Seems we aren't out of the stormy season of life yet. Usually, I post about Michael. But not this time....
I should start with a tidbit of history. Chase has something called Mild Pectus Excavatum. In layman's terms.... it means that the right side of his chest is caved in. We had it checked last back in 2007 at Brenner's and all was good. It was mostly a cosmetic issue and as long as he didn't start having any pain or other symptoms it just needed monitored. Year after year all has been well.
In February, Chase decided he wanted to run track at the small school he attends. I took him for his sports physical and before we knew it we were sent for a stat chest xray because Chase told Dr. Gunn he had trouble breathing sometimes. Xrays "seemed" ok, the only abnormality was he had a healing fractured clavicle on the left side that we didn't even know was there... Odd. But she said it wasn't hurting anything and signed off on track.
The very next day, a Friday, was his first track practice. After he ran he was sitting in the grass and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He texted me, then I got a phone call to come get him. I raced over and got him and he was still having a lot of trouble. So, we went straight to the urgent care up the road Another round of chest xrays were done and the doctor there again said the chest xray itself looked fairly ok, but did say that he would benefit from being seen by someone who specialized in chest wall abnormalities. Monday I took him back to Dr. Gunn who agreed.
One week later, March 11, we went to Phoenix Children's Hospital and met with Dr. Egan, a pediatric thoracic surgeon who specializes in Pectus Excavatum. After a VERY thorough examination, Dr. Egan explained that Chase's 2+ inch growth spurt in the last year appears to have shifted his chest wall a bit, likely causing the fracture and potentially putting pressure on the right lung making it difficult to breathe. He said it was time to consider surgery.
(You can see the bone broken off... as well as another area that looks like a previous fracture)
The plan currently is to have all testing done to get a good picture of what his chest looks like inside. He is scheduled for xrays of the ribs, CT scan of his entire chest and abdomen, MRI of his spine, echocardiogram and EKG, cardiac stress test, lung function test, and a series of 3 metal allergy tests (the surgery involves metal rods in his chest - ouch!!). These are all being done during the month of April. And, once all of these things are done and results are in they will have us bring Chase back to go over it all and put together a surgical plan of attack to correct it.
We are hoping they will agree to hold off on surgery until after school lets out May 22nd. This surgery will require 4-6 days in the hospital and 6 weeks of NO activity for him.... good thing he likes his electronic games! As much as we hate to ruin most of his summer, it is too hard for a high school kid to miss that much school and catch back up, especially at the end of the school year.
Honestly, Chase is handling everything like a champ and seems ready to just get this done. Dr. Egan asked him how he felt about it all and Chase replied "I don't care what I look like... I just want to do things I like again without collapsing".
Chase is going to miss a lot of school for all of these appointments, and then he's facing a painful surgery with a long recovery. I'm sure it sounds like a broken record... but we ask for prayers for Chase through it all.
I truly don't know what God has in store for us... but I know His plans are WAY better than ours, and I believe that we will see His unfolding and our story of surviving the storms will encourage others!
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