Jonna and I have only talked face to face a few times. She is a member of a church that used to support our family when we were missionaries in Mexico. I met her there during a visit to update their church and we soon became friends on Facebook. At first it was distant – you know, the “like, heart, smiley face” sort of relationship we have with most on there, until I found out she was learning about the same healthy eating plan I was. We started communicating on a more personal level, exchanged phone numbers so we could text, and that was the beginning of our friendship. We share recipes, stray gift photos, life happenings, Bible verses, things we are learning, and prayer requests. I asked her if she had anything good to share and she responded with a testimony about her sixteen year old son.

“Sure, I can tell you about it. Brandon had his 18 month check up the morning Morgan had her 3 week post-op checkup from having the hole in her heart repaired. At that visit, we were told Brandon needed to see a cardiologist. From the first visit with him, his 4 year old sister walked him through all the sonogram and EKG tests like a pro. It was discovered that he has a bicuspid valve in his heart and a narrowing of the aorta for a short span before it opens back up. He gets yearly checks for progress of the issues those things cause. With the bicuspid valve, there isn’t a full thrust of all the blood pumped out of that chamber, causing “backwash” so to speak of some of the blood, and causing his heart to work harder than normal to get the blood out. The aorta narrows for a span like a 4 lane highway merging into 2 lanes and then opening back up. At his yearly exam this spring, because of his size now at 6’2″, the dr ordered an MRI to get a better picture of his aorta as it can be seen on the sonogram as it could before. We had that done in June. When the results came back, they saw something on his spine, unrelated to his heart, that needed further evaluation. They ordered a CT scan for that which we had done in early July. The results of that came back as normal/benign and no further testing needing to be done. As far as the MRI results concerning his heart/aorta, those results showed that he just needs to continue his current schedule of yearly checkups. While we have known since toddlerhood he will eventually need surgery to repair/replace the valve, his health is not progressing more rapidly than expected. We are thankful on all accounts!”

It is scary when our children need care outside of our control! Brandon is in 11th grade and his sister Morgan is a freshman in college. Both are doing well right now with their health – something good, for certain.

Other “Tell Me Something Good” Stories: Sheilia, Michelle, MaLinda, Katie