Testosterone and TuTus

Tomorrow is the big day.  Olivia will have her surgery tomorrow morning at 7:00am.  She  is sleeping soundly tonight ready to embrace the adventure of tomorrow and trusting us completely.  We have explained things to her in a way she can understand and praise God this has brought no fear and i am praising him for that.  Just  a few questions....what will I eat?  where will I sleep?  will it hurt?  and the repeated question where will you be mommy?  Which I repeatedly answer right by your side. 

Olivia is having her spinal cord untethered. Basically this means tissue has attached itself limiting the movement of the spinal cord within the spinal column. The cord is attached at the area where her spina bifida repair was done. The good news is she is not having any of the symptoms of a tethered cord yet, but we want to get ahead of any symptoms emerging. The reality is that children between 5 and 9 grow very fast and this can trigger the on site of these symptoms. But right now there is not a great strain being placed on her spinal cord but over time this would occur as she gets older if left untreated.

We are to be at CMC-Levine in Charlotte at 5:30am tomorrow (stop laughing all you people who know I am not a morning person and will have to be up at 4:00am!) and her surgery is scheduled to begin at 7:00am. I am told that the surgery should last about 2-1/2 hours, but they have the operating room reserved for 4 hours just in case they need it.

Olivia will most likely be in ICU the first 24 hours to manage her pain and keep a close eye on her to make sure there are no signs of infection or spinal fluid leakage after all this is spinal surgery… she should then be able to be moved to a regular room and we should be there from 3-5 days on average. Olivia will have to be flat on her belly for the first 24-48 hours.

Her recovery will be about 3-4 weeks with limited physical activity and no swimming. No pool or lake for 2 months!

So for those of you who asked me to keep you posted so you could pray here is what I am specifically asking for prayer on.

1. Pray for Olivia’s procedure and that she comes through with no surprises or complications. That God himself the great physician guide the hands of her surgeon and may he himself know he was led by God in this procedure.

2. Pray for no infections

3. Pray for no spinal fluid leakage

4. Pray for no side effects of surgery to her bladder, bowels or mobility

5. Pray for her pain

6. Bind fear and release peace for Olivia , Guy and I and our boys and Grace

7. Be with Guy and the boys and my Mom and sister who are juggling the kiddos at home for us

8. Pray for me to be calm and at peace as I take care of Olivia

9. Pray for Guy and I to rest in the fact that when we hug our little girl goodbye tomorrow morning we are placing her in the hands of the one who loves her more than us and has the power to do all things, including taking care of Olivia and bringing healing and wholeness to her body.

 We covet your prayers We know he has great plans for her. God has been clear from the very beginning when we accepted Olivia as our daughter that she was our “eagle” and we hold on to the scripture God gave us for her life from Isaiah 40:31 “ Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagle; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” So with that said we will hope in the Lord. Please join us in claiming this for Olivia especially in this season.

I will be trying to keep the blog updated while we are there so if you want to follow along and see how she is doing that is the route I am going to take it is the easiest way to keep everyone up to speed.

 I will try to update it at least once a day or as there is news to report on her progress.

Thank you all