Prayer request for Seth

I have a wonderful friend named Vicki. 2 wonderful Vicki friends actually, but this post is about Vicki, mom of 7 who homeschools her kids. Her oldest son is 11 and after six boys they were surprised by a baby girl last year. Which has nothing to do with this prayer request, but it's just a bit of info.

Vicki and I have had some great times since we met at the Rehabilitation Center where she was taking Seth for physical therapy and I was taking Ryan and Carly for speech. We have vacationed together several times, 2 moms and a large crew of boys........and Carly.

Seth is her second son and was born with spina bifida. He is 10 and has overcome many obstacles in his young life. Seth had a heart cath Monday at Riley and things did not show what we had been hoping they would.

Vicki's email this morning reads:

Hi to all.

I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and support during Seth's heart cath. He did so great and I know it was the presence of the Lord. Seth has a huge amount of faith for a child so small. He can talk very easily about his love of the Lord and his dreams of heaven. What a blessing.

I wanted to also let all of you know what is coming up. Seth's cardiologist at Riley was hoping to do some ballooning or add a stint on Monday during his cath. He was unable to do any intervention. What he found was the homograph pretty much shriveled up and no longer functioning as it should. Our only option is to proceed with open heart surgery and replace both of the pieces that they had added when Seth was 2. Seth's defect is called transposition of the great vessels. His pulmonary artery and aorta were switched, so his heart operated as a two chamber heart instead of a 4 chamber heart.

When Seth was 2, and there were no other options left, they did a total repair and reconstructed his heart. The pieces that they used to repair and rebuild his heart are the pieces that now have to be replaced. The Dr. at Riley said that the good thing is at this point, they do not have to rebuild again, but just replace the pieces. It still means open heart, it still means stopping his heart and having him on a heart/lung bypass machine, there is still a risk of rejection of the things they add, and of a poor heart rhythm.

On Monday, after the cath. Seth did not want to talk about what was coming up. He was pretty bummed they were not able to buy him some more time before having to do open heart. Yesterday, however, he began asking some really tough questions about the surgery and all that he would go through. We are trying to answer his questions without providing too much info. Seth really likes to be prepared and know what to expect. He does not like surprises in these cases. Please pray that Brent and I will have wisdom. At 10, he is able to process and understand so much. He also has the capacity to be scared to death.

Above all, God is a good and gracious God. He has walked with us all the way. He has provided miracle after miracle concerning Seth. (the child who was to be a vegetable, the child who would never walk, the child that would not live through the night, and the list goes on). God has a plan and a purpose for this child and our family. Seth's life has touched hundreds of others. We have seen God show himself time and again in Seth's life. Praise the Lord for His mighty hand and faithfulness.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, and kindness towards us. It means more than you will ever know. We are all a little apprehensive about the up and coming days, but we are excited to see God's handiwork in our family.


Love to you all!
Vicki

Please join me in prayer for the entire family. I will keep you updated. Thank you.