A Successful Surgery

On Thursday, August 14, Ari had his sixth brain surgery.  Ari spent about 9 1/2 hours in the OR.  The first half of the surgery was spent fixing a fluid collection on the left side of his brain.  The second half of the surgery was spent removing four small tumors.  We are so thankful God has blessed us with such a wonderful surgeon.  Dr. Baird successfully removed all four tumors!  

Ari arrived in the PICU a little after 2 a.m.  Seeing him come in from surgery was extremely emotional.  He was swollen, had tubes everywhere, was connected to his breathing tube, and had several battle wounds from the surgery and equipment used.  They worked on him until about 4 a.m. and then took him down for another MRI around 4:30.  Moving Ari from his crib to the MRI machine while being connected to so many things took many people and was difficult to watch.  He arrived back for the night around 5:30 a.m.

We received wonderful news that Dr. Baird was able to remove all of the tumors on their first attempt.  Initially, she thought it might take two surgeries to remove all of the tumors.  She also said he might have difficulty with his eyes and eye movements again.  We were all very pleasantly surprised to see that his eyes are working beautifully and the tumors are gone! Praise Jesus!

We were also cleared to start proton radiation therapy in two weeks which is much quicker than we had anticipated.  This means we have quite a lot to do.  We are still waiting to see what insurance will cover.  We also need to get on the schedule with MD Anderson.  Then we will work on flights, housing, transportation, and all that good stuff.

Something that this experience has really taught us is to enjoy each day no matter the trials.  Over and over we meditate on, "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." This Psalm is so simple and so true.  Each day is a gift the Lord gives us and we want to have joy and praise Him for the day and the time we have with our son.

We cannot thank you all enough for the overwhelming love and support you have shown our family.  Thank you for taking the time to pray with with us, to rejoice, to cry, and to share.  Colby and I would not be able to make it through this season without your support, and we praise Jesus for blessing us with such an amazing community.  New friends and old, thank you.


Picture Time

Ari is snuggling with his amazing neurosurgeon Dr. Baird.  Thank you Jesus for this woman! 

Ari sure loves his books. 

We were thankful we got to have one of our all-time favorite nurses the night before his surgery.  

Family Photo before Surgery

We rarely let Ari play with his tubes so he was in "tube heaven!"

We were the last ones left in the waiting room.  Long night. 

Ari did amazing with his surgery.  We were all impressed with his recovery.  This is the day after surgery.