Will

Fighter, tough guy, trooper, and the list goes on and on...those are all words that describe my four year old nephew Will. I could also say goofball, nut, life of the party, etc. He is such a BLESSING to our family! As many of you know, Will had surgery this past Tuesday, April 20th, at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. This surgery was to repair a large hernia in his diaphragm that was causing his stomach to slide up and down, to reposition his stomach, and to stretch his esophagus. Will was born on September 14, 2005, and has had countless surgeries and medical procedures in his 4 1/2 years of life. He was born with Goldenhar Syndrome but it hasn't slowed him down much!

On Monday, Mom, Dad, Georgia & I met up with my sister Angie, my brother-in-law Joe, and Will in Houston. We went to eat supper together and Will was running and playing...so much so that you would never know he was sick! He was all over the place, rubbing Dad's noggin, playing with Georgia and getting hot & sweaty! Thank you, God! Angie told us that this past month he has felt EXTREMELY good, which is an answer to prayer because we all wanted him to be healthy and as strong as possible when he had his surgery. For supper he ate chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, and orange jell-o. At one point he turned to me and said, "BB? Are you going to eat all of your roll?" to which I replied "Go for it, dude!" He took a huge bite out of it and kept on eating. I would have given him everything on my plate if he had wanted it!

After supper we went back to where they were staying and Will opened a few gifts and we finished watching "The Sandlot"...GREAT movie! Here are the pictures I was able to get that night...

He loves hanging out with Paw Paw...

"Paw Paw? Do you need some help with that?"...as Dad was trying to work his puzzle!

Will LOVES Georgia and we were trying to get a picture of the both of them together. Georgia wasn't cooperating, SO...

Will made her look at the camera! Ha!

Instead of trying to write what went on the day of his surgery, I thought I would insert bits of his carepages site that Angie has been updating...

This was written on Tuesday morning, after he was in surgery...

Will went into surgery at 7:45 riding on a miniature John Deere tractor with a front loader....only as Will can do, checking himself out in the mirror along the way. We are already being immensely blessed by all your prayers. I was worried about Will waking up this morning and being hungry and thirsty, and having to tell him that he could not have anything. Well...he never once asked for a thing to eat or drink all the way up to going into surgery. Your prayers have fed him. He woke up happy, and has played all morning, only getting upset when he had to take off his jeans and "peace" shirt to put on the hospital gown. The other thing we were concerned about was Will going under anesthesia, since he coded 2x last time he was put under. Well, the surgeon himself, Dr. Darrell Cass, came out to the waiting room at 8:04 to tell us Will is completely asleep and that the anesthesia went very smoothly! Thank you God! Will's PawPaw, Grandma, Aunt Becky, cousin Georgia, and our pastor, Jeff are all here with us in the waiting room, surrounding us with love and support. And....we feel the love and prayers from all of you. We are very confident that this surgery is going to help Will feel better, grow, and blossom in Will style.

Dr. Darrell Cass is my new hero! He is the Texas Children's Fetal Center Co-Director and Pediatric Surgeon...and one AMAZING physician, taking time out to email and talk with Angie and Joe personally throughout their journey. We truly believe that God led Angie & Joe to him. I am so thankful for the power of prayer, as well as the power of modern medicine! We believe that God has saved Will through the work of this doctor, and his incredible "A Team" of assistants and nurses.

I took some toys for Georgia to play with and Mom had a blanket that we spread out on the waiting room floor...she did SO WELL!

Here is another update written by Angie. This was at about 10:00 Tuesday morning...

We just got an update from Will's pulmonolgist, Dr. George Mallory. The surgery is going very well. It will probably take another 2 hours. Will's pulmonologist said that Will's right lung is full of puss and mucus, stating that they could put a drain in it all day and it would not take care of it. So, they have had to put a balloon in the right bronchus to block the mucus from draining out and causing respiratory distress. Dr. Mallory said "Will is doing so well because he has the Great Physician". I cannot stress enough my confidence that the team working with Will right now was chosen by God. He is in good hands. The plan, according to Dr. Mallory, is to extubate Will as soon as they can, so he can cough and get some of that mucus out. Then put him in the Progressive Care Unit. This unit will allow us to stay over night with him, which will be a comfort to all of us.

Will will be facing another surgery, probably sometime this summer, to remove his right lung. It will continue to make him sick if it stays in his body. This is the update Angie wrote Wednesday morning...

As many of you have already heard, Will's surgery was a success yesterday. Will's stomach is now where it is supposed to be, and the large hole in his diaphragm where his stomach was herniating through is now closed. Hopefully his reflux is now eliminated. His surgeon, Dr. Cass, was very pleased with how the surgery went, and also very puzzled by Will's unusual anatomy. I cannot say enough about Will's amazing surgical team, including anesthesiologist, Dr. Glover. Will went under and came out of anesthesia beautifully! His post op nurse was so amazed by how quickly he recovered. We were very pleased too, but not quite so amazed because we know how many prayers have gone up on our behalf. Thank you! Will now is in the PCU (Progressive Care Unit). He had a difficult night, with sleep interrupted by periods of pain. He is also very congested, the surgery having stirred up the "endless" amounts of mucus in his "sick" lung. This morning, pain management has increased his epidural to improve his comfort, which seems to be helping. Will continues to require frequent suctioning because of the large amounts of mucus coming from his right lung. Now he has a low grade fever of 99.6. Please pray that Will does not develop pneumonia or infection....that is our priority prayer right now, and of course that he stays as pain free as possible. We walk a fine line with the pain control because it is so important that Will moves today and gets out of bed to improve the healing process.

We are so grateful to all of you. We feel your prayers and love across the miles.

Because will was in the PCU, only siblings under the age of 14 could be in his room. SO, Georgia and I spent time walking around, making friends, and Mom & Dad took turns with me as well so that I could see Will. This picture was taken Wednesday before lunch...Georgia and I were in the bridge area that connects two of the large towers of the hospital. It has these big windowsills that you can sit on. Georgia enjoyed watching the traffic, the construction across the street, and all of the people walking by. We even read a few books while we were there. Dad called me on my cell and asked where we were. Will was awake and when Dad asked if he wanted to see BB he shook his head yes! I practically ran to his room! Of course, when I got there he wasn't in much of a mood to hang out, but it was great to see him awake.

This was my bed buddy for two nights...it is hilarious how she sleeps! I had pillows on the edge of the bed so she couldn't roll off and she propped her feet on them and pulled her blanket up over her face and fell asleep. Of course I took the blanket off her face after a few minutes.
And last but not least, here are some pictures of Will...this first one is from Tuesday, the day of the surgery. He was definitely out of it.
And this one was Wednesday, before we left to come home. He was awake and watching Tom & Jerry.
I just spoke with Angie, Joe AND Will! He said hi and that he was feeling OK. Apparently he's being pretty demanding of his mom and dad, which is a good thing...he's getting back to the Will we all know and love! He's had apple juice and jell-o this morning and has not had fever! Praise God! When I called he was sitting on the couch in their room with Joe looking out the window at the airplanes. He wants to go down the hall, but it's hard to be too mobile when he has so many tubes attached. They are hoping he will get some of them removed tomorrow.

We serve an awesome healing God and we are so grateful for the care that Will is receiving. We know that our God is The Great Physician and we all believe that He has an incredible future for William Robert Cross. Being at Texas Children's Hospital reminded me how truly blessed I am to have a healthy baby. It really puts things into perspective when you see sick babies and children all around you. I am so very thankful for Georgia Claire and her health. BUT, I am equally as thankful for doctors like Dr. Cass, Dr. Mallory, & Dr. Glover who feel called to help the families like ours and children like Will. Angie said it best when Dr. Cass came out to give his report. She said, "We are expecting a long and happy life for Will." Simply stated but SO true.