It's nice to breathe for a day

As I mentioned earlier, we were greeted with the words - "It looks better" from the Neurosurgeon this morning before the scheduled surgery. He had to run to an emergency and only had a moment to show us the new CAT scan. The NICU pediatrician who has been with Sara from her first breath explained in more detail. A lot is still up in the air. How much damage will the blood in the brain tissue leave behind? How much damage was there from the stroke or infarction (I think that is the right word, Jennifer keeps telling me I have it wrong)? A lot remains to be seen over the next weeks and months, but today was a good day.

The reservoir was put in successfully. It was done by local anesthesia only, which is rare. Don't know why he chose to do that. One of Sara's primary nurses said she was at least expecting some of Sara's vitals to drop - but she was steady as she goes. Not even a glitch in blood pressure. In fact she remarked that the only time she cried was when part of her hair was shaved off. Now tell me this isn't a girl? She'll fit in just right in our home.

In fact this nurse, who we love, was so encouraging today. She said Sara has looked so good that she has never given up on her. She said so far Sara has not gone according to typical expectations from the charts. She is plotting her own course. And do I need to tell you who is at the helm?

This is a good day. After several very difficult and dark days, today God has shown favor to us. I prayed God would show up today and give hope to a mom who needed a reason to hope. How good is He?

Are we in the clear? By no means. We know from reading the journey of some of you this is a day by day walk. If we don't learn anything else from, we will learn how to walk with Jesus day by day. In reality, that is how we all live, but in this situation it is driven into the depths of your soul. We will praise Him and celebrate today's good news. We will go to sleep with a smile and song. And then wake up tomorrow to face it's unique challenges and realities.

I tried to read some of your comments to Jennifer today while she was pumping in the NICU. I could hardly get them out, so I stopped and let her read them later. I fixed the blog so anyone could comment, I didn't know some of you were being restricted. Also some have said they have trouble pulling it up. I don't know what to tell you - keep trying. Some of you have tried to text me, but I can't receive or send right now. My phone is on the blitz and an engineer from my cell phone company is supposed to be working on it. I think I have worn it out.

My friends, until tomorrow, we love you all and thanks for walking with us.