This and That

What a busy, productive, exhausting weekend it has been so far! We are putting our house on the market next week, so we're finally getting around to doing all the things we should have done 3 years ago. Oh well, we'll be able to enjoy a completely clean and organized house for a little while at least.

(Yes, I'm speaking as if I know our house will sell. And, yes, I understand that it's probably going to take some time. But I also have this eerie sense of peace about it all; so not typical of my worry-filled personality!)

Anyway, moving on... (pun intended)


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Now, for the biggie... the orthopedic update. We took Ethan to see Dr. F. a couple of weeks ago about the numbness in his index finger. Evidently, Ethan's case has really made his head spin. I can tell that he feels absolutely horrible that this happened, and he said this has never happened to him in all his years of doing this particular surgery. It kind of reminds me of Dr. Jaggers after he told us that would need a pacemaker. One thing we've learned is that our little guy doesn't do anything by the books.

Dr. F. referred us to another orthopedic surgeon, Dr. R., who specializes in hand/nerve issues. He and Dr. F. both believe that the median nerve has been damaged in some way, but the question is "how?".

Scenario #1 is that the nerve has been lacerated and will need to be surgically grafted back together. If that is the case, it would be better to wait 6 months or so to let the nerves, and Ethan's hand in general, get a little bigger.

Scenario #2 is that the median nerve is being compressed somehow. If that is so, then it is better to do surgery to relieve the pressure, like, yesterday.

So, you can see that we're kind of stuck right now. Dr. R. is leaning more towards it being a compressed nerve, which is actually the better scenario of the two. Due to that, he feels that it would be best to go ahead and plan another surgery to see what's going on. We go back to see him on April 5 and he will examine Ethan's finger again to make sure there are no signs of it recovering on its own.

If things are still looking about the same, we will schedule surgery #8. It will be exploratory, in a sense, but he will also do the repair for whichever scenario it may be.

Currently, Ethan's finger looks great! We change out the dressing every other day, and it looks a little better each time. I think a nail is starting to grow back, so that will do a lot for making his finger look "normal" again.

Now, we just wait...


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Developmentally, Ethan is doing fantastic! Just this past week he began to pull up on things, and even cruised a bit in his crib this afternoon. He will get on his hands and knees, but still prefers the butt-scooting method to getting where he wants to go. And let me tell you... he goes wherever he wants!

His favorite phrase, by far, is "uh oh". He will purposefully throw something off of his high chair tray, just to peek over the edge and say "uuuuhhhh ooooohhh". It is hilarious.

This is also the first time in 12 months that I feel like I have a child who eats. He finally opens up and tries to eat whatever we give him! His menu this week has included samples of: cheese, veggie sticks, pancakes, a Cookout milkshake, birthday cake, potatoes and carrots from my mama's beef stew, a french fry, and a variety of pureed baby foods. I can't even believe I just typed those words! Not even a month ago, the idea of him eating part of a pancake was some distant fantasy. Not anymore!!

I am so, so proud of him and can't wait to see what another month brings.


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If you made it this far, nice job :) Thanks for sticking with me through all of that. We covet your prayers over the next few days, and I'll be sure to let y'all know how everything goes.

Until then...