Pool of Siloam: July 2013

Greetings from Snowmass, Colorado! The Thomas family celebrated Independence Day this year in our favorite Colorado spot, Aspen. We camped two nights, one night along Maroon Creek, which was quite amazing. We have been staying in Snowmass for the past two days before heading back to Denver tomorrow. It has been a great escape for us. We have enjoyed family hikes, swimming, parades, concerts, campfires (No fire ban here!) and Steph has enjoyed shopping while I have had some nice bike rides.

We almost didn’t make the trip. The day before our departure we noticed excess fluid around the catheter site on Rowan’s skull. We had the neurosurgeon check it out and she said it isn’t entirely uncommon but to keep a careful watch and be ready to drive back to Denver if Rowan starts acting off and showing symptoms of a shunt malfunction. Thankfully he has been his typical happy self.

We had spina bifida clinic last week and saw the results of his MRI. As expected, there is a lot of dismorphic anatomy but nothing the neurosurgeon was concerned about or is abnormal in a child with spina bifida. There are no further MRIs scheduled and if issues arise in the future the pictures we have will be used as a baseline to see if anything has changed. Rowan continues to recover well from his surgery and the other specialists felt he was doing great. He continues to see physical therapy every two weeks and we are learning some great exercises for him, many involving him standing up.

Please join us in prayer for Rowan’s shunt to continue functioning as well as us as parents to identify the signs that he needs medical attention. We have been able to feel the pressure changes in his head and around the shunt and are praying for things to return to normal. Unfortunately the only way to repair a malfunctioning shunt is to perform surgery.

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy the remainder of your summer. God Bless.

Kyle, Stephanie & Rowan