David Awaits His Third Surgery!

Well, after David's infection in the middle of May, his immune specialist increased the amount of antibodies David got in his weekly antibody blood transfusions and also put David on a rotating class schedule of prophylactic antibiotics in the attempt to curb David's infections and keep him healthy.

This was successful until Sunday, August 12, when in the evening, he spiked a fever.  Getting out my nursing equipment and doing an assessment, I came to the conclusion that David had a sinus infection and tonsillitis.  Anytime David runs a fever, we have to call the doctor, so Monday morning, while driving to work, I made a call to his immune specialist who was out for the day and asked that we get David's pediatrician to see him for a throat culture in light of the issues David had in May with having heavy growth of a bacteria called staph aureus which was resistant to many antibiotics and led him to the ER.  Monday evening, I took him to his pediatrician who diagnosed him with a sinus infection, tonsillitis, and STREP THROAT to top things off!  My head was spinning at how he could be so sick with having an antibiotic in his system all the time on top of the extra antibodies from his transfusions.  So, David's prophylactic antibiotic of omnicef was doubled to be a full-strength antibiotic to fight all three infections.

The confirmation of tonsillitis meant David would need to see his Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist (ENT) again, and this time surgery was a MUST.  We met with his ENT on Wednesday which was just in time since David had been running a 104°F temperature for the past 2 days despite the antibiotic and maximum dose of Tylenol and ibuprofen which meant that once again, his tonsillitis was resistant to the antibiotic he was on to treat the infections.  The ENT put David on Augmentin which did the trick back in May and was one of the few oral antibiotics that the bacteria was sensitive to.  Surgery details were discussed and paperwork signed.

On Friday, September 7, David will have a tonsillectomy, his third surgery in his 5 years of life (ear tube surgery & adenoidectomy were the other 2).  This surgery date is bad timing in many ways.  First of all, David starts 1st grade on Sept. 5, only 2 days before.  Secondly, David's birthday is Sept. 9, so he will only be 2 days post-op and most likely not feeling up to celebrating.  He will still need to be eating only cold, soft foods too, so an ice cream cake is definitely in order. :-)  We had to also push back the boys' joint birthday party to Sat., Sept. 22 so that David will be able to run around and have fun with his friends since he will be on activity restrictions for 2 weeks post-op.  Finally, the most scary timing issue is that David will finish the Augmentin about 2 weeks before the surgery.  He will resume his prophylactic antibiotic, but after this last infection, we know that he still is susceptible to infection.  We need to bathe David in prayer that God would protect his body from infection and help him to stay healthy to make it to his surgery date.  Otherwise, an infection would cause the surgery to have to be postponed.

David competing in his first horse show this summer after a week of horse camp which he thoroughly LOVED!.
You can see the ribbons he had already won there in the picture, and in this particular heat, he took 1st place!

David is in good spirits about all of this and wants the surgery.  He is sick of getting tonsillitis, and I don't blame him since this is his 11th case of tonsillitis since last Spring (2011).  We continually thank God for David's easy-going spirit.  He is such a trooper!

The ever present smile that warms my heart in David's good and bad times!

The other concern and need for prayer is that this surgery will be successful in PREVENTING infection.  The past 2 surgeries have only caused the infections to go somewhere else.  His ear surgery stopped the ear infections, but David started to get sinus infections.  His adenoidectomy was intended to stop the sinus infections, and although it reduced the amount of them, he continued to get them but also started getting tonsillitis infections.  Our fear is that if we remove the tonsils, the infection would find another location as before.  The only place to go is farther down meaning infecting his lungs.  It's not like his lungs can be removed next.  The real problem is his immune system, and with the removal of the tonsils, he will now be down 2 immune organs which doesn't help his already deficient immune system.  At this point, there is no other alternative.  We are still praying for God's healing and that the antibody transfusions will be sufficient and most importantly, that David's body will start producing the antibodies on its own so that all of this can become a thing of the past to the glory of God, the Great Physician.

David is in God's capable hands.  God is working out His perfect will in David's life molding him and making him into the vessel He desires for His service.  We are resting in God's promises and are walking in His daily doses of grace and strength.  Will you join us in praying for David's health and his upcoming surgery?  Perhaps God wants this to happen so that we can be a shining light to the staff of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, the hospital where David will have his surgery.  We don't know God's purposes, but we know that our all-sufficient God will work His perfect will, and we stand humbled that He chooses to use all of us as his tools in His Kingdom!