The "BIG" Surgery Details - October 15th

Mr Boy is having surgery Monday, October 15th at 7am and will last all day and into the night. We call it Mr. Boys "BIG" Surgery, because it should be the biggest surgery he ever will have. It is also called his "closure" surgery because Mr Boy was born with his pelvic bone open like a book (and not protecting his abdominal organs), and several of his abdominal organs exposed and on the outside of his body. Most of his organs are back inside, but his bladder remains inside-out and exposed on the outside of his abdomen. It's hard to understand, and I wish we could explain it better with pictures, but we try to give Mr Boy a shred of privacy since most details of his life have been broadcasted throughout the land. So naked baby pics will remain Mr Boy's only. heehee. You are welcome Mr Boy. :)

Surgical details:
1. Put his bladder right-side-in (it's currently inside-out), reconstructing it and putting it inside his body where it belongs (requires stretching his skin over like a corset, as the Dr explained), leaving a vesicostomy for draining. (This will be revised later in life with future surgery.)
2. Pull his ab muscles over his tummy where they belong (since he was born with an open tummy, the ab muscles were pushed to the side)
3. Insert a G-tube (feeding tube port) in his tummy so we no longer have to tape the NG feeding tube to his face. A more semi-permenant option.

4. Cut his pelvic bones and fuse them together where they belong since they developed open like a book at birth, making his legs aim out to the side. 
5. And many more things to diffucult to try and explain

Concerns: 
1. The surgery will be around 12-18 hours. Update: it took 19.5 hours.
2. Drs said it will be fraught with many, many risks and possible complications just because of the amount of organs and systems involved. May result in several follow-up surgeries. There is a high chance his body could re-open and the organs prolapse back out. 
3. It involves 3 surgeons: Pediatric Urologist, Pediatric General Surgeon, and a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. 
4. They will keep Mr Boy asleep for a several days for pain management and he should be in the Pediatric ICU for about a week before moving to the regular hospital rooms for possibly a few more weeks as long as it all goes well.  Update: was kept asleep and in coma state for 2 weeks and in ICU one month. 

5. Mr Boy will be in external fixators (metal rods screwed into his plevic bones) for about 6 weeks. 
6. This surgery has no "blueprints" and Drs have to research, consult other surgeons and basically be "creative artists," when attacking it. Few Doctors (and by "few" I literally mean 1 and maybe 2 or 3) can really say they are "specialists" in this condition. About 14 babies are born with this each year in the US, so few Doctors ever see it. 

Prayer Requests:
1. Endurance, wisdom, and creativity for the surgeons
2. That the surgery would go better than expected with no complications.
3. That Mr Boy's care would be easier after this and he would be able to walk easier and eat! 
4. That Mr Boy will heal quickly and recover with little/no pain. 

Blessings we have already witnessed: 
1. We can have all Mr Boy's care at a hospital only 2 miles away from our home. Unfortunately many people have to fly hundreds of miles for care because this defect is so rare and complex, but we live in "the middle of nowhere" as some of you would say, and yet we have some of the best Doctors working on Mr Boy, who are compassionate and humble. 
2. Our hospital has one of the only Pediatric Urologists in North and South Dakota and he just so happened to come to our hospital a few months before Mr Boy was born. He specifically researched his condition at Vanderbuilt and wrote the section about it in a urology textbook. We are so blessed to have him! 
3. We know we were here in Sioux Falls, SD for a reason and have full trust in our Doctors. 

*No matter the outcome of the Surgery, we just want the Lord to be praised, honored and glorified. We are praying for physical healing for Mr Boy, but also have come to the realization that these bodies are just bodies and more important than physical healing for Mr Boy, we pray he becomes a man after God's heart. It would be lovely for his body to be whole, but spiritual wholeness is worth so much more. We have all the faith in the world that the Lord can easily heal his little body on this earth, but if it could bring the Lord more glory in Mr Boy's life through this, then we pray the Lord's will be done. Mr Boy can touch so many lives we never could reach, with these "defects." We ask the Lord will use this situation for His Glory in Mr Boy's life. 

Romans 5:2-5 And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.