Omphalocele Update

On Tuesday, Jared, Harper and I headed to Houston for the Squirrel's annual appointment and check up with Dr. Cass. Cito stayed back in San Antonio with Honey and Grandy.

Our appointment was early on Wednesday morning so we woke up early, grabbed some breakfast and scooted over to TCH. We've known for the last six months or so that Harps would definitely need another surgery at some point. The muscle wall in her abdomen has become pretty bulgy so we were anticipating talk of a future surgery.



Dr. Cass wasn't too pleased with the overall look of Harper's stomach. Basically the fascia that was brought together during her last surgery wasn't as good quality as they originally thought. It seems that it's stretched and thinned, allowing for the bulginess that we see. He is also a little concerned about how potbellyish (my words, not his) her abdomen is looking. Her ribcage is still pretty small for her size so this could be the cause. Lastly, I've noticed some curvature in her spine so I asked Dr. Cass to take a look. One reason why we love TCH is that with no hesitation, he sent us over to pediatric radiology so that we could know for sure if she has scoliosis. We are still waiting on the results of the x-rays.

We will head back to TCH this spring to meet with Dr. Cass (pediatric surgery), the pediatric plastic surgeon and the pediatric orthopedic surgeon to determine the game plan and then the Squirrel will have surgery over the summer.



Jared and I were anticipating surgery again at some point but this appointment really seemed to take the air out of us. I guess after being on edge for Harper's entire first year of life, we got use to cruising along this last year and a half. Her omphalocele has literally been a non-issue for us and now it's coming back in the forefront. But we know God is good and we put our faith in Him to prepare us for what's ahead. And if TCH keeps handing out stickers at every turn, the Squirrel will be more than happy!



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