Jack's Xrays, almost walking and visiting Daddy

Jack had an appointment today at the surgery clinic. It went well except for lots of crying on Jack's part. I think he's getting "white coat syndrome". There was a really nice medical student who brought him a lollipop and even removed her white coat but he was already on to them. So much for my tough "I spent 10 days on ECMO" boy! The reason for the visit was to look at the 'bulge' on his left side. The surgeon thinks the asymmetry we're seeing is due to the fact that Jack had all his surgeries on the left, has a patch on the left and is not as muscular on that side. We really need to see what the orthopedic surgeon says in early October. We did get a chest xray today. When he reherniated in the past I could see the loop of bowel before his surgeon called to tell me. This xray is really hard for me to tell. I was a little nervous because I thought I saw a loop of bowel in the same spot but I'm sure it must be a shadow or something. We're waiting to hear back on the report. I'm probably just over reacting.

When I asked to get a copy of today's xray I asked about Jack's prior xrays. In the end I got 2 CDs (126 studies) worth of xrays/ultrasounds etc. I picked out a few that I thought were really interesting. Yes, I'm totally aware of the fact that I'm a complete dork but I'm sure other CDH families will appreciate the films :-)

Jack's first Xray while still in the NICU and on the oscillating vent. His lungs are so compressed and you can see all the bowel in his chest.


A few hours later when Jack was put on ECMO. You can see the ECMO cannulae in his right neck


Aug 30th - after Jack's primary repair. Check out the awesome diaphragm!


Dec 13, 2007 This is when Jack had that large pericardial effusion (blood around his heart). The area of his heart looks HUGE!


Today's xray with 2 big, beautiful lungs!


James works 5 minutes from Johns Hopkins so Jack and I swung by for a brief surprise visit (long enough to take a photo). Here's a picture of the guys...



Jack is also getting very mobile and as a consequence, getting into all sorts of trouble. We had some diapers placed on a shelf. James left the room for 2 minutes and found this when he returned:




Finally, here is a video we shot today. I apologize for making you all have to tilt your heads. I have to figure out how to rotate video!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com