Pre-Op Testing

First full day in Philadelphia and I (Adam) have to tell you that I stink...if you were to walk past me, you would move a little faster hoping that I would not stop to talk to you. Now let me tell you why and yes, I know, TMI. When packing I laid out all of my toiletries on the bathroom counter in the new master bath. Lined them all up really nice, that's the OCD-side of me. Then along comes Becky, she comes in and packs up her stuff, but realizes she wants to smell like the man in the Old Spice commercial. So she grabs my "manly" scented deodorant and proceeds to use it on herself. Then she does something incredible...she actually puts something away...and she puts it in the bathroom drawer. Anyone want to guess what was not in my bag after I showered this morning?

So despite my stench, we were able to make it to all of Tristan's pre-op appointments. Becky actually let us takes a taxi because it was raining. First, was the appointment with Anesthesia, which went smoothly. Next, Tristan had some blood work and the brave little guy didn't cry when they took the two vials of blood. We moved onto x-ray films. (We are getting to know the hospital pretty good now.) Lastly, we were able to go to Ortho for our meeting with the nurse practitioner and finally Dr. Flynn to go over the surgery in detail.

The news from Dr. Flynn was that Tristan's curve was now at 91 degrees. Dr. Flynn said that Tristan's spinal curve was like "a car rolling down a hill just waiting to crash." In just three months, there had been a 10 degree change for the worse. We are very fortunate that God made it possible to have Dr. Flynn do this surgery sooner rather than later. Dr. Flynn had told us in July he didn't feel that Tristan could wait until 2011 for this surgery - and he was right.

Alright, onto the specifics of the surgery…due to Tristan's size, Dr. Flynn & team will only be putting in one VEPTR rod. (Eventually, they hope to do two.) This rod will attach to two ribs on Tristan's upper left side and also to a lower vertebra at the base of his left side. The rod will be titanium and will be able to expand as more surgeries are completed. They will do all of this through two incisions, but they will be detaching and reattaching muscle to get to the ribs, so recovery will be tough. One of the members of Flynn's team will be monitoring brain/nerve control throughout the whole procedure, so as to place the VEPTR rod in a location that will not create nerve damage. The good news (yes, there is good news) is that Dr. Flynn believes that the 91 degree curve may improve to 75 degrees upon the completion of this surgery!

We are to arrive for surgery at 6am tomorrow morning. It is likely that the surgery will begin by 7:30am. It will take approximately five hours to complete. Once Tristan is starting to come out of anesthesia, we will be able to see him. I have mixed feelings about this reunion. I know in my heart that I want to see him. But I also know that I am not prepared for what I am about to see my son go through. I am even tearing up as I write this. My prayer is that God will give me the strength to be there for Tristan and Becky.

Please join us in prayer tomorrow morning for Tristan, and also for every hand/eye in that operating room. I want God, the Great Physician, to be leading and guiding their hands as they take care of my son.

In the mean time, if any of you were worried, I was able to buy deodorant and take another shower...so the family is willing to associate with me again. The kids have actually fallen asleep together on the bed and Becky is grading papers for one of the many classes she teaches. We will spend the rest of the night having dinner and playing around the Ronald McDonald House. Maybe we'll go out and grab some gelato as a special treat for the little guy.

We will update the blog tomorrow evening after Tristan's surgery is completed. Knowing that we will be able to share with all of you how God held Tristan's hand and ours throughout this entire process.

May God bless you all for your faithfulness,
Adam, Rebecca, Addison and Tristan