Surgery is OVER in record time

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Wow! I mean WOW. Dr. Greenfield just came out and said he is DONE! Like an hour earlier than expected!!

The best way to tell you what happened is to give you the response to the specific prayer requests we asked for yesterday. 

SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUEST:For all of our Prayer Warriors, here is what you can be praying for specifically.

1. Dr. Greenfield. Pray that he has the best nights sleep of his life. That he wakes up peaceful and has unbelievable clarity tomorrow. Pray that Henley's surgery is the best surgery he has ever performed and the results are PERFECT. Dr. Greenfield said that once he opened her up it was very clear what he needed to do in her specific situation. His exact words were "It was not ambiguous at all, there was no question what needed to happen here." Prayers for absolute clarity were answered. I specifically asked how he slept last night and he said he actually slept great. ;-) 

2. Pray that the LORD'S hands are performing the surgery in the place of his hands. I had a friend message me this this morning: "The Lord woke me up in the night and told me to pray for you.  He gave me a vision of himself hovering over Henley during her surgery.  He was a bright light of presence.  He also had a fully armed angel standing guard at the door of the operating room.  I know today and right at this moment he is with you all. I pray that you feel His presence overwhelming you as He sings his songs of peace and love over you.  We love you and are interceding in prayer." We have felt peace in this moment for sure. It's an unbelievable feeling. 

3. Pray that there are NO complications, NO Infection (meningitis is a big risk with this surgery), NO spinal fluid leaks, NO spinal fluid collection or any need for extra blood, and that the time she is under anesthesia is minimal. Dr. Greenfield said that when he got in there that he did not feel like he needed to remove the part of the brain that was hanging down because the tissue all looked healthy. He said that the arachnoid space was all very much intact and therefore she had almost no risk of a spinal fluid leak! There was no need for extra blood and she was only under anesthesia for about 3 hours as opposed to the 4-5 hours we were expecting. There were no complications and everything was very clear cut.  

4. Pray for her heart to be strong, her lungs to be clear, and her brain to function properly. She is healthy and stable. Praise the Lord. 

5. Pray that this surgery is THE LAST surgery she will ever have to have and that THIS surgery will alleviate the need for any future surgeries. (Because this is one of two potential problems she has regarding compression on her brainstem and we are addressing the most important of the two issues tomorrow) This is to be determined, but we will keep claiming that this is all that will need to be done. 

6. Pray for the nursing staff to be EXCEPTIONAL. For them to be sweet and caring, kind, compassionate and that they will go above and beyond to make sure this is a good experience for Henley. So far so good. We are about to head to the PICU and so we are about to really experience the nursing staff now. 

7. Finally, pray for PEACE for us, and for Henley. She is so nervous. She is worried about the pain she knows she is going to be in and we are anxious at the thought of not being able to do anything to make it better. It's unbelievably hard to know that you are willingly walking your child into a situation that is going to cause her a lot of pain. Even when you know it's the right thing to do and that it's the doorway to a much better life. It still doesn't make this any easier. We have had peace. LOTS of peace. God is so good and has surrounded us with exactly what we needed in this moment and on this day. Our good friends from Texas are here with us who have a daughter (Darby) who also has Chiari and sees Dr. Greenfield. They "just happen" to have an appointment tomorrow with him and so were scheduled to be here at the same time. God is in ALL the details!

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING. Keep praying! Now comes the REALLY hard part which is the pain she will be in and all of the IVs and uncomfortable-ness that comes with recovery. We will post more in a little bit after we see her and can get a handle on the situation. 

Love you all.