upcoming surgery

I mentioned in my last post that Kemeri has a surgery coming up.  I am thankful we got to spend most of this past week in Myrtle Beach while Joe was speaking at a conference.  Even though it was not super warm (it snowed over 6 inches back home right after we left, so no complaints!) & we did some sightseeing at Beach Urgent Care (Mommy & 3 kiddos have the bronchial crud), it was a nice break for just being together.

 

Anyway, we are back home & since I'm sitting still trying to get rid of this coughing yuck, I thought I'd take a minute to share about Kemeri's surgery.  When Kemeri first came home, we had lots of pressing things to address, first & foremost being her tethered spinal cord.  She had that surgery 2 months after coming home.  As part of her initial consultations, we were also referred to the orthopedic hand doctor since Kemeri has amniotic banding & is missing the fingers on her left hand.  To be honest, when we first looked at her medical file, we were very aware of this "special need" but accepted it as how our little peanut is fearfully & wonderfully made.  We didn't investigate it any further because we were focused on getting medical advice about the spina bifida.

 

Much to our surprise, the ortho doctor has teamed up with the pediatric plastic surgeon & have a whole plan in place to make Kemeri's left hand the best helper hand it can be.  At first, I was apprehensive because nobody wants to see their child go through surgery and also because I love her just the way she is.  However, we also realize that it's our job as parents to look at the big picture & do everything we can to best equip her for life.  As she has gotten bigger, we have begun to see how it is difficult for her to do certain things being unable to have a hand to grip objects with, which is the eventual goal of this & probably future surgeries.  So, this coming Thursday she is scheduled for a 5-hour surgery to do the following (I'm sharing this because we would love specific prayers for these procedures, & I also know I have readers that may be considering adoption of a child with things similar to Kemeri):

 

"Reconstruction of the left thumb with bone graft (from hip or left wrist) with temporary pin fixation, possible tendon transfers (improve thumb opposiotion), exploration of the left hand/wrist for future tendon transfers to the fingers with possible release of nerve and tendons from scar tissue.  Release and local tissue rearrangement (deepening) of the 1st web space & release of hte distal forearm band on the volar surface."

 

That's the technical stuff.  The good stuff is that we had some fun in the sun . . .

 

 

A special trip to Build-a-Bear for a lovie to take to the hospital . . .

 

 

 

and prayers on the beach for a successful surgery for Kemeri Abigail!