We are headed home in a an hour or so…not home, home but Katy home. We were hoping that Jackson would get his drain out before discharging but he still needs it so we are going to be brave and head home with it. We will return to see the surgeon at the beginning of next week sometime to have the drain removed.

We will be resting and caring for Jackson the next few days…yes, these two tasks contradict one another but we have grandparents just dying to help out.

Jackson is in more pain today but still being a good sport. He has learned to climb up and stand on the side of the crib and gets from laying flat to sitting straight up with ease. We laugh because every time he is sick he seems to push ahead with his milestones! We would love for him to take a break for a few days.

Details are still being worked out but at this point Seth will go back next week to work in Bogota for some time before probably returning again to the states. We will be here, there and everywhere for the next couple of months.

Here are a few hospital pictures for your viewing enjoyment…

This is of us before they took him for surgery.

This is of Jackson and I when he was in recovery just after we learned it was BENIGN!!!

This is Jackson when he got transfered to a room in inpatient..he was pretty groggy still. The next is of his adoring grandparents. He was not lacking attention for sure!

The next picture is of us with Dr. Huh, our wonderful oncologist who spent so much time caring for Jackson and for us along the way. And lastly, Jackson’s battle wound. It is a bit longer than you can see but this gives you an idea. He will take great pride in it, I’m sure.

We are currently in the hospital where Jackson will be for at least today. We think he will likely be here another night but we have no idea until we meet with the doctor today. He has a big drain attached to his incision and has managed to pop it off 2 times already so we are taking advantage of the assistance of nurses while they have him here! We brought his Praise Baby CD so that is helping to keep him distracted for short intervals. We’ll keep you posted but as I said last night, it will be post-op for a while…especially once we don’t have the nurses help.

Well, after Jackson being a “cancer patient” and Seth and I being “parents of a cancer patient” all week and after making long term decisions we learned that….THE TUMOR IS BENIGN!!!  It turned out to be a vascular malformation.  Jackson stunned the whole medical team and the zillions of people that we have been meeting over the past few days.

Jackson went in to surgery this morning and the doctor said she would come out within an hour to tell us the results of the frozen sample.  After an hour and a half we asked if they had any results. They said that the surgeon was having to take more tissue and that she would come herself to give the results.   We sat agonizing for a few more minutes.

We got called back to a private room to talk to the surgeon and she told us the surgery had gone well. She then told us that she was shocked but that the tumor was a benign mass of vessels.

Jackson still has the same recovery because he had the same surgery as if it was cancer.  He is pretty agitated and uncomfortable but the pain meds are seeping in so he is zoning out a bit.

We will have some more time in Houston for follow-up care and he will return every 6 months for scans.  The doctor said although vascular malformations are not cancer they can reoccur and cause pain so we need to keep tabs on it. It will give us an excuse to get back to the states.
We will keep you posted over the coming days.  Like I mentioned, we will be around for follow-up care and possibly PT.  Right now we need to recuperate and take care of Jackson while he heals.

Thank you for your love and support.  Your prayers were definitely answered.  Continue to pray for rest and healing!