Nathan had a good day at the doctor's this morning. He behaved himself quite well, except for when he wet all over the exam table! We had just weighed him and I was just about to put a new diaper on him when he decided to do his thing! Oh well! The doctor said that it was probably because he remembered that the last time he was there, he had received a shot!
The good news is that the x-ray we took last week showed great improvement in Nathan's left lung. We could see how the lung had grown into the empty space in the chest cavity - with just a little bit of space showing now. And the doctor said that if you didn't know that Nathan had had surgery, you'd hardly be able to tell it from the x-ray. So we were thrilled to hear this good news about Nathan's lung and how it's growing and developing.
Nathan had also gained more weight - at his last visit two weeks ago he weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. Now he weighs 9 lbs. 8 oz. Everyone (mostly Ecuadorians who are used to small babies) comment on how big he is! Lately he has been waking up almost every two hours to eat so it doesn't surprise me that he has gained weight.
We still have Nathan on oxgyen - the doctor wants us to continue for two more weeks. Nathan's oxygen level in his blood still wasn't quite where it should be, but he was much improved from two weeks ago when we had him on the monitor. And we seriously have the oxygen tank on such a low level that we can barely tell if it's on or not. So hopefully in these next two weeks, we hope to see yet more improvement.
And once again, the doctor is amazed at how well Nathan is doing - considering that he was born with CDH. He was glad to hear that Nathan's hearing test went well. And just so happy to see how well he's doing. We reminded him that many people are praying.
We go in for another monitoring of Nathan's oxygen levels in two weeks. Nathan will also have another monthly vaccine called Synagis. This is a very expensive vaccine that is normally given to premature babies to protect them from respiratory infections. They are giving this to Nathan to prevent him from getting a respiratory infection. It is especially important at this time as this is cold and virus season here in Quito and also of course, due to Nathan's condition. He has already had one vaccine this month (at $861 for one vial - next month he may need two vials depending on his weight!) and will need to have three more shots according to the doctor. Thankfully our insurance has agreed to pay for 80% of the cost of the vaccines.
I'm including a photo of Nathan that we took today with his doctors (and a couple of other photos I took here at home). Dr. Javier Jijon is holding him and the other doctor who has taken good care of Nathan is Dr. Fernando Aguinaga. We are just praising God that He led us to Dr. Jijon as not only is he a great pediatrician but he also specializes in neonatal intensive care which was just what Nathan needed when he was born. He also is the brother of my OB/GYN doctor and both have studied medicine in the US.
Thanks for all your prayers!
1 comment:
God is so good!
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