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Wendy Valdez continues to seek for prayers for her son’s wellbeing as she shared updates about his current health condition this past week.

The Pinoy Big Brother housemate recently marked the second birthday of baby Emmanuel Seth Garcia, who upon birth was diagnosed with spina bifida, a type of neural tube defect where \"a baby's spine and spinal cord don't develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine,” according to health site WebMD.

As a newborn, he has since undergone an operation to remove a cyst at the bottom of his spine.

Now two years old, Seth was scheduled to undergo another surgery — this time to fix the alignment of his hip bones. However, the operation was put on hold after the child had a seizure.

She wrote, “Before me and my husband left for Europe, we have been going to UST for Seth's leg therapy. Seth had another seizure, just one month after his first one, (2nd photo) so we consulted his neuro about it. He was sent to PCMC for eeg, which you will see on the 3rd photo of this post. Seth was given medicine for seizures. We also visited his Urologist, to check on his bladder and kidneys.

“Ultrasound showed, and doctor said that his kidneys looked good, and we are doing a good job with cathing him. Next month, we would do another procedure to check if his bladder can expand more.

“With regards to his hip surgery, after 3 attempts, which would always lead to him being sick, just before the scheduled operations; we figured that perhaps, this is not the route we should opt for. We always pray to the Lord to guide us, in every decision for Seth, and it seem that having a cast would be unsafe for him if he would have seizures. Doctor said, when an attack happens, the cast should be removed at once. Since the cast had to remain for 4 months, and we can't be sure that Seth would not have any seizures for 4 straight months, we asked for another opinion. This time, we were told that his hip bones were not the problem, but the ligaments/muscle holding them. Even if the hip joints were held in place; without the muscle developing around it, it would not be held in place. Thus, no more hip surgery for Seth.

“The next option for his hips are therapy, hoping for the muscles to develop somehow, and new leg braces that will hold his whole leg and hip in place. Braces on the 5th photo of this post. This brace would help him stand too. Seeing him stand for the first time, with support, made me a bit emotional.”

What keeps her optimistic, Wendy said, is witnessing the remarkable development of her son throughout the years.

She shared, “It has been an awesome 2nd year with Seth. When he was younger, he would just drag his lower body to crawl, but now he is moving his knees, and upper leg to go around. We found out through a test, that most of his lower leg had no sensation and movement. Some of his upper leg parts have, and he is using his back to cope for the parts that are lacking mobility.”

“We are hoping and praying for more developments through therapy. But Seth has low immune system, and would easily get sick when he gets too tired.”

“My husband and I rebooked an earlier flight after the wedding that we needed to attend to, because I would really feel sad, missing Seth so much. I really want to bring Seth everywhere, but we do not have enough resources yet to bring our helper with us or even my mom to help me take care of him on a travel, as far as the one we recently did. We also are the ‘economy type’ passengers only, not first or business class. Plenty of hours on my lap, would not work for him. He still wakes up many times in the night crying loudly. I need sleep for strength to attend to him for the day. Our trips, consists of lots of walking and carrying bags on train, subway stairs, and transferring from one city, hostel, bed and breakfast to another. We don't really take taxi to save money. It was just not feasible to take him with us, unless I am with at least one person to help alternate with me, to care for him. There are only 4 people who can send him to sleep, cathe him, and change his diapers, washing him with running water, and soap everytime; so his bum would not get irritated, as baby wipes alone, would lead to sores. Me, my mom, my sister and our helper. Someday, I pray that we will be able to travel the world together.

“So we came home earlier than we should, and Seth had also gotten another viral sickness. He was feverish. He had severe diarrhea that made him lose so much weight. No colds this time, just high temperatures. He was so weak to celebrate his birthday, but he was happy to be with his family.

“On the 2nd night that he slept beside me, he started feeling better. My mom, did a good job taking care of him while we were gone, and he is starting to play more again. We couldn't and shouldn't push through with another therapy session, unless I see that he is very much well,” she added.

Regardless of the unfortunate situation, Wendy is grateful for another year that she has been given with her son.

“Somehow, the fever has left, and the diarrhea is not worrisome that now. He slept long, and slept soundly last night and this morning, unlike the previous days that he kept waking saying ‘sakit sakit’. This baby boy sings lots of songs at 2, and learns really fast. He loves reading books, talks a lot, and crawls fast,” she said.

“We are grateful for the abounding grace that the Lord gives us, to be able to go through another year with our Seth. We need more prayers for his immunity system to be better, more strength for his therapies, and less illnesses,” she added.

Wendy learned about Seth’s condition when she was four months pregnant.

She and her non-showbiz husband Normann Garcia welcomed their son in June 2017, over a year after tying the knot in a private wedding ceremony in Tagaytay.

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Wendy Valdez continues to seek for prayers for her son’s wellbeing as she shared updates about his current health condition this past week.

As a newborn, he has since undergone an operation to remove a cyst at the bottom of his spine. ","body_html_bottom":"

Now two years old, Seth was scheduled to undergo another surgery — this time to fix the alignment of his hip bones. However, the operation was put on hold after the child had a seizure.

“Ultrasound showed, and doctor said that his kidneys looked good, and we are doing a good job with cathing him. Next month, we would do another procedure to check if his bladder can expand more.

What keeps her optimistic, Wendy said, is witnessing the remarkable development of her son throughout the years.

“We are hoping and praying for more developments through therapy. But Seth has low immune system, and would easily get sick when he gets too tired.”

Regardless of the unfortunate situation, Wendy is grateful for another year that she has been given with her son.

Wendy learned about Seth’s condition when she was four months pregnant.

She and her non-showbiz husband Normann Garcia welcomed their son in June 2017, over a year after tying the knot in a private wedding ceremony in Tagaytay."},"data":[{"_created":null,"_etag":null,"_updated":null,"associations":{"CoverImage":null,"Thumbnail":null,"photos":[],"relatedContent":[]},"authors":[],"description_html":null,"description_text":null,"extra":null,"firstcreated":null,"firstpublished":null,"groups":[{"refs":[{"renditions":null}]},{"refs":[{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}}]}],"headline":"Home","language":null,"profile":null,"pubstatus":null,"slugline":"Home","source":null,"subject":null,"versioncreated":null},{"_created":null,"_etag":null,"_updated":null,"associations":{"CoverImage":null,"Thumbnail":null,"photos":[],"relatedContent":[]},"authors":[],"description_html":null,"description_text":null,"extra":null,"firstcreated":null,"firstpublished":null,"groups":[{"refs":[{"renditions":null},{"renditions":null}]},{"refs":[]},{"refs":[{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}},{"renditions":{"baseImage":null}}]}],"headline":"Fresh 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