Today Tyson turns 12! I'm having all the feels today! Joy, pride, relief, happiness, humility, inspiration, overwhelm. We're so thankful for the past 12 years and what God had taught us through our journey with Tyson.
Here's a few pictures of Tyson over the last little while so you can see how much he's grown. I can't believe how much he's growing into a young man right before my eyes.
Ok, and I have to brag a little about how our family is growing. Here's a recent pic of the whole family from this past summer.
Photo creds to our beautiful and talented niece Kayla from KHK Family Photography.
But we also have to meet with the genetics department to review the results from a genome study we did back in early 2018. We had a full genome study done on Brian, myself, and Tyson to see if they can discover anything in our genes that would predispose us to having a child with congenital heart defects. We participated in the study not so much to discover if we'd have another child with heart defects, but more so to help with research and answers for others in the future. As part of the study, they can also detect if we are predisposed to other serious health concerns like cancer. They've asked for Brian and I both to be at this appointment. I'm hoping this is just routine protocol to review the results together and it's not because they've found something we need to be concerned about. In any case, I'm thankful Brian can come along with us because the rule right now with Covid is only one parent allowed to accompany a child to his appointments. With the long drive in horrible traffic, along with the stress of Tyson's appointments, I often don't sleep the night before.
We try to get all of Tyson's appointments in on the same day but with a few extras thrown in this time, it's not possible this year. So on Wednesday, December 2 we go back again for a bone density scan, an abdominal ultrasound (to check up on his liver and kidney issues) a clinic appointment with thrombosis (because he's anticoagulated) and then the routine ECHOcardiogram, ECG, and a clinic appointment with his cardiologist. We'll also receive more information about if he needs to have an MRI or possibly even a cardiac catheterization sometime soon. We've received an exception to the 'one-parent' rule for these appointments too because of the anxiety of a stressful day combined with a long, stressful drive.
Your prayers for these upcoming tests are greatly appreciated.
This fall I had the opportunity to record a podcast called "The Shared Cup" with Alison Liddic where I shared what it's like to have a child with congenital heart defects. It was hard to be vulnerable and talk about the past, our difficulties and challenges in those early years of Tyson's life. I found that recording it really stretched me to get uncomfortable and talk about the hard stuff, even though I knew it would make me cry. Have a watch below if you're interested in checking it out.
If you or someone you know has a child with congenital heart defects or know of someone expecting a baby with heart problems, please share this podcast with them. I pray it hits the right person's ears and can be a source of hope and inspiration during those dark days.
I don't know why the video won't show up from mobile devices. In case you can't see the video embedded here, you can watch it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/BJXHm6zGFZU
