Spine Surgery Tomorrow

I took this picture today. I love this sweet boy so much!

Graham is having surgery tomorrow at 7:45am. We have to be at Duke at 6:15am. We are so thankful for our parents that will be there with us and for many more friends and family that will be praying for us. 

Details of surgery:  Here is a brief history and explanation of the surgery... After Graham's heart surgery in March his eyes never stopped bouncing after going through some withdrawal from one of the medicines he was on. We took him to an ophthalmologist in May and she ordered an MRI. We found out that Graham's C1 vertebra is narrow and pressing into his spinal cord.  The neurosurgeon will remove the back part of the vertebra, which is still cartilage, and then treat the bone to prevent it from continuing to grow. He should be in the hospital 2-3 days.

Specific Prayer Requests:

• No complications during or after surgery
• Safe anesthesia
• Low pain during recovery
• That Graham will eat after surgery and that he will be able to breastfeed (since he doesn't take a bottle or sippy cup)
• For Matt and I to have energy and peace and wisdom in making decisions for Graham's care
• For compassionate and attentive nurses
• That Matt and I and our parents would take opportunities to encourage other families we meet in the hospital
• That the surgery will fix Graham's bouncy eyes (nystagmus)
• That Graham will need no future surgeries on his spine
• That Graham would make strides developmentally after surgery as he starts physical therapy

I don't always understand suffering or know how to pray. But I do know that the Lord is sovereign and He is good and besides Him I have nothing. In the Bible Jesus was teaching and his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching." And many of his followers turned away. Jesus turned to the 12 disciples and said, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" And Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:60-68) Cling to Christ with me, won't you? Where else do we have to turn?