Gideon and God’s Glory

Thank you to everyone who was praying for our sweet Gideon yesterday. For those of you who may not know, Gideon’s pediatrician found a cyst in his scrotum at his 1 year well visit at the beginning of March. To be on the safe side she had us go to the local hospital in Bedford for an ultrasound. She was not pleased with the results so on we went into Roanoke for another ultrasound. While in North Carolina we got a call from our doctor stating that they were in contact with the children’s hospital at UVA and they thought it would be best if we came to see them. Each ultrasound showed a completely different diagnosis that what our pediatrician originally felt – a spot within his testicle.

It was hard not to be discouraged because in early March we were given the okay from Gideon’s urologist that he was good for another 6 months.

So then I went on to do what most mom’s do, but never should. I visited Google. I would lay in bed at night and scroll through possibilities of what could be going on with our son. Chandler would gently tell me to put the phone down, go to bed, and trust God, that he’s got this! If I’m honest, I wouldn’t always listen.

But God, in His goodness, gently led me to fix my eyes on Him and truly trust Him with ALL the details. He reminded me that no matter what the outcome, this was all for HIS glory and our good! I could trust Him.

When we sent out an email requesting prayer we received an outpouring of responses with friends and family letting us know they were praying. Truth about God’s goodness was spoken into our lives! It was exactly what we needed!

Our visit at UVA was long! They were running behind and then when we were finally seen they were a little perplexed as to why we were there. I guess there was some lack of communication between hospitals and doctors. After what seemed like a long wait Gideon had his ultrasound. Thank goodness for big chucks of apples for him to chew on, that was the only way we could really get him to stay still! He was a champ.

We waited another hour after that and finally saw the urologist. So it turns out that the original “cyst” was actually his epididymis. It was somewhat free floating rather than being attached more closely to the testis. This is most likely due to the other issues on the right side of his urinary tract. All that stuff develops at the same time.

He then went on to talk about the other spot that the ultrasounds in Bedford and Roanoke showed. He pointed out a shadowy area covering about half of the testicle on the right side. He explained how just in 2 weeks it had become more defined. That in itself concerned him enough to want to remove it. There is a possibility that it could be a tumor in it’s early stages, but it will be hard to say for sure until the actual removal of this.Thankfully, if it is indeed a tumor it is benign. However Gideon will be having some blood work done just to double check for any tumor markers.

This was a lot for us to soak in, especially because he was using a lot of medical terms we didn’t really understand. We asked a lot of questions and then a date was set for surgery on May 3rd. Thankfully this will be an out patient surgery and hopefully the recovery time will not be too long. Another great thing is that once this spot it out we should not have to worry about it reappearing. This should still keep us on track for leaving for Tanzania in August! God was so good to allow us to find this now, rather than once we were already in Tanzania!

As Chandler and I have talked and prayed and processed through all of this, we both agree that we want God to be glorified in this situation. We do not want this to be a wasted opportunity for us (and others) to know Him more and trust Him in new ways. Please pray that we will keep our eyes fixed on Him! Please also pray that He would continue to provide for each and every need that we have, as this was an unexpected expense along this journey! We know He will continue to show Himself faithful!