New Carter Info

Hi friends,

Thanks to everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers on behalf of Carter and our family over the past week. We do have a bit of new info to share with you all!

Carter and I (Bo) traveled to Memphis again this past Monday, Nov 16, to check in with our Cardiologist, Dr. Joel Lutterman. Our appointment was originally scheduled for December, but with the newest information that we received regarding the plastic bronchitis (see last week's journal), Dr Lutterman decided to go ahead and see Carter.

To make a long story short, Dr Lutterman is in agreement with Lindy and I that we should pursue a heart transplant. To our best knowledge, this is the last remaining option to strengthen Carter's heart. There seems to be a strong medical concensus that upon a successful heart transplant, the plastic bronchitis will no longer be an issue. Since the terminal prognosis was given last week, it seems our odds are better with the transplant despite all of the new "issues" that a transplant certainly will bring.So you may ask where are we in this process right now?

Well, Dr Lutterman is in contact with the transplant specialists in Nashville at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. You might remember that Vanderbilt is where Carter and our family spent a large portion of time in 2007 dealing with major lung issues. I think that it was about 15 weeks that he spent in the hospital there in 2007. So we are pretty well acquainted with the hospital and the Nashville area. We are thankful that even though this transplant will be a TOTALLY NEW BALLGAME for us, we do have a level of comfort already established there at Vanderbilt and Nashville.

Now that being said, we obviously have never done this with two babies in hand, so despite all of the obvious challanges, such as relocating our family to Nashville for a minimum of six weeks (at least on a part time weekly basis), there are lots of other things to think about as well.

Please pray for us as we undertake these challenges as things become more clearly defined in the coming weeks or months (we have no idea how soon this all will come about). We will let all of you know as we have specifics, but in general, Carter has to be officially placed on the transplant list then wait for some poor family to lose their child so that a new heart can be donated. (So overwhelming) I am very thankful to know that our Holy Daddy is in control of all of these things, down to the last detail. As soon as we hear from Dr. Lutterman as to some specifics in meeting with the doctors from Vanderbilt to get this ball rolling, we will let ya'll know.

Blessings,Bo