Update on Jaycee

Dear Prayer Partners~ Thank you so much for your prayers over Jaycee and her health situation. We spoke with the surgeon today regarding the results that came back from the Mayo Clinic; the doctors at Mayo Clinic have confirmed the diagnosis of an infiltrating lipomatosis. We are thankful that everyone is on the same page regarding Jaycee’s cheek and we feel confident moving forward with treatment options.

The surgeon mentioned several things on the phone today. The first was that, after looking at the MRI from October, he and the rest of the team of doctors who care for Jaycee did not see a significant decrease or improvement after performing the second surgery in 2013. The second item he mentioned was that Jaycee will need reconstructive bone surgery down the road but at this point in time, she is too young and her bones are too small for that kind of an operation to provide any improvement. He also mentioned that he wants her adult teeth to be in before he performs any bone reconstructive surgeries. Another item that he reminded us about was that the tissue in her cheek is very close to her main facial nerve and they don’t want to risk damaging the nerve at all which is a greater likelihood with multiple, smaller surgeries. The two surgeries that he performed in 2013 were major, extensive surgeries that resulted in minimal improvement to her face.

After the doctors from Mayo Clinic, the surgeon and Ear, Nose and Throat specialist in Minnesota all consulted together, they feel that they don’t have a surgery right now that will be beneficial for Jaycee. In other words, the risks of performing another surgery right now outweigh the benefits, so the surgeon wants to wait a year to let Jaycee grow some more before doing another surgery.

Since the surgeon has not seen Jaycee physically in over a year, we are making plans for Rodney, Tammi and Jaycee to fly out to Minnesota sometime in the very near future. We will see her surgeon as well as the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist who assists in the surgeries and an orthodontist who has a clinic at the hospital (since Jaycee will need extensive orthodontia work in the future)…….. Just like Tammi did J Thank you for praying that all three of these doctor’s visits can be coordinated during the 2 day period that we will be in Minnesota.

We are so grateful for all of your prayers regarding this specific situation! We know that God has great plans for Jaycee and for our family going forward and we are so blessed to know that The Great Physician has His Hand over this entire season of our lives.

Love, Tammi for Rodney, Jaycee and Justice