Surgery Confirmation

We (Jennifer in particular) haven't felt a real peace about tomorrow's surgery. For one, while we knew it was approaching, a Thursday to Tuesday turnaround hasn't allowed much time for mental/emotional preparation. Secondly, there's been this lingering question in our minds of how Janie would do if we removed all feeding devices and made her fend for herself (with our careful assistance and observation obviously). Would her desperation kick-start a significant step in the right direction?

Janie Grace shows continued ability to be fed orally. It's messy and slow, but she can do it and appears to enjoy eating. That said, she's only getting a fraction of her nutrition orally. There is probably only one point during the day (if at all) that she feels hunger...the final moments before hooking her back up to the feeding pump after being off of it for several hours. What would happen if she felt hungry more often and was forced to practice eating? How will the absence of a tube down her throat for the first time in 6 months impact her eating? All of these thoughts race through our minds. Realistically, we know that it's very unlikely that she could improve as quickly as we'd need her to. Plus, during these very important months of development, we need her to be strong with all the help she can get. Nonetheless, the questions linger.

Last night at 9:00, Jennifer communicated that she needed some confirmation today (Monday) that putting JG into surgery was the right decision. We agreed that she'd contact our pediatrician, a lady that's been following Janie since birth via one of the governmental programs ("L"), and one of Jennifer's contacts through the local Down Syndrome network. L immediately called first thing this morning (she's wonderful to us) and had already spoken with their agency's dietitian. (I should mention quickly that we're more concerned about Janie's consumption of liquids than solids.) The amount of fluid alone Janie would need at this point is completely overwhelming, so we basically had the answer we needed.

However, the Lord's willingness and ability to answer prayer in the most obvious of ways was far from over.

The kids are each doing a camp for the first time this week (Jacob - basketball, Jensen - art). Jennifer was running some errands and stopped by the eye doctor to check on the status of JG's glasses and to look at a couple more frames that had been specially ordered for Jennifer to look at (the eye doctor is good to us as well). After getting to the parking lot of the eye doctor, Jennifer ended up on the telephone returning a few calls which took a little longer than expected. However, she'd soon learn why she needed to be on the phone those extra minutes.

Let me back up, let's be honest. Janie draws attention. Most babies do, but the tube coming out of her nose gets plenty of 2nd glances and warm comments. Once in a while, a stranger will share that a child they know required the same get-up.

Today, Jennifer had another such interaction as she walked into the eye doctor office 15-20 minutes after pulling into the parking lot. The mother of a 4-year-old son looked at Janie and said, "an NG tube...I remember those days." Jennifer, sensing what the Lord was up to and with already wet eyes, quickly told the woman that JG's scheduled for G-tube surgery in the morning. Before the woman could finish saying, "Oh! you're going to love the G-tube", Jennifer's face was flush with tears. She told the fellow mother, "we were suppose to run into each other." They spent the next few moments comparing stories as the Lord finished answering prayer.

There's no doubt their "chance" meeting had been divinely orchestrated and was clearly the tool used by the Lord to ease the heart and soul of a mother that had no peace about tomorrow's activities. Being under the hand of the Father is a powerfully peaceful place to live when we trust in His his ability to meet our needs.