Update on Josiah...

Thanks so much to all who joined us in prayer and/or fasting for Josiah... I
just continue to be absolutely amazed and in awe of what God does in this family
and in this child's life!  Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him!! 

Below is the update from his dad:

An update from our day:

1.  Josiah did not seem at all fearful of the doctors and nurses this time.  He
has screamed violently in the past when we go in for these check ups.  He was so
sweet and cooperative today, allowing the doctors to poke and prod at his head
for however long and often they needed.  He stayed very still for them and
smiled sweetly.  This was clearly the GRACE of GOD.  Dr.  Blount commented on
the drastic difference and his lack of fear several times.

2.  The last time we went for a scan, Dr. Blount had commented that the entire
skull piece that had been replaced intitially was deteriorating and  we were
most likely to lose all of it.  There has been NO further loss of bone since
that initial scan in January, and the portion of bone that was "as thin as a
potato chip" is MUCH thicker and stronger than he thought.  This is a huge
blessing!  They thought they would have to remove this thin bone in order to
fasten the graft to a stronger area, but it is strong enough to hold the screws
in place itself, and seems to be strengthening further... this is CLEARLY answer
to our prayers!

3.  The course of action the doctors want to take is to fit a synthetic piece
(the material used is similar to that of a bowling ball) to the current opening
in his  skull (about half the size of the palm of my hand.)  The scans were
taken today to get an exact "puzzle piece" fit, and they are optimistic that
this is the answer to fixing his head in "one shot".  As his head grows, it is
likely that it will fill in the gap with bone and fibrosis, and we will not have
to open him up again.      They have been reluctant to take bone from another
place of his skull in case it is also resorbed into the body, and then his
resources to work with are depleted for future options.   If the plate does
separate from the skull as he grows, they will have at least bought some time in
order for him to age and get to the point where his skull thickens enough to
split and do a graft with his own tissue(age 5 or 6 is optimal). Thank you all
for your fervent prayers!  The Lord is at work mightily, and using this to draw
us nearer and nearer to Him, teaching us to listen and pray, and discern His
will and His voice.  Keep praying that we will be bold in every opportunity
given to proclaim His goodness and glory to others.  Concerning the surgery the
doctors are planning, if this surgery is what God wills to happen, we must pray
against infection(the risk is much higher with a synthetic material than his own
bone tissue) and please pray that this will be the only surgery needed.As we
have seen before, the Lord may change the course of the doctors plans again!  We
will be watchful and prayerful in the meantime.  He has abundantly exceeded my
asking and imagination. He is so WORTHY of praise!Thanks for your continued
prayers, we will be in touch!

Praying still and Praising Him!!