We are 2 days out from John’s biggest surgery and from a medical perspective things are going well. We’re not having tons of issues maintaining the stents like last time and his breathing seems very good (as good as it can be when you have plastic stents shoved up your nose…) 

Our main issue is pain. He’s been getting lots of pain meds around the clock and despite all that, he is still in immense pain. We’ve added an additional medicine to try to help. The baby we see in the bed is far from our happy, joyful little John and that’s a truly heartbreaking thing to watch day after day…. 
The swelling and bruising are starting to subside and his doctor is very pleased overall given how much bone was removed. We truly thing this will be good for him in the long run, but healing from this surgery is honestly tougher than I think we anticipated. 

Please pray that his pain will start to subside. He’s been in misery for days now and his little body could use a break (and so could my mom heart…) 


He remains in the ICU for now. 
We’re so thankful for these incredible nurses who take such good care of him, our local family who has helped so much with Collins, our friends and family (and strangers) who have sent gift cards for food and flowers, the countless additional offers to help with playdates and dog care, and for Andy’s job and their willingness to be flexible so that we can try to juggle all of this. 

This journey gets so heavy sometimes. Some weeks are harder than others, this being one of them- with the baseline turmoil of the world, the death of one of Bethany’s friends, the medical bills that never ever stop, the new family members that we can’t help with or visit because we’re just trying to stay afloat in our own little world. 
The days are so hard for so many people and this world can be so cruel, but it can also be very beautiful. Let’s be sure we’re extra kind to one another.  You never know how desperately someone needs that extra kindness. 


🩵