God has done it! We were told last week in the pre-op consultation that there was a 99.9% the nerve that controls upward movement of the foot would have to be severed and that it would “take a miracle” for him to not have to cut it. He also said that there are three blood vessels that run from the knee to the foot and that Caleb would lose at least one of them and possibly two. Losing all three could possibly result in having to do an amputation. The vessels and nerve are all wrapped around the bone in that area from what I was told, so it was pretty much impossible that nothing would be lost.
But with God, NOTHING is impossible! The surgeon came out and told us that the nerve AND all three blood vessels were intact! It was one of the best moments of my life. We were believing that the miracle he said we needed would happen and it did. As a good friend texted me yesterday, “With Jesus the percentages don’t matter!”
The surgeon told us that there were times that he was at a dead-end and was about to sever and he would stop. He said he closed his eyes and prayed and when he would go back in, he would shift the leg and shift the light and suddenly a new pathway would open. He said that happened “several times.” That’s MY God!! He told us that we still needed to pray because they kept cutting away bone because every time he cut, they would test and find “abnormal marrow” in the margins. So he would cut some more and re-test it. Same thing over and over. He stopped cutting 2 inches above the ankle bone, which means he removed about 10 inches of fibula. He said that he went back and forth about 15 minutes at that point about whether to amputate in case it was cancer. He called the oncologist who said that the results they were seeing could be the result of the sarcoma spreading or could be the effect of chemotherapy drugs. Both would look the same at first glance. He then called his mentor who is on the committee that put together the treatment protocol that Caleb is on, so he knows his stuff. The mentor said with Ewings Sarcoma that he should save all the leg he can and treat it with radiation and have the samples thoroughly tested. So he said he stopped and prayed and felt led to do what he would want done with his son, so he did not amputate.
This morning he said that they had gone back and looked at the first MRI and the ones done last week and that the bone was cut off 3.5 inches below where the tumor ever was, so he is hoping (as we are!) that it is not cancer that is down that low, but just the result of the chemo and he felt more confident after seeing how far below the site he was. So please keep in agreement with us. We are focused on Philippians 1:6 which promises that God will complete the good work that He began. He is not going to bring us this far with this many miracles only to leave us hanging.
On our first trip when Caleb was first diagnosed last year, we had the most amazing nurse ever – Veronica. She came and saw us in the waiting area yesterday and we were so happy to see her. We have become friends through Facebook and I pitched a fit to the MCG President when she was laid off last year right after our stay, and she has been rehired in the PICU (not saying it was me, she’s a great nurse!). Well, she was coming out to tell us she was going to be Caleb’s nurse while he was in PICU! We were so pumped. It was another sign God was in control and making the journey easier. Earlier that day, for those that missed it on Facebook, I made Holly go with me to get something to eat at McDonald’s. The total for our breakfast? $7.77. To me, it was just a little sign from God that He was in PERFECT control as that is a number of His perfection.
Caleb was in a LOT of pain yesterday and is doing much better today. He has a morphine pump, so the pain is greatly decreased. They are going to try to get him up tomorrow and move around some and they hope we can go home Friday. There is still a lot to pray for and we still have a long road of recovery ahead, and now with more trips to the hospital for radiation coming up. So please pray for strength, patience, and provision for us. God is in control! And let me shout this as loud as I can in a blog – NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE. NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR OUR GOD!!
Today’s verse – “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
We rejoice with you, brother! What an awesome God we serve!