As many of you may recall from past blogs, Zeke was diagnosed with having a CCAM when I had a fetal MRI done in Cincinnati prior to my fetoscopic laser surgery last July. Here we are in Ohio, coping as best as possible with the realization that I have Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome when the docs say, “Oh, by the way, if the twins are lucky enough to survive this semi-experimental surgery for this rare prenatal condition you have, one of the babies will have a rare birth defect known as Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation.” Say what?!?!?!?

Yes, that was quite the bombshell at the time, but really, having TTTS was a blessing in disguise because it is highly doubtful that Zeke’s CCAM would have otherwise been detected, that is, until poop hit the fan — poop being a serious lung infection at best or lung cancer in childhood at worst — since Zeke shows no signs at all of any breathing problem or other physical distress.

“I worked too darn hard to make it into this world,” explains Zeke. “I’m not going to let a little CCAM screw things up!”

The next order of business in Zeke’s treatment since his chest x-ray at Brenner’s Children’s Hospital in December was to get a CT scan, since CCAMs sometimes just go away on their own. So, Zeke had his scan done yesterday morning at Brenner’s and the imaging confirmed that the cystic mass of abnormal lung tissue is still indeed present in the right lower lobe of his lungs. (Check out this link to see a diagram of what the three types of CCAM lesions look like. Zeke has a Type I CCAM, which is the image on the far left.) Stephen and I then had a consultation with Zeke’s surgeon, Dr. John Petty, and decided that we are going to forge ahead and get this thing removed asap so that our Z boy can get back to living a healthy, happy life.

Moreover, we damn sure wanted to have the surgery before universal/socialized healthcare is forced upon our nation by the losers in Washington and treatment for conditions like Zeke’s are rationed by some pencil-pushing federal bureaucrat. Somehow I think Mr. or Ms. Government Worker wouldn’t deem Zeke’s surgery near as urgent and necessary as would Clan Dillingham.

Zeke & Gabriel will grow up together healthy and strong … and sometimes naked!

Surgery is scheduled for next Thursday, June 11. Dr. Petty is going to do a lobectomy, which removes one of the five lobes of the lung. The lungs will continue to grow until age 9 and the other lobes will compensate for the missing one, making for a totally normal child, who is able to play sports and hike mountains and scream as loud as any other kid at the park. Recovery time in the hospital is 3-7 days. He and Gabriel are going to miss each other so badly, but luckily they’re too young to be scarred for life over the separation. Speaking of scarring, Zeke will have a small scar under his arm and shoulder blade, but we figure he’ll come to think that that’s pretty cool.

“I’ll miss Daddy when I’m away,” says Zeke, “but at least I’ll have my thumb.”

Zeke was truly amazing yesterday, quietly soaking in all the roadway interests en route to the hospital, inspiring smiles in all the sick and worried people in the hospital’s hallways and waiting rooms, and charming the pants off of all the staff. He had been without food since 11 p.m. the night before and didn’t even go in for his CT scan till about 10 a.m. the following morning, so this makes his behavior all the more surprising. He did cry when a nurse put an IV in his arm for the contrast dye, but quickly got distracted by and subsequently grabbed another nurse’s medical badges that were dangling above his face, and then proceeded to take his sedative like a champ. We think his stellar behavior was due to the fact that he had Mommy and Daddy all to himself and was just enjoying the lack of brotherly competition … for once!