Short and Sweet, Maybe

heesweererrrFirst, let’s just chat about Maggie’s latest round of appointments. We pretty much have all of Maggie’s care performed in Wisconsin for various reasons, and most recently moved her Cardiology care up there as well. During her last two imaging sessions here in Springfield they weren’t getting clear readings and I wasn’t gettingp v clear answers, but they weren’t concerned. They had told us that she had a small hole in her heart but they were not sure if it was a PFO or ASD, but it was closing and there was no concern. When they called to make her latest appointment I began to ask questions about getting clearer answers regarding her heart. They called back later to tell me to just move her care up to Madison, which I was like, “Yeah, I was feeling the same way…” Fastforward to our new Cardiology office and Maggie laying in the Children’s Hospital watching Doc McStuffins as they collected her readings. She was so relaxed and at peace, which I had never seen during these readings. When it came to taking off the monitor stickers, she was none too pleased, but we knew they had good imaging and were likely going to give us conclusive answers. I sent up a prayer, “Lord, no hole in her heart and an all clear, for one less doctor to see. Please.”.

We sat in the office as the other doctors paraded in and repeated all of the great things we had heard before, her skull looks amazing, her surgery at 3 months old was a success and Maggie is doing awesome. Her hands are great, she is super strong and has tons of flexibility in her fingers. Just great news all around. Maggie is just living life and beating the odds. Lastly the cardiologist came in and sat down, introduced herself and began to give us the good news. “Well according to her charts that were sent up versus what we saw today, it looks like Maggie’s enlarged aorta is doing better and the two holes in her heart have closed.”

WHAT?!

I of course asked for clarification because I had no idea what they were talking about. We never knew about an enlarged aorta, or that there were two holes. I was flabbergasted and so thankful that the Jesus had shut that door at the previous doctor. So the story goes that Maggie had an enlarged aorta which can cause all sorts of bad things that I don’t like to think about, but none of them showed up; she had no symptoms of it at all. The new measurements indicate that Maggie’s aorta is just barely enlarged and functioning well. The charts from our previous doctor had listed two separate holes, not confusion over one, but this new imaging demonstrated that there was no sign of any hole at all. So once again, thank you Jesus for the new doctors, for the ignorance I had of Maggie’s heart because you know I probably would have been a nervous wreck.

At the end of the day we had Maggie’s eye appointment. The great news is that Maggie’s eyesight has stabilized, it isn’t getting any worse, which is awesome. The not-so-great news is that we have seen Maggie give signs of having issues with her depth perception. The doctor explained that her brain is shutting down one eye so that when her eyes turn in, she doesn’t have double vision. The problem with that is that it also eliminates her depth perception. The brain is awesome at coping, but it also has its limitations. So, eye surgery is back on the table. We have prayed and hoped, and we still do. We want a miracle, and we want to walk into the pre-operation appointment and hear them say, “She doesn’t need this!” but we also know that if they don’t say that, that God can work His miracle through the hands of the doctors. So join us if you will, St. Lucy, St. Angela Merici, join us with the rest of our friends to ask for God to heal Maggie.

I also humbly ask you to pray for our family. The thought of Maggie going into another surgery is probably one of the hardest things for our family to endure. The kids have expressed how hard it is for them, and I currently can’t even put into words what is going on in my own heart. So please pray for us too, to be what Maggie needs, for Carlos and I to be what the other kids need and for the kids to see God’s hand even in the suffering.

Okay, last bit of big news. The Tejeda family is starting a new adventure. Starting in April we will be starting our non-profit ministry and Carlos will be leaving his position at the Diocese. (This explains in part my absence from this blog as I have been learning how to create our website.) So, more details will be coming out soon and we look forward to sharing it all with you!

God bless you all! Thank you for praying for Maggie!