Hello everybody! I know...two entries in a week! I wanted to give you an update on Benjamin's cardiologist appointment Monday. Jason brought Benjamin since I am still in the bed with my foot up. We saw a new cardiologist, which I think was harder on the parents than Benjamin. Jason said the office was great and the staff was great and the doctor was very thorough. We see Dr. Fyfe at the Sibley Heart Center in Atlanta. We just miss Dr. Douglas. This was the man that found Benjamin's heart defects initially, we are a little biased when it comes to him ;)   Anyway, Dr. Fyfe wanted to do an echo, ekg, and the holter monitor for 24 hours to get a baseline of everything. Jason and I were very happy that he wanted to do that. The echo showed that the pressure in Benjamin's left ventricle is 55, where 10 is normal and at his last checkup it was 50. So, we are continuing to watch that area. This is the problem caused by the muscle overgrowth at the base of the aorta. When the pressure reaches 60 or more it indicates a need for surgery. We have always known there was a possibility for more surgeries, but now that we are getting close to a pressure that indicates a need for surgery....ugh. Stomach a little quesy. Please pray that we just prepare ourselves for what God has planned. He knew how many surgeries Benjamin would need when He was knitting him in my womb. It is just so hard to watch strangers take your little guy away for a surgery and there is nothing you can do but sit and wait.

We continue to work toward raising funds for an autism service dog for Benjamin. We are hoping we can get that special companion for him.

The rest of us are doing okay. I got my cast off yesterday and the stitches out and am back in the boot. Two more weeks on crutches with no weight on my foot then the third week I can begin to put light pressure on it.

I hope you are all having a good week. Please also pray over the next three days as we try to downsize and have a garage sale. We need to get rid of some things to prepare for moving into an apartment next month! The Oswalts are here this week helping us. They are so very good to us. Benjamin and Emily are also having so much fun with Carter and Spencer. We are going to miss them terribly when they leave Saturday.  :(  Take care.

Love,
The Shawas