Thursday, June 15, 2006

A man plans his way...

...but the LORD determines his steps. This week has reminded me of the sovereignty of God, again. We received a call earlier this week from one of Isaiah's doctors cocerning a CAT scan that Isaiah had last week. That call was the beginning of another lesson from God, which is still in
progress:



This Thursday Isaiah will be having surgery to revise his shunt. At some point during his growth (which has been rather rapid of late) the shunt stopped draining properly and fluid began building in his head again. About 75% of people with shunts have to have some type of revision within the first 4 years, and 50% of those happen in the first year. All that to say that this revision is routine for the doctors and nurses, but not for us as parents.



Monday Thomas is going to lead a team down to the coast for some hurricane relief work. I was planning on flying to NC with Isaiah while Thomas was gone. Thomas was going to join us next Saturday to spend the following week with us there. Those were our plans.



Yesterday we went to see Dr. Lancon for a regular appointment and to talk about the revision. We had been told earlier in the week that the surgery would take place some time in the next month, which led us to believe that our plans would continue as normal. Then Dr. Lancon told us that Isaiah's surgery would need to take place this coming Thursday. Thomas went into a flurry of activity while we were still in the doctor's office. He had to make arrangements to come back early for Isaiah's surgery while being confident that the team would still have enough chaperones. After several hours of phone calls, the mission trip seems to be well supervised. When we got home from Jackson, I had the pleasure of calling Delta and trying to get my departure date changed. I must confess that I did not respond well to the ticket agent who told me about all the fees and extra charges that would take place. When I got to the point of tears, I realized that Thomas needed to take over. He handled the situation very well, and I repented. Thankfully we are still able to fly on Saturday following Isaiah's surgery, and now we are all on the same flight, which will be very nice.




We are thankful that Isaiah's shunt malfunction was discovered even before he began to show any of the symptoms. He is still happy and sleeping and eating well. Thankfully he will not remember any of what is about to happen. Please pray for Thomas and me as we wait for his surgery, stay with him overnight in the hospital and continue to care for him. Pray that we will be observant without being anxious or paranoid but simply resting in God's peace and presence. I am thankful that we are learning to be flexible in our plans, realizing that God is the One Who ordains all things. May He be glorified!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear friends in the Lord,

you might remember us from Yakutsk 2004 winter when you came for a short stay. I helped you to get registered in Yakutsk...

I was glad to find out that you have a personal website and even a blog with quite recent news! We do pray for your son and you, for your plans to come to Yakutsk. Your decision to come in Yakutsk is really admirable!! We are sure that God will bless you in your ways and ministry!

We are now in Romania, Dana's homecountry and plan to be home in Yakutsk (Yan's hometown) in September. How is your fundraising process going? Do you make it until Aug 1, 07?

Hope and pray that any surgery Isaiah needs would go smooth, pray that you three would have that peace only Christ can give!

Yan & Dana

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Slawson, My name is Mrs. Erin Thonpson. I was born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus 30 years ago. My friend e-mailed me your website. she thought that I might be interested. I would love to be of any encouragement that I can and I will definately be praying for Isaiah. How did his shunt revision go? I have had 25 surgeries in my 30 years of life so far. 1 of those was a c-section and the rest were spina-bifida related. I am thankful that God has allowed me to be born with Spina-Bifida. It has not always been easy but it has been profitable for me. I have met many special people and God constantly reminds me that I am completely dependant on Him. God has blessed me with a wonderful, godly husband and 3 precious boys. God has seen fit to not allow my boys to have spina- bifida. I had the first 2 naturally and the third I had to have c-section due to the cord being wrapped around his body. We are grateful for God's goodness to us. I would love for you to e-mail me . Our e-mail is ronandcompany@sbcglobal.net. I will be praying for you-- In Christ- Erin Thompson