MRI Results

                It’s been a long day and I am TIRED, but I felt the need to update this tonight.  I know there are many wonderful people living this ordeal with us and you all have been wondering how things went today.  Thank you all again for your love, support, and prayers in our behalf right now.  We will definitely need them more in the future!

                We finally have some concrete answers about our son and if you want to know what they are, you may want to be prepared to google them.  We’re dealing with some pretty crazy terminology!  We’re still figuring out all the specifics, but here are the general findings.  Unfortunately, there are definitely some malformations in his brain.  The first issue they found is called a Dandy-Walker Syndrome.  There is a whole continuum for this defect, but Flint’s is on the severe side. Basically, we are supposed to have a vermis connecting the cerebellum to the rest of the brain.  His vermis is not there, meaning there is a large gap between the 2 hemispheres of his brain.  He is also missing his Cavum Septum Pellucidum and therefore PROBABLY has Septo-Optic Dysplasia Spectrum (see – I told you they’re crazy terms).  The Cavum Septum Pellucidum connects the right side of the brain to the left side of the brain.  With both these connections missing, there is a lot of “communicating” that his brain just won’t be able to do.  As an example, the doctor talked about how when we walk, we just do it.  His brain would have to communicate every aspect of walking, and therefore, walking may not even be possible.  There are MANY ways this problem could manifest itself and how it affects Flint will still not be answered until he is here.  He could have problems with a multitude of physical and mental issues, even those such as breathing.  For this reason, there is a fairly high death rate amongst babies with these issues.  The radiologist told us that one of these issues by itself is bad, but then you combine it with the other issues, including his growth restriction, and it can be quite serious.  Again though, we won’t know what exactly it means for Flint until he is here.  What we DO know is that it is not good and there is nothing they can do about it.  Because of this, there is a very good chance that we will be able to deliver in Amarillo.  This will be a huge relief because we will be able to be together as a family, instead of me in Dallas with Flint and Brock and the kids back home.  We will meet with a neurosurgeon here in the next couple of days to confirm that there are no procedures that will need to be done on Flint once he is born.  As long as that is the case, we will plan on delivery in Amarillo.  We will then watch and see what he does and frankly, how long he lasts.

                While this is obviously not good news, we also were not shocked to hear any of this.  We’ve felt for a long time that it was going to go this direction, and I feel that Heavenly Father has been preparing us for this news for a couple of months.  We have good cries about it all the time, and I’m sure we will shed many more tears before this is all over.  There will be scary and anxious days ahead as we wait to meet him and see what his future will hold.  But we also feel at peace and know that whatever happens, Flint has a special mission to accomplish here and we are all growing from that mission, even when it really, REALLY hurts. 

                At this point, Brock and I would like to make a request of all of you reading this blog and following our story.  While there is a possibility that Flint can live, and even live a long time, we would like to ask you to please pray for his time on earth to be very short.  If he lives, his life will be severely limited, and as much as it hurts to think of losing him, it hurts more to think of him dealing with his limitations for a long period of time.  It will be hard to lose him at any point, but the longer he is here and the more we get to know him, the harder it will be to say goodbye.  I know that this body is the body Flint is supposed to have and I do not expect a miraculous healing.  The miracle I want now is for him to be born, give us a brief time with him as a family, and then for him to return home to our Father in Heaven.  I know he is mine and will be a member of my family for eternity.  He is the son of Brock and me and the brother of Davis, Duke, Gage, and Trayson regardless of how long he stays on earth.  It will be the hardest thing in the world to go through, but I am at peace with asking for this blessing.  I’m sure there are people who will disagree with this request, and if you just can’t bring yourself to pray for this, please at least continue to pray that we will be blessed with strength beyond our own capabilities.  We will need to be tough as flint to get through these next few months!

                Thank you again for all your love and support!  It means the world to us that we do not have to suffer alone.