Our Brave Little Girl

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety.

This is a special verse that was given to us by two different people yesterday and I will remember it always as it couldn't have been more appropriate for this day. And,today this is what the Lord has done. Emma has come out of her surgery and all is well. We arrived this morning after a bit of a tearful start at Children's at 6:30am. Emma was a little nervous but really, all things considered, she did really well. We were checked in and then the nurses and neuro monitoring people got to work , perparing Emma for her surgey and applying electrodes to her head to moniter her neuro pathways during surgery. They gave her some Ativan to help her relax and she did relax.
I went with Emma into the OR and stayed with her until she was asleep. She was so brave and did really with the IV and all. I placed a kiss in her hand and told her to keep it with her. It was so hard to leave her there even though I knew that God was in control and that she was in the hands of some of the worlds best pediatric spine surgeons. Keith and I had a few tears and then decided to go have some breakfast in the cafeteria to kill some time as we weren't quite ready to leave the hospital grounds.We then left and went to a near by mall to buy a special gift for Emma and try to pass the hours. We were a bit jumpy each time one of cell phones rang because we kept thinking it might be the hospital. And, all day praying that we had done the right thing by putting her through a surgery of this magnitude when she ultimately had no symtoms.
We arrived back at Children's at about 2pm, hoping that we had spent away most of the surgery time but we were wrong. At 2pm they told us that it would be at least 2 more hours. (They had previously anticipated a 6 hour surgery.) Finally, at about 5:15 the nurse said that the OR was just finishing and that the Dr.'s would be in to speak to us soon. They came and talked to us at about 5:30 or so.
They said that everything went really well but that they took their time. They also told us that this was a very complicated surgery. "with out a doubt, one of the most complicated surgeries I've ever done." He continued to explain that her spinal chord was very tight. Tighter than they had thought. And, there had been a big chunck of bone that had been squishing her spinal chord. Who knows how long she would have remained symptom free. When we heard this news it was a relief to us because then we knew that Emma really did need that surgery. What they did to her is called a decompression and fusion of the C1 to C4 vertebra.(with a rib bone graft and 2 rods and screws.)
After the Dr's left us, we had to wait a while before we could see Emma. When we went in to see her she was still really asleep and did not even stir. She was still intibated and the nurse thought that she would struggle to take that tube out when she was waking up. Keith and I decided that we didn't really want to observe that stuggle and went to have some dinner.
When we came back about 30min later she was still asleep, but when I said to her, "Emma, it's mommy." she opened her eyes and looked at me. She was still intibated and was trying to talk so the nurse took out the tube. She was very tired but laboured to ask us a few quesitons over the next 30min or so. She asked if she was in the ICU, if she had a halo, (she does not! Only a hard plastic neck brace. For that we are so thankful.)She said she wanted to get up and I explained why that was not a good idea. She also asked if there was something on her face(oxygen) and when I told just to relax and breathe deeply. She said "it's kind of hard with this thing on my face." so the nurse took it off and her oxygen levels stayed up on their own. After a little while we decided to leave her to come to Keith's moms because she was doing so well but also because she was labouring to stay awake for us and we wanted her to relax and sleep. Not to mention that we need a good nights sleep too. Again though, I cried, finding it dificult to leave my baby again even though I know she is in great hands with 1 on 1 care.
We will call a little later tonight to check on her and in the morning when we wake up too. ( and maybe even in the middle of the night if I can't sleep.)
All in all, we feel tremendously blessed as everything couldn't have gone more smoothly and we know that so many of you have been praying all day for Emma. We are so greatful for that and I know she is too. So, thank you all so much and may God bless each of you.

Please continue to pray:
1.for Emma to remain infection free.
2. for Emma's fusions to take well.
3 for her adjustment to her new life and body.
4. for our other children (Isaiah, Naomi and Karys) as they are without Emma and their parents right now.
5. Praise for the many prayers God has answered thus far. So far everything has gone so well. Praise God.