Update from Omy about the 2nd Surgery

Here is the update from Omy:

Hey there Praying Family,
Here is a quick update on Our Little Big man Avery. He is out of surgury,where his shunt drain system was relocated. He tolerated very well and the doctor saw no visual signs of infection and the labs so far confirm this. His swelling is slowly decreasibg. Thank you all for your continual prayers over his life. We ask that the prayers for a creative medical for a “new,complete,whole brain with NO brain defect or developmental problems come forth in the name above all names Jesus.
Much love,
Cabrera Family

EMERGENCY PRAYER NEEDED

This is a text i just received from my sister:

Averys red blood cell count dropped so they have to do a blood transfusion. They found blood mixed with the spinal fluid in his brain. He has surgery scheduled for 12 today bc the shunt is more on his dandy walker cyst then it is in the proper ventricle (a ct scan showed that this morning). There is risk of infection with the transfusion. Also pray that their is no bleeding in his brain.

Baby Avery: a short update about another surgery

URGENT UPDATE:

The doctors lowered the pressure so the fluid would drain faster through the head into the tummy lining. This is a dangerous step considering things can go wrong (his skull could collapse). If his incision continues to leak even after this step he will be going in for surgery tomorrow or Tuesday. Thanks for Praying!

Baby Avery: the past few days…

Avery with his new IV at the top of his head. They have pricked him a number of times but the IV’s keep going bad.

Just to give you guys an update, Avery has been showing positive signs of sucking with the oral therapy treatments he has been getting. Please continue to pray about this… He also has been digesting most of his food and going number two! He is still having some trouble with this but it seems he is getting the hang of it. REMINDER: He is being fed through a feeding tube through the nose and into the tummy. The issues with his sucking reflex makes him unable to feed orally.

His surgery incision in the back of his head has been leaking which isn’t good. It leaked through the night last night and a little today. The made a call to the neurologist and he told the nurses if it continues to happen that they may need to go in and adjust the shunt with another surgery. This can lead to infection so they are needing to keep a close eye on it.   Another surgery is the last thing we want so pray that the fluid drains properly through the shunt and not through the incision. Also pray that the nurses handling him through out the night would be lead in wisdom and knowledge from the Holy spirit. Some nurses are different from others. Last night Jenn & Omy didn’t feel peace about the nurse that took care of him. They said she was handling him around his incision a little rough while giving him a bath. Which leads us to the thought maybe that’s why it was leaking through out the night.  He used his lungs quite a bit today and it was awesome to hear him cry. I know it was because he was in pain do to the leaking but it use to be little grunts and now its more of a ‘waaaaaa!’ This is a good sign of strength. His one eye that has been swollen shut for about a week was starting to open as we talked to him.

Thanks again for praying!

Baby Avery God is your healer, He is your strength

Mommy’s second time holding Avery. Day 2 after surgery.

To all who have kept baby Avery in your prayers and to those whose hearts have been heavily burdened,

As most of you know, Avery was born Last Friday the 15th at 9:30pm. I can’t believe it’s almost been a WHOLE week! Despite being born with hydrocephalus, he came out with strong lungs and a healthy heart. I have been so overjoyed and to anyone who asks about his status (and even those who don’t) I go on and on for at least 20 minutes telling them of the good things the Lord has done for Avery. I previously posted a little bit about Avery’s testimony and how he has proved the doctors in Orlando wrong as far as them saying he wouldn’t live outside of the womb.

Moving forward, Avery has been cranky since his surgery. Every time my sister shows up to the hospital he is crying. She has been singing to him and that seems to ease the pain but when she leaves he starts right up again. As if he knows mommy isn’t around to comfort him and the only other hands that touch him prick him with needles and move him around into uncomfortable positions that he doesn’t like. Today Jenn thought about the fact that she hasn’t shown him joy but rather just tries to comfort him when ever she’s around. So today she was smiling and talking to him and holding his hand for at least 45 minutes. In these 45 minutes my sister began to feel hope as her son gazed into her eyes the whole time she spoke kindly to him. She has only held him twice since he has been born and with a toddler she has been limited to seeing him 1-2 times a day for about 2 hours at a time. So keep her in your prayers and continue to ask the Lord for strength and comfort for her mind, soul, and body.

Jenn received a call today from Avery’s neurologist and the geneticist shortly after she had left the hospital. They began to tell her the news that Avery’s brain stem is missing some parts and that his cerebellum is severely underdeveloped. The told her it is obvious that its enough to have his heart beat and his lungs strong but other than that they aren’t sure he will do much else. They also found a Dandy-Walker cyst on the back of his brain. Follow the link to find out more about Dandy-Walker syndrome.  The only update I have on his brain is that the back isn’t looking so good. We will find out more about the brain after the MRI which has been rescheduled for next week. This way his incision has more time to heal. Pray that in the next few days leading up to the MRI that the Lord will do creative miracles in Avery’s head and that what ever parts are missing would suddenly appear!

As far as feeding goes, Jennifer is doing great at pumping but Avery has not been able to hold it down. Right now they have a tube through his mouth and into his belly but he isn’t digesting the milk. He spits it back up each time after about an hour or so. His spit up also has a green substance in it which isn’t good either. Not sure what it means but the doctors haven’t made that clear either. He still has no sucking reflex and the specialist says it doesn’t look like he will develop one. They have plans on doing some exercises with him to try to encourage suckling. They have him on IV’s so he is getting his electrolytes and vitamins (they have had a hard time keeping it in and have pricked him in the head twice and even had it hooked up to his forehead for a bit) but if he isn’t able to hold down the milk they will have to insert a feeding tube into his intestines. They have plans on working with him until it is absolutely necessary to do so. Please pray that the lord would heal Avery’s nerve system and that his mouth would begin to do what it was made to do.

The doctors began to give their speech on how they don’t know how much longer Avery will live and if he will ever walk or talk and that surely he will have neurological issues and epilepsy. But we know regardless of what the doctors say, we will believe that Jesus desires to make Avery whole and he is the author of life. So we believe that he will finish healing Avery!

Avery 2 days old. The day before his surgery. I was telling him how strong he is =)

Baby Avery: Surgery scheduled for 9:30am tomorrow

So I just wanted to do a quick post of the latest with Avery.  I don’t have time to write one so here is a prayer request email that my friend Heather Botero  put together. Thank you all for your prayers!!! They are obviously effective! =)

Heather wrote,

I just off the phone with Jennifer and my heart is so filled with JOY! Avery is doing so well, and he is so strong.

I remember when she got the first sonogram and the doctors were pushing her to end the pregnancy, they told her there has only been 3 women who unborn children had the same condition as Avery at Winnie Palmer that chose to carry to fullterm and each ones baby suffocated at birth, and they told her that it would be the same for Avery…

Well they were WRONG!!!! We serve an amazing God who is so faithfull and so true! Avery was born with a normal APGAR score, and breathing on his own! And the nurses in the NICU told Jenny that he was almost rolling over, and she didnt believe them untill she saw for herself he almost rolled over!

Avery goes into surgery tomorrow at 9:30am to drain the fluid from his brain.

Prayer Request:

• -That there would be no complications durring surgery, & Jesus would be leading the hands of the surgons
• -That once the fluid has been drained his brain will expand. (they say the brain is like a sponge and will expand once the pressure is relieved)
• -That none of his brain will be missing, and it will be completely functioning
• -That once the pressure is gone, the swelling in his eyes will go down & that his bottom lip would be normal, its twisted right now to the left a little and is problamatic when nursing.
• -There would be no nerve damage
• -The shunt would never get infected, and would not give him any issues. 
• -He would have a speedy recovery & would not be in alot of pain.

Baby Avery: Calling a 7 Day Fast

In exactly a week I will meet my nephew for the first time. In exactly a week he will come into the world and we will see his precious face. Jennifer’s C-section is scheduled for next Thursday morning at 7:30am. I am calling a 7 day fast to any who would like to join us in prayer for his complete healing in the next week. Here are some prayer focus’.

• That Jennifer would be at complete peace and that her spirit would find rest in the Lord before the surgery. This is her first major surgery.         
• That the family would be supportive and also at peace about the procedures for both Jennifer and Avery.
• That the hands of the doctors would be led by the Lord during Avery’s Shunt procedure.  (draining the fluid in his head) and that Avery would have a healthy and full amount of brain tissue under all the fluid.
• Pray also that Avery’s healing after the process would be quick and speedy.
• That Jennifer’s milk would come in quick so they wont have to supplement any food for the baby. This is also the key to fight infection after the babies surgery.

• The doctors have scheduled his surgery exactly one day after he is born. They need him to be stable enough for exactly 24 hours. So also prayer for his stability. After the surgery he can go home as soon as 2 weeks and after about a month of being stable after the procedure he can travel back home to Florida.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

This is the way we are hoping things go but we give the situation fully to the Lord and trust in him and lean upon his goodness. We feed upon his faithfulness and in that we would call him worthy and glorious no matter the outcome.

Thank you all for your prayers they are greatly appreciated!

SURPRISE!

Saturday we celebrated my big sisters 2?th birthday! Genesis (my niece) has been attached to mommy since birth. She is the kid that has a nervous breakdown every time you attempt to leave her in daycare or with a baby sitter. Since my sister is living away from her hubby for this season, it was very important that she got to spend some one on one time with him before the baby comes which happens to be the next time they will see each other (NEXT THURSDAY!!). So to distract Genesis from the five hour extravaganza of birthday festivities, we spent that time preparing a surprise party for mommy. Birthday parties are Genesis’ favorite thing in the world. So much so that she would rather it be some ones birthday then Christmas! For this little three year old has always been about “giving” before “getting”.

After Genesis and Adam had a squirt gun fight they got right down to business and started to bake the cake

All in the name of ‘Birthdays’

Mixing is her favorite part of the process

and into the oven it goes!

Birthdays are impossible without birthday hats

Then on to decorating…..

Waiting for mommy to arrive

If you can’t read it…it states, “happy birthday mommy” and yes that is a heart in the upper right hand corner

Ballons? Check. Hats? Check. Presents? Check. Cake? Check.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY

Here is a video clip from the surprise. It was Genesis’ first surprise party and I think its the first of many. Its all she can talk about since Saturday!

Baby Avery: He’s not growing and its a good thing

I know this is a late update but last week we had a sonogram appointment for Avery. Before we went into the hospital we prayed and talked about our faith in Jesus and how he loves to heal. We discussed all of the prophetic words Avery has received along with the dreams the Lord has given people about his healing. We prayed for a more positive doctor this time around and boy did we get one! It was a rather quick appointment with little conversation during the sonogram. At first I was nervous and to be honest, I was expecting bad news. She wiped Jenny’s tummy dry, turned on lights and said. ” His head hasn’t grown in a month and his body is catching up in size! 4 weeks ago it was 11.2cm then 2 weeks ago it was 11.3cm and today it was 11.4cm. This is a good thing. We want to see you every week just to be sure he is happy and healthy.” I then asked her with a smirk on my face, “Did he seem happy in there?” she said, “Yes he does!” This was the best news I had all week and was enough to off set anything negative that came my way. Thank you Jesus for life!