Surgery: A Go

William looked really good yesterday. He was pleasant and happy, took a few walks around the PICU and anxiously counted down the minutes until his best friend, James, arrived to hang out. He was a few minutes late and reminded him of that fact! We left them alone to play their video games and Ryan and I and Lisa headed out for a fresh air walk to Sellands to eat (a walk is mandatory to counter balance the deliciousness of their food) and discuss the meeting with our surgeon. Without reminding, they remembered to do William's breathing treatment he does every hour and even set their itouches to time it for 5 minutes. Such good boys!


 Surgeon's meeting:

• She'll do it. She has to do it. This is not one she can delay until after Thanksgiving.
• Physically he looks strong enough: Sitting up in bed, talking, O2 set fairly low, continued progress with respiratory therapist to pop open the bronchioles of his left lung.
• His abdomen continues to swell larger.
• Given the nature and rate of growth of his tumor it needs to happen immediately.
• Because it will be a long, invasive surgery, she will be going after all three tumors. She will have a more clear idea of what she is dealing with once she opens him up and can see and feel around. 
• The approach is to get it all because she does not want to put him through any more surgeries like this if at all possible.
• This surgery will be just as long and difficult, if not more so, like the one she did to remove his tumor last year. This is because his body is not as strong, having gone through so much additional treatment since then.
• There are no real promises going into this, as with most tricky surgeries. She is a very skilled surgeon and we love her and trust her with our son. (And she just go back from Mexico and is well rested!)
• The goal is to remove as much tumor mass as possible to ease the pressure on his lungs and other organs without damaging any vital organs. All of this is to give him more quality of life.

Ryan and I are holding up just fine. We wake up each morning and get out of bed because usually little sweaty bodies crawl into bed and force us. We don't pretend this is easy. This was never in OUR plans for our sweet son. But he enriches our lives more than we planned. He has teaches us a piece of why Jesus Christ asks us to be a little child. He is humble and meek, patience and loving, and unwavering in obedience, even when things are hard. We love William so dearly and are repeatedly amazed by his strength, faith, and submissiveness to God's will. He never complains or asks 'why me', he simply trudges forward and patiently endures horrendous amounts of pain.

We are feeling the peace and comfort that comes from all of your many thoughts and prayers and fasts. Thank you. A heartfelt thank you!