That was close....no that was God

March 23, 2018 - we arrived at the hospital early before the coffee shop was even open. We checked into pre-op and took our seats. As we waited our dear family and friends began to arrive to support rebecca and us through the day. Nissen fundoplication Is the name of the surgery Josh and I signed off for the doctor to preform on Rebecca. This surgery can be done laparoscopically but Dr. Kays was also planning on doing another minor cosmetic surgery on Rebeccas original scar so he decided to do this surgery with an open cut. The surgery was expected to be about 2-3 hours. So at 4 hours in I was struggling with knowing what was taking so long. At almost 6 hours We finally got word that the doctor was ready to chat with us. We basically threw the baby at the grandparents and “walked briskly” into the consult room. We sat at the table and waited for Dr Kays. When he came in he was almost giddy/joyful. Josh and I were very confused. First Dr Kays explained how upset he was that Rebecca has had to live her entire life this way. He said he was sick to his stomach about had bad her esophagus looked. I immediately started feeling like breaking down but I could tell he had more to share. He then told us that when he opened her up he discovered that her spleen was in front of her stomach (your spleen should be under your rib cage for protection). He explained that if she had had a trauma to the stomach she would’ve died. She would’ve internally bled to death bc no one knew her spleen was there. So he has attempted to put her spleen back into place. For most people this information would’ve been so hard to handle, but all I could think is “I’m so glad Rebecca wanted to have cosmetic surgery” If she wouldn’t have wanted or need it, Dr Kays would’ve most likely done this surgery laparoscopically and maybe never discover that her spleen was out of place. He also discovered Rebecca had a hiatal hernia which he also repaired while he was in there. So I’m praising God for using what was “not pretty” to save a life. Rebecca had a very difficult recovery in the hospital. What was supposed to be a 4 day stay ended up being a 7 day stay. But God is faithful and He helped us to persevere through it all. You may say that was close but I say “no that was God”. 

Rebecca was diagnosed with barrettes esophagus. This is a pre-cancerous condition that most people don’t get until they are 50 or 60. Children just don’t get barrettes. But rebecca was not treated when she was little so the damage was extensive. We continue to pray that no matter what happens, that God will use this for His glory.