Upcoming Surgery

As some of you know Arwen has had off and on struggles with worsening bladder continence, leg pain/weakness, and such for over a year now. For the latter part of last year she was doing the best she's ever done then as most things with Spina Bifida happen, she was quickly brought back down and this time all the tests and surgeons agree she needs surgery. This surgery will be to detether her spina bifida scarring/nerves from her spine in hopes it will help prevent further damage to the area she is struggling with and Lord willing help imrpove those areas. Surgery will be here locally Lord willing we can be healthy till surgery on April 28th. Ideally she should be in the hospital for 3-5 days depending on how her body heals and will slowly work on being active again.
Unfortunately it is a surgery we have no idea if it will help things, keep it the same or worsen those areas. But we can't take the risk of letting it worsen any longer. She really needs her feet addressed sooner rather than later as the deformity is worsening to the point of causing her a great deal of pain and causes trouble with her walking.

Her Orthopedic surgeon wants to cast her legs/feet about 8 weeks afterwards with possible tendon release/lengthening surgery. So the plan will then be to travel once a week for 3 to 4 weeks in a row to St. Louis which is about a 4 hour drive one way so needless to say those weeks will be long/hard/expensive but like I continue to say, we travel to get her the best care possible because unfortunately our local children's hospital doesn't give that to us in a way that we feel comfortable after many years of bad care.
We will be updating our facebook surgery page for those who want to follow the updates. We appreciate everyone's love, prayers and support for us during each trial.
Some people have asked how best to help and if you feel led you can donate to her medical fund that we use for bills, Richards unpaid time off, expenses associated with being in the hospital,etc. Also,any gift cards for gas or groceries are always helpful as it adds up being far away from each hospital and having to go back and forth to care for the other kids.

The Lord has graciously carried us through each trial despite the burden of how hard each one is on all of us emotionally, physically and financially. The Lord gives us peace by knowing He has already gone before us for our joy and His glory. This journey of having a special needs child can be a very lonely and daunting one, but I praise God that He has given us a firm foundation through Christ and provided wonderful/supporting friends and family to walk alongside us through every tear and triumph that Arwen has. We are blessed to be her parents and pray that her life though not ideal will always point her to Christ and she will put her trust only in Him.

To donate:
http://tinktut-kids.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_17.html?m=1