Happy Birthday, Patrick

Today is my son Patrick's third birthday. Several years ago, not long after Patrick's birth, my family went through a major life experience where we truly felt the power of the message expressed in the Book of Isaiah.

At Patrick's 2-week pediatric checkup, my wife Kathy and I discovered that our son suffered from a rare condition called craniosynostosis, meaning that part of his skull had prematurely fused together. Patrick's condition needed to be corrected by surgery - relatively quickly - or his brain would not have had room to grow properly. Shortly after receiving the news, we met with a local plastic surgeon. He came very highly recommended by one of Kathy's colleagues whose daughter had been treated by him for the same type of condition. The doctor, a nationally known cranio-facial specialist, had corrected children with Patrick's type of problem numerous times. We liked the surgeon immediately. He was an extremely warm man who gave us great confidence that Patrick would be fine.

After Patrick turned 3 months old, and was deemed large enough to withstand the rigors of surgery, he had his operation at Fairfax Hospital. The complex surgery - performed by the plastic surgeon as well as a neurosurgeon - lasted more than four hours. Patrick was in the hospital for almost a week. The surgery was very successful, and today Patrick is a healthy and gregarious 3-year-old.

Needless to say, Kathy and I were elated and relieved by the outcome of Patrick's surgery. We also know that God's guiding and comforting hand was with us along the way. Some examples:

We could not have been happier with Patrick's medical care. Given the rare nature of his condition, we had been prepared to travel to locate the best specialist and care. How did we locate our doctors? Kathy happened to recall a conversation that she had overheard months earlier. During that conversation, one of Kathy's colleagues had mentioned to someone else that her daughter had been treated for craniosynostosis. Kathy followed up and discovered that the specialist was now in the Washington area and operating at Fairfax Hospital. Moreover, Kathy's colleague had become friends with this doctor and was able to help ensure that we could see him quickly.

After surgery, Patrick started bleeding just as we arrived in the Intensive Care Unit. He needed immediate help. We were told that his surgeon had left the hospital. At that very moment, however, the doctor unexpectedly walked into the ICU and was able to take care of the problem quickly.

We had incredible support from our families, friends and community at The Church of the Good Shepherd. My sister visited from Texas for a week and helped watch after our then 18-month-old son Jack. Kathy's two sisters also were available to help with every need. Kathy and I still fondly recall pastor Jim Noland joining us to pray at Patrick's bedside in the recovery room immediately after the surgery. Jim was still bleary-eyed after (literally) just returning from the Lakota mission trip in South Dakota. Jim came back to check on us several times during the week. And because Patrick was on the congregational prayer list, we knew that many in the church community were praying for us.

Throughout our entire ordeal, Kathy and I knew that God was with us.

— Jim Lovelace

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist