Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

On September 15th, Katy and Andy found out that Baby Jacob has a life-threatening condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). CDH is a very serious condition in which a hole in the diaphragm allows abdominal organs to move into the chest restricting lung development. In Jacob's case, his liver is also squishing his heart and displacing other organs. CDH occurs in about 1 out of every 3,000 pregnancies and has a mortality rate of 50%. To make matters more complicated, Jacob has Right-Sided CDH which only occurs in about 10% of CDH cases and is typically more severe. They are so blessed to have found this out when they did, or Baby Jacob would have surely died at birth.

They will be delivering at UW Hospital in Seattle and later transferred to Seattle Children’s. Thank you to everyone who has already begun praying, and everyone who will now. Baby Jacob is blessed to have all of you thinking and praying for him.

One Big Step in the Right Direction!












"For with God nothing shall be impossible" ~Luke 1:37

Oct 28, 2011 -The surgery is complete and the repairs are done. He had a sizable hole on the right side, 2 inches or more. For a little guy, nearly all of his diaphragm was missing. As expected, his bowels, liver, & kidney were out of place, and his right lung was significantly underdeveloped. Everything went as planned, and his pain is managed by an epidural. We expect for him to get a little 'sicker' before things brighten up. 

At this point, the doctors believe that he may have to go on to the oscillator, but do not anticipate the use of ECMO. We are now waiting to see Jacob and continue to pray for his recovery. It's important to remember that for CDH babies, the repair surgery is not the key to his recovery. It is only the first step, and we have a long road ahead of us. His pulmonary function and stability are the primary focus. It's still a wait and see game.
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2 comments:

  1. MirandaOctober 28, 2011 at 3:44 PM

    Just so happy the surgery went well - surgery is always a scary experience. Thank you so much for keeping us updated as we continue to pray so we know what to pray for. I love you.

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  2. ElizabethOctober 29, 2011 at 6:32 AM

    This is very good news and I love that you know this is just the first major step. Slow and steady win this race.

    Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers and sending Sir Jacob Lung Function Chants!
    Elizabeth

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