Surgery is OVER ...

She came through it very well. The dr was very excited about being able to preserve L4 for more lower back mobility / flexibility. The rods stop at L3. Her top curve will be less than 10 degrees, bottom curve mostly gone. Her rotation presented a bit of an issue. She was very tight. He was able to de-rotate about 75%. She will still have a little bit of a rib hump on the right back side, but it will be much less noticeable. We should get to see her in about 1 to 1.5 hours. I'll post again after we see her. We are thankful and we are blessed.

10:21am Update ...

Another update call from Alice that all is well with Chandler. That's all we get ... that's all we want ... to know that she is fine. THANK YOU each and every one for lifting Chandler, the dr's, nurses and us up in prayer!!

8:51am Update ...

Just got a call from Alice, Chandler's nurse. Surgery got underway at approx 8:15. Chandler is doing well so far.

7:55am Update .....

Chandler went in to surgery right at 7:30am. We arrived here at 6:00am and she was a little anxious waiting in the pre-op room, so they gave her a little drink that helped her get over that pretty quickly. :-) I asked if I could have one too. The nurse wasn't amused.

We should get an update every hour or so. Will post again as soon as I do.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and your prayers.

Chandler's Surgery....

Here we are ... less than 24 hours pre-surgery for Chandler. She will be going in for back surgery at 7:30am tomorrow morning, Wednesday, July 7th at Egleston.

Quick, nutshell version that got us here: Oddly enough, we discovered that she had scoliosis 2 years ago this month. I believe the night time bracing since October 2008, the physical therapy and her active, athletic life-style helped hold the top curve of 39 degrees and bottom curve of 25 degrees. We also went in for dr's visits to get updated xrays every 6 months. Everything had held, and there were no changes on the xrays until the last 6 month check up in May, at which time we found the top curve had progressed to 60 degrees and the bottom curve to 46. With this progressive scoliosis, we really were only left with only one choice ... to have corrective surgery.

Dr. Timothy Oswald and his world-class team of dr's and nurses will be performing her surgery. For them tomorrow, I pray for clear minds and steady hands as they take on this monumental task! The surgery will take approx 4 hours. She will then move into recovery and then into a room. The first 24 hours, she will be groggy at best. They don't want her to really remember much, if anything, about that first day. Soon after the 24 hour post-surgery mark, they will have her up to take a few steps!

Chandler makes no bones about the fact that she has a strong desire to be back on the basketball court, kicking the soccer ball, and running cross country and track when she is able. The dr told her that as long as she abides by his guidelines, she will get there. Albeit a "new normal" when she does ... she will get there. And I'm pretty sure she will have the best posture of all. :-)

I am thankful that we don't have to shoulder this burden alone. We have made peace with the decision / situation, we're trusting God's plan, and now we're moving on to the next step. As difficult as the idea is to imagine, I know that God loves Chandler even more than I do and I know that he is going to take good care of her. He has a plan for her and this is part of it.

We have challenging days ahead and we covet your prayers.

My Pleasure....

Have you been to Chic-Fil-A lately? Whether recently or if it's been a while, I'm sure that you've noticed a difference in the way you are greeted, responded to, etc. at CFA as opposed to some other restaurants. (I'm not knocking any other restaurants, just sayin'.) Our family has always talked about the "my pleasure" response and how good it feels to hear that as opposed to "no problem" or "sure", for example. Well .... Austin Bragg officially began employment with CFA in Commerce earlier this month. He almost can't help himself at home or when he's out and uses the "my pleasure" response. We sort of like that. :-) Not that he wasn't already a polite young man - that, his good looks (hehe) and great personality apparently helped land him the job. Grown up world reality is setting in little by little for our 18 year old. (fist pump and yes!!) The value of dollar has gone up significantly in his mind. He's really good at dealing with people and enjoys (for the most part) his dealings with the public.

There is one other part to this story. When Austin was 5 or 6, he had this joke that he would tell and seriously, I can't even remember it, but the punch line was "you want a chicken sandwich?". It wasn't just saying the words, it was the accent and delivery of the punch line. He would laugh, we would laugh and once he even recorded himself saying the punch line on one of those small hand-held recorders. Would it surprise you to know that I still have the tape with his cute little voice on it? Anyway, after he started work at CFA, we told him that when he graduated to cashier, he should ask his customers "you want a chicken sandwich?" (I realize that might be a location - "you had to be there" kind of joke. Sorry.)

Anyway ... If you get by the Chic-Fil-A in Commerce and you want a chicken sandwich, be sure to look Austin up. :-)

Been A Long Time ....

So, it seems like it was just yesterday that I wrote that last blog and when I looked at the date of it today .... it was back in January!!! My how time flies!! I have so many updates and I'll get right on that tomorrow. Ha. Just kidding. Couple of quick updates I'll do for now:

1) we have a high school graduate (yay) and an 8th grader (drama). School was out on May 21st and we're all enjoying not having a hectic schedule for now, and

2) Andy started a new job. He's back at Dawson Associates where he is Vice President. He is very happy with the move and we're happy for him to be back home and off the road.

More later!!