Message from my brother

Here is a note from my brother explaining the complications with their unborn second daughter. I ask you to join me in prayer that this little one will be born with no adverse effects from this condition -- that this cyst will shrivel up and die completely. Thank you everyone. As always, i'll keep you posted.

Complications With Our Unborn Baby
by Keith Huisman

As some of you are aware, we received a report from a fetal specialist that our second daughter (still inside Adrienne) has a cyst in her chest. It is located behind her heart. After further discussion with our doctors (ob/gyn and fetal specialist), we now have a better understanding of exactly what the situation is in addition to the prognosis.

The growth is called a CCAM (Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation). It is an accelerated growth of lung tissue. At this point, there are several directions this could go. It could disappear and not be an issue, which is what we are praying for. It could still be present, small, and require occasional exams to monitor it after birth. It could be present and large enough to inhibit full lung development, requiring surgery within the first year (most common treatment). It could be large enough to cause respiratory distress, requiring surgery within the first day or two outside the womb. Worst case scenario, it could be extremely aggressive, requiring fetal surgery (opening the uterus to open the baby to remove the cyst). This is extremely rare and the course of action is hardly ever taken.

Based on our discussion with our doctor and the overall impression we are getting, we do not believe the fetal surgery will be required. It is still too soon to tell about the rest of possibilities.

So many of you have been praying, and we value that more than anything. We have not posted directly on facebook until this point because we did not know exactly what was going on and did not want to be bombarded with questions initially. I would ask that any questions you have be directed toward me (Keith).

If you would like to understand the condition better, you can visit the following sites.

Text only:

Text along with links to videos explaining the condition: