Another Surgery ... No, I am not kidding

Here we are again, friends ... yep, that's right.  We are back in the hospital and getting ready for Rees to have another surgery.  In just a couple of hours, they will be opening Rees' skull again by removing the screws and plates that are currently holding together all the bones that were moved during his first surgery on January 20th.

Since then, Rees has not healed well and he has leaked a lot of fluid through the incision on his face/nose.  After the "wound revision" that they did nearly a week ago, the surgeon was convinced that Rees is leaking Cerebral Spinal Fluid; that is what is collecting and causing his nasal area to bulge and present with the red and purple coloring.  On a few occasions, most recently yesterday, he has leaked large amounts of fluid through the incision.  Last night, for the first time, the fluid was more of a yellowish color instead of the brownish/red color that it has been previously.  Cerebral spinal fluid is CLEAR, like water, but it has looked more like blood, which reveals that it is preventing him from healing on the inside.

This photo was just taken this morning.  Ironically, today, he looks the BEST that he has looked since his first surgery.  This concerns us because now we worry that proceeding with this surgery is not the right thing and that we will just be taking backward steps again.  We pray that the LORD has already gone before us and that He has ordained Rees' swift healing from this surgery.  

Tomorrow is Rees' 6th birthday.  He will likely be in the hospital, which is not how we would have planned it.  Much of the outcome after Rees' 1st surgery has not been what we planned.  I am not in control of the situation.  That's hard.  I don't understand why this is happening.  It's frustrating. But I continue to tell myself that it has not been surprising to God and that it has not gone without purpose.

You know the movie Finding Nemo, ... ?  when Dory, the blue fish sings, "Just keep swimming.  Just keep swiming.  Just keep swimming.swimming.swimming."

That's me lately ... although maybe not quite as entertaining as Dory ... but I say to myself "Just Keep Trusting.  Just Keep Trusting.  Just Keep Trusting.Trusting.Trusting."

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track. ~Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG