Give Max a big hug and kiss from the Goslings!
I heard about you from a friend on facebook. I've been following your story for weeks now. My family and I pray for you guys every day. We are so happy that your story is turning into a success story. I'm amazed and inspired by your faith in God and your wonderful spirit through this whole thing. We wish you many blessings for the future.
Jen Pabst -mother of 6
I'm so glad to hear the surgery went well and I will continue to keep Max in prayer. That is sooo exciting that you all may be able to make it back to AZ soon! And just in time for the weather to cool off. Look forward to meeting the little dude :)
Maureen
After all the necessary surgery Max needed you went ahead and subjected him to the cosmetic surgery of circumcision??? That's really strange. I've heard stories where boys either bleed to death or get blood infections from circs, Max is lucky he didn't bleed more than he did. Also, Jesus doesn't want you to circ your babies. It says so here (I just googled it):
http://udonet.com/circumcision/christian.html
Hope Max is home and feeling better soon!
I'm with the commentor above. Please don't circumcise him if there is no medical need! You obviously are great parents who care a ton! If you leave him intact, odds are he will be exceedingly grateful to you later on that you gave him that choice :).
Wow, anonymous...
We write this blog for our friends and family to keep up with us. Our decision to circumcise is 1. none of your business, and 2. there are still many positive reasons other than cosmetic to doing so. Thanks for your inconsiderate input, i most definitely did not subject my son to unnecessary pain. Hopefully YOUR kids are being taught to watch their mouths in public, because my kids will never talk to strangers so rudely without even knowing the person. thanks. Feel free also to NOT be anonymous when being so rude; it's cowardly. :) There are a HUNDRED other polite ways to state that opinion.
Anonymous,
I was going to leave it at what my wife said, but I need to just let you know how APPALLED I am that you would have the gall to come onto OUR blog and judge the way that we have chosen to raise our son. You have an opinion and so you decided to "google it"?
Your ignorance is truly shining brightly here. You have just shown that you can type your opinion into a box and see that some other person on the internet agrees with you. Guess what? I "googled it" too and I found that Jesus has NO problem with me doing that for my son.
On top of all of the biblical evidence that I "googled", I was also given MANY websites supporting the MEDICAL benefits (longterm AND short term) of choosing to do this for our son.
Every decision that Claire and I have made for Max was for the benefit and betterment of his wellbeing and quality of life. Your website that you so thoughtfully googled for us suggests that doing the circ is adjusting the perfection that God created and that we shouldn't alter things. Well, what about this?
I DO believe that God created people in His perfect image, but if we would have just held the ignorant stance that "Well, I know that Max has CDH, but God created Him perfect. Let's not change what God did." we would not have a son today. My son is NOT going to die from a circ. He is NOT going to bleed out. He is NOT going to get some weird infection. In fact, I used your "google method" again on this one, and I found out that there is NOT ONE recorded death due to a circ in developed countries. HMMM...
So, before I REALLY start chewing you out, I will rein it in and ask that before you decide to flap your lips and spew your ignorant, judgmental word-vomit on our page again, please think twice.
Love,
Daddy Bear
echo... Wow Anonymous. After all of the emotional pain the Griffins have been through, you try to "point out" something that has NO redeeming value?
Circumcision... most of America does it every day. It is the norm. It is healthy. It prevents infection from future disease.
Think about this.... "If you spot it, you got it." If you don't get it, think again.
Saying negative things to others to make yourself feel better = WHY?
Kudos to you guys for staying strong and sticking up for yourselves and Max. While keeping up these blogs is a fabulous outlet and a blessing for those who follow your stories, it does open you up for unwanted and inappropriate opinion sharing by those too ignorant to know when to keep their mouths shut.
Thank you for keeping us updated, as we love to see the progress your little man is making! Charlie feels his circ pain (He didn't exactly have an easy time with his either!) Take care and we are sending prayers for continued speedy recovery!
Go Max Go!!!! I'm so glad you are SOOOO close to heading home. Glad everything is going well now--prayers for a quick recovery and eating!
Liz
Mom to Par LCDH/Kays' Kid 11-1-07
Anonymous, the whole idea of circumcision is a larger religious idea than can just be quickly googled to understand. In the old testament God actually commanded his people to circumcise their baby boys. This was a part of the mosaic law and one of the many things that they did to make themselves 'right' with God. We learn later in Hebrews (new testament) that even back then following the law didn't make anyone right with God. It was faith. Faith then and faith now. And let me tell you, Jordan and Claire are two people that have faith. This act of circumcision isn't their idea of making their baby right with God. It's a medical decision. If their motivation was that somehow this would guarantee their child entrance into heaven someone could bring up the fact that we are no longer under the law (which it seems like you're trying to do whether you know it or not). Jesus and Paul both taught against just following the law to be right with God. God wants relationship with us, not for us to just blindly follow some set of rules and not really seek Him. THAT'S why in the new testament you will hear conversations between Paul and others about not circumcising. He didn't want them to fall into the religious trap of do's and don'ts and miss THE thing. In their day circumcision was the sign of a child of God. But THE thing is faith, THE thing is seeking God and believing him. Whether you circumcise or not, as long as you aren't doing it under some kind of misconception religiously you're in the right place. I've left a lot out in what I'm saying here. Research the topic carefully and fully and you'll find a lot of very interesting and spiritually challenging ideas. Ideas that push you to drawing close to God in relationship.
i've been following your blog since a while now =)
i always get your news in the mornings, cause austria and america have a little time distance =)
it's good and fun to wake up and a little later see that max is doing so well!
praying for you a lot.
You go Mommy and Daddy Bear!!!
Anonymous, as a nurse (with 18 years of ER and Pediatric experience)I have seen more complications from not being circumcised than from them being circumcised! UTI's (urinary tract infections), Kidney infections, and foreskin swelling so bad it cuts the blood circulation to the head of the penis off, are what we treat more often and guess what with? IV antibiotics and CICUMCISION SURGERY!!!If by chance a baby comes in with complications from a circumcision, 9 times out of 10, they are treated with Neosporin! Leave the judging to GOD, the medical advice to the Medical Professionals and doing what is ABSOLUTELY THE BEST for Max to Claire and Jordan!!!
Sorry Claire and Jordan but having a son I had to fight for makes the Momma Bear in me come out when I hear such rubbish!
Max, I am sending you a gift today! I think you will love it!!! :)
I'm thrilled to "hear" (read) that Max is doing so well! Since Max was born on my birthday, I've prayed and checked back AT LEAST once a day anxiously hoping for updates. After reading the comments about Max's "issue" it sounds like your mommy and daddy protection instinct REALLY kicked it! Good for you!! It's no one's business but yours, and you know what's best for Max!! Keep up the good work and I'll keep praying for continued healing and progress. May God continue to richly bless your family!
Thelma in Texas
Thanks everyone...
You guys are awesome...I would comment on the ignorant anonymous commenter but I think everyone has pretty much covered my thoughts exactly. We are still with you guys and praying...God is so good and this is such an awesome testimony!!! You guys have been a blessing to me just reading your blogs and seeing your amazing love for your son and the Lord! So, thank you:)
yeah!! How exciting that h-o-m-e is getting so close!! I am so happy that Max is kicking CDH butt!!! HE's a boy, got to make things difficult along the way some times :)
Ok, I have 2 comments. First, I am so thrilled to hear about little Maxy Pants. He is so precious and a beautiful reminder of the depth of God's love for His children. I will continue to pray for your family and a speedy recovery. The two of you have really been an inspiration to so many people (me included) and I thank you for allowing all of us to read your incredible testimony of trusting Him and knowing that His grace is sufficient to get us through anything. I believe that God is so proud of you both and the way you have taken care of the sweet baby boy He has blessed your lives with... so that brings me to my second comment...
It's hard to read comments like the one posted about what another person may feel is best for YOUR child. Unfortunately, there are people out there who feel they know what's best for all and they make sure to speak their mind in some of the most inappropriate settings. After following your journey, it's hard to understand why anyone would be so heartless as to question a loving Mommy and Daddy. I guess the only thing I can say is that those people out there who truly love you and care for you, will support you and your decisions and will pray for you constantly as you continue to love Max and bring Him up to be who God wants Him to be. After all you've been through, the words of Anonymous mean absolutely NOTHING!
As for Anonymous, I will pray that you will consider your words more carefully before posting such a comment to a family who has been through a tremendous amount of pain, sadness, joy, heartache, lonliness, etc...
Can't wait for the Welcome Home Party!
You go girl!! Ya'll are making informed, unselfish decisions concerning Max....don't EVER let anyone second guess you!! :)
As for 'anonymous'....maybe we should call you 'annoying' :(
You go girl!! Ya'll are making informed, unselfish decisions concerning Max....don't EVER let anyone second guess you!! :)
As for 'anonymous'....maybe we should call you 'annoying' :(
I'm glad Max is doing so great! We've been following your blog for a while and it's been a real inspiration to us. Our baby is currently on ECMO and it's nice to hear that Max, who went through the same thing, is doing so well. :) I pray that the feeding goes well and that you're able to bring him home real soon. :)
p.s. Don't let the Anonymous blogger bug you. They are obviously VERY ignorant and have NO idea what you're going through.
You are terric parents and people! Your love and caring has taken Max so far already! Love you guys and hope to see you soon. Jeanne
I have to add my 2 cents in whether it's late or not. Plus, no one has seemed to point this out. Circumcision is one of the few ways to prevent penile cancer!!!! Go Claire and Jordan! Your faith in people and God never ceases to amaze me and you both are super strong people. I about cry every time I read your blog:)
So thanks for sharing
Autumn
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