Decisions, decisions, decisions....

Well - test results are in, and now it's time to make some decisions.... I so hate making decisions, especially when you can't really see the big picture. A crystal ball would be sooo nice in situations like this.

Brady's CT scan shows that even after a long long course of heavy duty antibiotics, he still has signficant sinus disease, both in one cheek sinus and in the ones above his eyes. So, the recommendation of the ENT is - sinus surgery.

He went through everything about the surgery on the phone with me yesterday, the success statistics, the pros, the cons, the possible complications - vision impairment or blindness, going through the thin bone between the sinuses and the brain and having damage from that, scarring, the surgery just not working. The sinuses between our eyes are really about 15 small sinus cavities separated by thin little bones, and the surgery involves cutting through them all and making them into one bigger sinus cavity that will drain better and not get all gunked up. They will also clean out and enlarge his cheek sinus cavities, in the hopes that that will help them to drain better, and not get so full of bacteria and infection. Success rate of this surgery - 75% are at or near normal, 15% show improvement and another 8-10% need additional surgeries and have continued problems. We would want Brady to be in the 75% category. To go through this, with the risks, and not have it work, would be awful :( And, it would be easier if Brady could make the decision on his own (but really - would even a typically developing 6 year old be able to make that decision?), but I feel such a huge responsibility to make the RIGHT decision for him, the one that will benefit him the most. Also, they would repair the hole in his ear drum at the same time - the tubes that made the hole were such a simple procedure, the patching of the hole, not nearly as simple :( And, not without risks of permanent hearing damage, and facial and tongue nerve damage. Of course the doctor was quick to point out that these complications are rare, but you know me - Miss Worst Case Scenario (and maybe a little too much Grey's Anatomy and ER ;)

Soooo - what to do, what to do.....

I'm pondering and praying and I have faith that the Lord will help me find the answers, because I know that he loves Brady as much as I do.

Also - the district lady finally met with Brady's teachers (I think they were both there, maybe?) and the district is going to provide 4 1/2 hours of aide time for Brady so he can be in regular ed. more. If it works then he will only be out of regular ed about 1 hour, and 30 minutes of that is for some sort of service (OT/ST/APE). The district lady will train the aide to help Brady do HIS own work (a novel idea and one he probably won't be that thrilled with, since he's been able to get all the people who work with him presently to do his work FOR him.....) and give the right level of support. Brady is so good at getting people to do things for him, he's a master manipulator and it doesn't hurt that he's pretty cute (and I'm not a bit biased). He is capable of doing a lot, even if he doesn't want to and will initially push back when being pushed to do something he feels is hard. It sounds promising, but I won't be getting my hopes up, because it is our district afterall and it would be some kind of miracle if it actually worked. But..... I do believe in miracles, hope for them, and pray for them.....daily :)

So...... decisions, decisions, decisions........