I wonder what he will look like with his tubes out?

Mark the date!  January 30th was the date for the appointment with the surgeon.

As soon as we left the GI doctor's office, I was dialing the surgeon's number as fast as my fingers could punch the numbers into my phone.  Christopher's feeding tubes had been in for 16 long years, and he could hardly wait to get them out.  The receptionist answered with a cheerful hello, and within a few minutes I reported to Christopher that the date for the appointment was January 30, 2012. 

It was the middle of December, and January seemed like an eternity away.  He wanted to know why we couldn't do it any sooner, and I told him that January 30th was the first appointment that the surgeon had available on his schedule.  I reminded him that it was almost Christmas, and I encouraged him to just concentrate on all the Christmas festivities.  January would be here before you know it, but inside I was anxious too.

Merry Christmas!  Happy Birthday, Jesus!

While we waited for the day of the appointment, we celebrated Christmas and New Year's Day.  Given Christopher's miracle healing the celebrations were especially joyful.  Christopher was blessed with being able to eat all the Christmas cookies, candy canes, and Christmas dinner.  God's timing was so perfect.  We got to celebrate two huge gifts, God's gift of His son and God's gift of miracle healing.  It was a Christmas that we would never forget! 

The New Year's celebration was special too.  Just like every year, it was "out with the old and in with the new", but this year was different.  We were going to begin the new year (2012) with an unexpected and priceless gift.  We rang in the New Year knowing that God had healed Christopher.  This year he would eat.  This year his feeding tubes would come out.  It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.  There wasn't a cure for Christopher's digestive disorder, but there was God.  All things are possible with God!  We rang in the New Year praising God with thankful hearts.  I couldn't help but smile each time when I saw on my January calendar the big red circle around the 30th.

The appointment was at noon.  My heart was beating with excitement and anticipation as we checked in at the reception desk.  I had to pinch myself.  Was this really happening?  Usually an appointment with the surgeon meant bad news, a problem of some sort.  This time was different.  This time we were actually excited to be meeting with the surgeon.  This time it was good news...VERY GOOD NEWS!

It wasn't long before we were introducing ourselves to our new surgeon and his intern.  The surgeon greeted us warmly and explained that the GI doctor had sent over Christopher's EXTENSIVE chart for him to review.  He had reviewed the chart, but he wanted to hear from Christopher all that had happened recently with his digestive system.  Christopher filled in all the blanks.  He told him about the prayer with Bruce.  He gave details about how God had healed him, and he answered questions about his current eating and toilet habits. 

How did the surgeon react?  Well, he didn't.  It was as if it we had just told him that it was raining outside (which doesn't come as a surprise to anyone when you consider that it was January in Oregon), or that the sky was blue, or that the grass was green.  He didn't seem moved at all.  His reaction was flat.  Christopher was just another patient with just another problem that just went away some how.  It was no big deal, no cause for celebration or even question.

I found his response surprising and even a little disturbing.  Was he deaf?  Did he just miss the part where Christopher told him that he had been instantly healed from a disorder that had no earthly cure?  How could anyone be so devoid of emotion?  He didn't even express that he was happy for Christopher's healing regardless of how it had happened.  I know Bruce had warned me about the "clinically neutral response," but here it was on full display in front of us.  I couldn't help but wonder...what about the "human response"? 

The surgeon was all business, so we just got right down to business too.  The reason for our visit was to find out how and when Christopher could get his feeding tubes out.  The "how" was what we expected, but the "when" was a bit of a surprise.

Feeding tubes look like this. 

The surgeon explained the "how" first.  We would make an appointment to come back and see him at which time he would deflate the balloons that held the feeding tubes into Christopher's abdomen and simply take the tubes out.  Okay, we could do that.  In fact, we had done just that many times before in order to replace the tubes.  Couldn't we just do that at home on our own?  The answer was no.  The surgeon would remove them and then show us how to care for them until the holes HOPEFULLY closed up on their own.  He said that it was going to be a very messy process until we got those holes to close up.  All the acid, food, and saliva that was going to leak out was going to be very hard on his skin.  The surgeon would show us how to best avoid any skin breakdown and possible infection.  Then he explained that if the holes didn't close up on their own within a couple of weeks, that Christopher would have to have surgery to close them.

"How?"

Surgery is always a last resort.  Christopher had experienced plenty of surgical intervention in his life, and it always sounded better on paper than it actually did in reality.  There was always the risk of complications and long hospital stays.  We all agreed that it would be better to just take the tubes out, deal with the mess, and pray that the holes close up on their own. 

The all important, "When?"

The big "when" question still loomed.  We wanted a date.  We wanted to know "when" in March he could get those tubes out.  That's when the surgeon hesitated a little as he tried to give us the bad news as softly as possible.  He felt it was important for Christopher to wait a little longer to get his feeding tubes out.  It was his opinion that 3 months was just too soon.  He felt it would be wise to wait 6 months just to be sure that Christopher could continue to eat and maintain his weight.  He reminded us that taking them out was easy, but if they needed to be put back in for any reason, that it would be much more difficult and dangerous.  He offered to do it at the end of April or the beginning of May. 

The "when" was definitely a disappointment.  We had March in our minds, but we knew his argument was not without merit.  He was right.  It was better to wait just to be sure that any unexpected complications with Christopher's eating didn't develop.  Besides, we knew Christopher was healed.  He was eating normally now, and we knew he would still be eating normally in April/May and beyond.  As much as it pained us to wait, we would wait. 

The "when" question turned out to be part of God's plan too.  He had big plans for Christopher while he waited those extra months to get his feeding tubes out.  The time would not be wasted.  God's timing was perfect, and He had some special things he wanted Christopher to do. 

More tomorrow...



Special Note:  Please help us pray that Christopher's tubes will close up on their own.  We have a date!  On April 26, 2012 we have an appointment with the surgeon to get Christopher's tubes taken out!  God is good!!!


If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can pray like this: