Yet Another Surgery - on His HEAD!!

We found out this week that Corban has something called bilateral coronal synostosis. It means that the coronal sutures in his skull have prematurely fused together. Not good news.

Why?

Well, firstly it means that as Corban's head continues to grow, the bones will not be able to shift correctly, resulting in a misshapen head. I have already noticed his forehead bulging out, a significant difference from what it was a year ago.

It also means, more importantly, that his skull could restrict his brain growth, affecting his cognitive abilities (including memory, speech, communication, processing, etc.). His optic nerves could be affected as well, so there is the potential of vision loss. If untreated, the pressure inside his head could become painful, causing nausea, vomiting and even seizures.

So, really none of this is good news. It's down right awful news, to be honest. With everything that's happened these last few weeks (from the broken leg, to hip surgery last week, to fevers, to thrush, to peed casts, to half a dozen meds) I'm TIRED! Corban's tired. We're all tired. Not sure if we're ready to handle another major surgery just yet. But we're also not sure how much time we have to spare. The surgeon mentioned performing the surgery in 3-6 weeks, so it sounds fairly urgent to me.

He did mention two other possibilities for Corban, other than the original mac-daddy-forehead-removing, bone-cutting, brow-rebuilding procedure. There is a smaller procedure where they would be able to make a small incision in the scalp and take out the fused growth plate. But this surgery would not take care of his misshapen head, nor would it prevent his head from growing even more asymmetrical as he gets older.

The third option would be to wait and watch his optic nerves, to see if they start showing signs of pressure. The problem with this option is, how often are we going to have appointments with the ophthalmologist? Every 6 months? Every 3 months? And what happens if something changes in between the appointments? Do we risk permanent damage?

So, we're back to the original option. Not my favorite. But none of them are.

Oh, Lord! Give us strength for this path you've put us on. Help us find refuge in the shadow of your wings. Guide our footsteps as we walk this road with Corban, and lead us in the way we should go. Help us, Father! We need you! Amen.