Prayers are so Powerful : Ethan Update

We are very pleased to say that FINALLY, as of last night ,Ethan seems to be feeling better. This week was extremely hard for Nathan and I along with the help of our wonderful family to nurse Ethan back to health before surgery. After many "extra -make-sure-all-is-clear-for-surgery visits" to Ethan's pediatrician this week, and phone calls to Riley Hospital, ALL of his doctors "so-far" believe that it is important to continue with surgery on March 1st. They believe that Ethan had a nasty "virus" (strep throat and minor upper respiratory infection), and so far has fought it successfully with the help of strong medicine and a shot. He had no fever for the past couple of days which is important. It was not easy for Ethan to fight this nasty cold compared to others he has had in the past. We are still not sure why this cold hit him so hard? He had a horrible cough and was not keeping much food down because of it:( We never slept, and he was only happy with Mommy holding him all day. He appeared to be very uncomfortable, restless, and in some pain. It was so nice to see him up and playing today, just a bummer that it's only a day or so away from surgery. So ,we TRIED to make the best of today by resting as much as we could, and running much needed errands. We will be leaving tomorrow afternoon to check in to a hotel before surgery day (this will be Ethan's second surgery).

We will ALWAYS update our blog as we receive information on Ethan's surgery (http://ourbabybadger.blogspot.com/2010/02/surgery-update-on-our-lil-man.html) and recovery during our stay at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This has been a long journey with Ethan's rare but thankfully MILD condition ( Prune Belly Syndrome). We were told he would not make it pass a pound when he was born, BUT he made it to 38 weeks weighing in at 9 pounds 6 ounces!! We were able to take Ethan home after a long week in the NICU, with no surgeries until he was 6 months old. He has beat all odds with Prune Belly, which is a blessing! It has never been easy to except, that no matter what, there is no recent cure for Prune Belly, but we feel so blessed that doctors are able to help fix Ethan to live a "healthier" life. He has been a fighter from day one in my belly and is doing great today. We thank god every day for blessing us with a very special boy...we wonder why or how we got so lucky!

(If you are interested in learning more about Prune Belly Syndrome please refer to www.prunebelly.org , It is highly recommended by many people such as Doctors, Nurses, Patients, Patients Family members etc. to refer "only" to this site when researching this rare disease. It provides up-to-date and extremely credited information. *** Also Ethan has a Caring Bridge page along with many other AMAZING  Prune Belly fighters on the PBS site!!!!)

We Kindly ask you to spread Ethan's story around. We ask that while you do just that, ask for prayers. We would be ever so grateful, if you ask for prayers from family, friends, neighbors, church members, co-workers etc. We have prayed for as many prayers as we can get for our PRECIOUS Little Ethan during this major surgery. We know how strong the power of prayer is. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us pray and asking others to pray for him.

Thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts!!!!!! Also, A GREAT BIG THANK YOU for the generous~ comforting ~sweet emails, calls, texts,blog comments, meals,cards, and care packages sent our way. It all WARMED our hearts!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!