DETOUR>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On the road to recovery - Nathan has been given a Detour.....................
On Tuesday, July 27th we headed back down to Harborview again. Have I told you how I get a stomach ache every time we have to go back there?

In the last week Uncle Steve has had some worries about Nathan's lack of progress and all the extra bone he is growing, so he told us to get some definitive answers from the Blue team.

Normally when we go to the clinics we just see Residents and interns, and we don't ever get to talk directly with the surgeon that worked on Nathan. On Tuesday we insisted on talking to Dr. Rout (the tall Texan, "perfect" Dr.). The resident Dr. that we usually see told us that they would just keep an eye on Nathan's hip and we were not happy. She told us Dr. Rout was in a meeting until 12:30, and we assured her that we had time to wait. Shortly after 12:30, in walked Dr. Rout. Then I learned 2 new words - and I KNOW I won't spell them right.......................................
HETERATOPIC OSIFICATION
Dr. Rout says about 2 patients a year actually have this "condition". That is where the bone grows back in excess - BIG TIME! He said that we need to fix this "yesterday". Had we not seen him, we would've just left and come back in 6 more weeks for another checkup - meanwhile - Nathan making no progress, and that cartilage at risk of dying.

So - all this to say, Nathan needs to have another major surgery - this will be #7. We head back down this Tuesday (the 3rd), for Nathan to have a cat scan and then they will schedule surgery. Dr. Rout said this surgery should've happened yesterday because he doesn't want that cartilage to die. So my guess is surgery will be the 11th or 18th of Aug. As soon as we are given a date I will post it. We will be back at Harborview for another 5 days or so............... :-(

Randy had met us at the hospital, and after we left we decided to head to Ballard and try to find the Deadliest Catch boats. Our niece Kristin, who lives in Seattle joined us. We didn't find the boats, but we did find this................... (we decided one of these crab pots is about as big as our boat!!)Then we went to a fun restaurant and ate outside.........................For dessert, Kristin and I went to Cupcake Royale - a cupcake bakery. I have always wanted to go to one of these. Cupcakes are so fun! I could've spent a lot of time there, but we had 2 men waiting in the car. Poor Kristin had to put up with my giddiness over the cute little place..................We had a fun afternoon, then we dropped off Randy to head back to work and Kristin to head to her home.

Nathan is actually very excited about having surgery - he is tired of not making progress and wants to bend his knee and hip and walk normal. I too am thankful that something can be done about it. At one point we were thinking he might have to wait until next April when the bone would be mature before they could do anything.

We are thankful that we can rest in the fact that God is in complete control and has Nathan in the palm of his hand. I know this verse is overused, but right now - so appropriate!
"For I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future". Jeremiah 29:11