Answered Prayer

Since I listed out some specific prayer requests prior to Ryan's surgeries, I thought I'd post the specific answers we received. We were praying:

1. That Ryan will tolerate the anesthesia well. Last time he was pretty nauseous.

He did so much better this time! He was nauseated once on the elevator ride down, but he was just fine after that.

2. That he would be free from infection.

He had absolutely no infection!

3. For skill and wisdom for the doctors.

Both surgeries accomplished the task, and the eye surgeon said she didn't think she could have achieved a better result!

4. One of the uncommon side effects from the particular eye surgery he's having done this time is that his lower eye lid could droop slightly. We are praying that would not happen, of course.

No drooping! Thank you, Lord!

5. He will have peace and be courageous! He is very anxious.

He did cry when he first found out that morning that we were going, but he seemed pretty relaxed and was very cooperative during all the pre-op vitals, discussions, and time before surgery.

6. For a quick recovery, speedy healing and minimal pain.

He had almost no pain with his stenosis surgery, and some mild pain from the eye surgery for a couple days. However, they gave him Tylenol with codeine this time and that helped him cope much better than last time. His healing went very well and continues to heal quite nicely.

7. Lastly, we pray that the surgeries would have the desired outcome and be successful. The eye surgery is difficult for the doctor to know definitively where to cut and suture. So much of the outcome is based on things that she can't predict or control...like how his brain will "interpret" the new position of the eye. So we're praying for the best possible outcome.

Again, the stenosis surgery was successful!
The eye surgery was successful on many levels (no drooping, excellent positioning), but we won't know the complete picture for a month or more.

Needless to say, the Lord was most gracious in answering our prayers! He is faithful even when He chooses to answer differently than we hope, but this time I am grateful He saw fit to walk us smoothly through this small trial.