Welcome to our site about our son Brodie Dick who will join our family on August 8, 2011 at 8:00. At 22 weeks we went in to find out if we were having a boy or a girl and we found out that we were having a boy but that he may have a birth defect. After an agonizing week we found out that our son had CDH (Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia). CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to fully form, allowing the abdominal organs into the chest cavity and preventing lung growth. CDH occurs in 1 of every 2500 births and a baby with CDH is born every 10 minutes. 50% of babies diagnosed with CDH do not survive. The cause is not known. This will be a journal of our journey and will allow our family and friends to keep up to date on what is happening with us and our son Brodie. Thanks for your prayers and support!


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Brodie Update

I would first like to apologize for not posting in a long time.  Life has been crazy and I always tell myself that I will do it tomorrow.  Brodie has been doing great and if you didn't know what he had been through then you would think he was just like any other normal child.  My last post was right before he got the trach out which is probably the worst time to stop posting.  That went well and he has not looked back.  Every time we go to the doctor they only have good things to say.  Once he decided that he could get around faster and into more stuff by walking he took off.  He has been walking for about a month now and gets into everything.  We are amazed out how easy walking is for him since he decided that is what he wanted to do.  His therapist is going to put him in braces but it is just to correct some minor things so that he can walk even better.  We can't be more thankful for how things have turned out.  When you go from being told that your son will not walk and have a helper arm to now it is truly a miracle.  There is not a day that goes by that we do not thank God for what he has given us.  The blessings that we have experienced through this are too many to tell and although it has been a tough journey it has been well worth the ride.  We still have nursing at night and about 7 therapies a week but life is pretty much back to normal.  With normal life comes the stress, worries and craziness of everday life.  We try to remember what is important but sometimes life just gets in the way.  One thing that does not change is how grateful we are to each and every one of you that has followed Brodie's story and prayed for his recovery.  We had a really great day yesterday.  We got to see Brodie's first doctor, his second doctor (the one that made a lot of decisions that we feels saved him) and the head of neonatology.  It felt so good to set him down and let him walk in front of them.  They were amazed and you could tell that seeing him made their job worth all the long hours.  We will forever be thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff at Texas Children's Hospital.  Although it was never a place I wanted to be I am thankful that it was there for us when we needed it.  Again, I am so sorry for not posting sooner and thanks for all of the support over the last 18 months.  Yes, Brodie turns 18 months old tomorrow.  I hope that everyone is doing well and I will be in touch.