Luke, age 6, underwent a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery on December 10th, 2008. Kids with Cerebral Palsy actually get "hand-picked" for this procedure. The success rate of it highly depends on the selection of the "right" candidate. Luke was chosen by 3 physicians specializing in Rhizotomys as a "hands-down" child who could benefit greatly. The surgery permanently reduces muscle tightness, and after Luke undergoes months of rehabilitation and physical therapy, he will walk more easily and efficiently and have greater balance! The goal for Luke is to be able to walk without any aids, like forearm cructhes. Through God's grace and miraculous power, we are confident that Luke will be running and playing beyond our wildest expectations! Luke will be in the hospital for 6 weeks and will have daily physical therapy for six months after that. We are prepared as a family to help Luke succeed in this "Great Adventure". The blog was named for one of Luke's favorite songs by Stephen Curtis Chapman that he learned in Vacation Bible School this past summer.

Day 3 and All is Well

Saturday: The 72 hours that Luke has had to lie flat after the surgery is nearly up. He has done remarkably well since he came out of the 4 1/2 hour procedure on Wednesday. Luke has been comfortable with pain medication, laying on his back and sides~they turn him every couple of hours. His spirits have been mostly high, with the exception of a couple of "sad" moments when he questioned the length of his hospital stay and when he could wear his own pajamas.

He has been energized by two evening visits in a row by Zach and Sydney, and always counts the hours until their return.

Luke has spent most of the time so far reading "My First Little House Books", visiting with his roommate Sam, eating (he's had an awesome appetite) or napping. He has been playing with his "spy gear" toys and a nerf gun which he uses to shoot rubber darts at the skylight window above his bed. The darts stick for a while and then fall without notice. He gets a real kick out of that.

Today, he has had a couple of disctractions from the mundane.....Santa and seven elves came to visit. Luke asked Santa for a Christmas tree for his room (like his roommate Sam has), but the closest Santa could come up with was a K'nex Tow Truck Building Toy. Luke easily switched gears and Mommy and he started building right away.

The second "new" but destined to be extremely familiar activity, was Luke's introduction to the prone cart. This cart is where Luke will be spending time on his belly to strengthen his back muscles. He'll work up to being in the cart 3 hours per day. He got in it twice today. The first time, the Physical Therapist (PT) trained Mom how to do it, and Luke's back hurt, so he was only in it for about 5 minutes. A couple hours later, he lasted 35 minutes without complaint when Mommy put him in the cart, and took him to craft time. There, we made a Christmas ornament (shhhh, Luke dubbed it as a Christmas gift for Sydney, and wrote her name on the back of it).