Connor-post surgery

Hey Prayer Warriors! Not that we need proof to know that He is God, but if you read this, you will see that God hears you and responds to you!! Wow!!!

This was written by his Mom Thursday around 6:00 p.m.

Connor has four tubes in him...the feeding tube, nose tube, drainage tube and catheter. He hates the nose tube, but it needs to stay in for a few more days until his stomach drainage is clear and slowing.

Yesterday, the surgeon said he felt like he had removed all the tumor and he was trying to get more of the Neuroblastoma tumor out. He was quite disappointed he couldn't get more of the NB tumor out. He said it was hard to distinguish the line dividing the two tumors. It was unclear, but he felt like he got the new tumor out. The pathology report will help us confirm that he got it all out.

The oncologist said she was astounded by the news from the surgeon...above and beyond what anyone expected. Doesn't that sound like our God, able to do exceedingly above all we could ask or think? Connor's outlook Tuesday did not look good. The oncologist was much more hopeful last night (Wed.). The good news is that Connor can receive some chemotherapy if they feel like he needs some to make sure all of the cancer is dead. Hoping to have the pathology report next week, but it may take longer. They have to go thru each sample meticulously.

The surgeon went over the details of the surgery with us. The tumor had grown quickly since the last CT scan on Dec. 23. It had eroded further into the stomach, which was causing all this heavy bleeding. It was BAD! Don't know how much longer he would have lasted. We are so grateful to God that he worked out all the details to get us to this surgeon yesterday. Everything fell into place (another surgery was cancelled for Dr. N, so he just put Connor in his place). Thank you, God. The tumor had also eroded a little into the esophagus, so this presented an unexpected challenge for the surgeon. He removed about 1/3 of Connor's stomach and removed a small part of the esophagus (the part that connects to the stomach). Removing part of the esophagus made the opening into the stomach way too small, so he had to create a new opening into the stomach from the esophagus. This will take awhile to heal. I guess Connor got his stomach stapled. He'll have to eat small meals for awhile now until his stomach stretches to accommodate more food.

When we were discussing the dreary outlook on Tuesday with the Oncologist, we felt like the Oncologist was pronouncing ANOTHER death sentence. She reminded us that through the years many doctors or people didn't expect Connor to live thru that first year, let alone 3 1/2 years from diagnosis. She said he's already beat the odds, proved so many wrong, so we must be doing something right. We should not give up hope. She's right. We were doing something right. Believing and trusting in our one and only Awesome God, who loves us more than we can imagine!

We should be here for 7-10 days. Please continue to pray for his healing and pray that the surgeon got all the new tumor. Thank you so much for all your prayers! We are humbled by your faithfulness to pray for our son! We know that is why we saw another miracle yesterday. There were so many knocking on Heaven's Door, that God answered our prayers. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Thank you to those that came to the hospital to wait with us. Your presence was so comforting during the long, nail-biting wait.

Praise God for His mercies are new every morning!