20.1.09

Mum here for the time being with Guiness in hand! Good things come to those who wait I believe is their 'slogan' and today came a little hope again. After having a 'normal' morning at a softplay with Lucas and braving the highest slide and having to squeeze through the rollers(pretty good going 10 days after having a baby!!) we visited Theo. When we arrived, Mr MacKinlay was in with him and discussing his next steps. He is leaving for London for a week and was obviously keen to get a 'plan' together for his return. They are considering removing the silo they have on the exomphalos and covering it with another kind of sack which is used for burns patients. This other material will encourage Theo's own skin to regenerate and grow a kind of layer of its own. The one they have just now is ok if the contents were able to return to the body but as previously mentioned, only lasts about 10 to 14 days and then it isn't 'watertight' so to speak and doesn't encourage a layer of it's own to grow. I think everyone knows that they will be unable to 'fit' everything back in and so they have to look at other ways of repairing it. Their other plan is to also take a small amount of Theo's skin and grow it in a lab for about a fortnight to basically grow new skin to cover the exomphalos. It would still mean he would have a large hernia but they would then manage this like the conservative method they had hoped to do at the beginning. The thought of them taking anymore of him saddens me and I obviously asked if they could not take my skin instead as I would happily be skinned alive for him but they said his body would reject it. It has to be his own cells etc. It does sound like a bit of a miracle to do all this but we all know miracles happen and if it's going to happen to anyone then Theo will be the chosen one. How can it not be after all the prayers that have been sent:-) He was looking slightly better today and definitely seemed more responsive. His wee eyes are still very puffy and they said it is probably sore for him to open them but he was definitely moving his eyes around inside his eyelids when I was speaking to him today and he was moving his wee feet when I was rubbing them...a good sign he is tickly like his big brother! Mr MacKinlay seemed more positive and when I joked about not wanting to see him today in case he used the words 'huge problem' again, he laughed and said I was not to worry until he used the word 'insurmountable problem'!! (had to look that one up in the dictionary!) He also emphasised that they would do everything in their power to fix Theo and I know they are searching every avenue for him. They are reintroducing his milk again today as they tried yesterday and he threw it all back up after 4 hours (hopefully nothing to do with all the ailments I am taking...maybe he just doesn't like the Guiness mind you!) So overall a positive day and it has certainly helped to boost me again and pick my spirits up. Talking of which, I want to thank you all again for your kind words of encouragement. I know I keep mentioning it but I can't begin to explain how they keep us going. It reminds you how lucky you are to have such a wonderful group of friends and even when faced with adversity, you can get so much strength from pulling together.
Well I'll go now and finish my Guiness and phone the hospital for my next update. I'm sorry if some of the posts are so long and I hope they don't put people off reading them but as much as they are a way of keeping you all informed, they are also a record of our gorgeous sons journey which one day he will hopefully read and realise how much bloody stress he put us under and understand why he is wrapped in bubble wrap and not allowed out of my sight for a minute :-)