The Journey Begins.....................

I can't believe the time has come.
For those who don't know what I am talking about..........our oldest son, Nathan, was born with a condition called Microtia/Atresia. It is a genetic disorder, where he was born without his right ear or the ability to have full hearing out of that ear. Today we started the journey for repairing his ear in the future.
Four years ago God blessed Rod and I with this amazing little boy. He has the kindest, most caring, loving spirit for a 4 year old, that I have ever known. Today was a big step for us on the road to making sure he has the self-esteem and confidence he needs to keep hold of that huge heart he already has.
I know there are so many other conditions or disorders he could have been born with, and we thank God everyday for this "cosmetic" bump in the road. But when it is your baby, and knowing what he is going to have to go through and endure over the next year or so, it doesn't make it easy.
Today we traveled to Atlanta to meet with a surgeon by the name of Mark Jones. He is a plastic surgeon that specializes in ear reconstruction. What a blessing he is going to be to our family. For the first time since Nathan was born, I feel like I know where we are going with this and where we are going to end up. Dr. Jones answered so many questions that we never truly knew the answers to. What an amazing thing we have in the world of medicine, to take rib cartilage from your little boy and mold it into an ear that will look and feel just like the real thing. Praise God for giving these doctors the knowledge to pioneer a procedure like this.
We learned that hopefully by next May (Nate has to be at least 40 lbs) we will be starting the 1st surgery. Within 8-9 months he should be done with the final surgery, there are 4 total.
I won't bore you with all the details, but if you are interested in seeing a little boy going through the same thing Nate will be doing (by the same Dr.), please click on the blog link for Nicholas Weiss under my Microtia Friends subtitle. You can also go to www.atlantaplastics.com to see Dr. Jones's website.

Sidenote: We will be going to UAB in August (my mom, aunt, cousins, Nathan and myself) to meet with the genetics team. There is a possibility that Nate was born with a syndrome called Goldenhar Syndrome, which would explain the microtia to some degree. Pray for us! Depending on the severity, if he has it, it would require more surgeries (on the jaw) on top of what he already has to go through.

Now for the fun!!! We made our way to the Georgia Aquarium after our doctor visit. Nathan absolutely loved it. Enjoy the pics below. And thanks again for your thoughts and prayers today and in the future.