It's Over!

Heath called about 6:30 to say that the surgery was over, but that he wasn't allowed back to see her yet.  By now, he's probably with her as she's waking up.

Dr. Levitt said everything went beautifully.  Praise the Lord for that!  It took longer because of all the "creating" they had to do.  They had to take bits of this to make pieces of that and so forth.  They discovered that the original pull-thru surgery (to correct the imperforate anus) was poorly done, so he had to totally redo that.  So it's much better than it was before, but we won't know whether or not she has bowel control for awhile.  I'm not sure how that determination is made....hopefully we'll get more information over the next couple days.  Dr. Breech said that the gynecological part was successful, and she should be able to get pregnant someday.  There are 4 tubes in her belly right now for various things, which should come out during this next week.  Estimated hospital stay is at least a week.

The only bad news (from my perspective) is that they did have to do an ileostomy (same thing as a colostomy, except coming from the small intestine rather than the large).  She'll need to have this reversed in about 6-8 weeks (just about the time we go to China....that should be interesting).  I'm trying really hard not to pout like a spoiled child, but I'd been praying and praying that she wouldn't have to have this.  Of course, I was also praying that if she did have it God would give me the grace to handle it, and I'm sure He will.  I've had a few different people whose kids have had one assure me that it's no big deal.  And I guess they're right...we'll get used to it just like we got used to the cathing and the enemas.  But I'm pretty mad and scared and just plain grossed out about it right now.

So, other than my pouting about the ileostomy, everything is good.  I thank God that the surgery was successful, she's safe, and her physical body is (well, will be once she heals) better than it's ever been in the past.  There's much to rejoice about!

Please keep praying, as I'm sure these next few days will be tough for her.  Thanks so much for all the prayer today.  We really appreciate it!