ANSWERS!

as if we needed further proof that moving back to Grand Rapids was a good idea...

here we are in one of the nation's best children's hospitals with a little boy with mysterious internal bleeding. and because we are here at HDVCH, we have answers. this hospital employs the best, and so we have the best caring for our sons. thank You, Lord.

ever heard of a hemangioma specialist? well we have now. and she's treating our son. we feel so overwhelmingly grateful for her and her team.

I'll back up. our Ivan has two hemangioma on his facial area - one near his right ear and one on the back of his head. hemangioma are quite common and rarely require treatment. they grow, change color, poof up, and then start to fade away. the hemangioma near Ivan's ear is close enough to the ear that it's been monitored closely to ensure it doesn't cause any problems with his hearing. so we've had hematology on board for a while now.

remember that CT scan I wrote about last? well it showed that Ivan has hemangioma internally on his intestine. the source of the bleeding has finally been discovered. no more trial and error, no more tweeks to his feedings, no more antibiotics just in case. we found it.

enter the hemangioma specialist (because, once again,  HDVCH is awesome). she works both inpatient and outpatient with hundreds of infants and children who have hemangioma. this is her thing. this is what she does. there is one course of treatment, a medication called propranolol, to expedite the shrinking of the hemangioma. she feels confident that this will solve the problem, and her confidence fills us with confidence and hope. and relief.

it is extremely rare to have hemangioma internally, but let me remind you that we have the best caring for our son. we know that God prepared this path for us, bringing us home to Michigan and bringing us to a hospital uniquely equipped to care for, treat, and ultimately cure our son.

THANK YOU for your prayers on behalf of our son. we have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season.