Laney is having eye surgery tomorrow, the 27th, at Surgicenter of Greater Milwaukee. It is affiliated with Children's Hospital and we really like her Dr., but we are praying 1) That this surgery fixes the problem so she doesn't require successive surgeries and 2) Obviously, that her eyes don't hemorrhage, as there is a slim chance she could go blind. Chloe asked me a lot of questions tonight, and when I explained the procedure she was really unsettled. "But Mommy, that will hurt so bad!" she said. I'm bracing myself for when she sees the bloody tears...

Laney has done a great job patching, and it has improved a lot, but not enough to correct it. To have any hope of preserving her vision in the right eye, the surgery is necessary. The problem is that the muscled connected the eyes to the sockets are malformed and/ or misplaced, so the Dr. will go in and cut those muscles to stretch and reform them in the hopes that the eyes will straighten and start working together.

Obviously, she will be put under. As long as there are no complications, it will be strictly outpatient. She will have double vision, nausea, pain, itching, etc., for several days as well as being in double arm splints to keep her from scratching at the eyes. (The stitches leave that foreign-object-in-the-eye sensation). So needless to say, all of these things will probably add up to a very cranky little girl. Since she cannot be around bright lights for a week or two, we'll pretty much be holing up in our room with our lamps on, which I'm praying doesn't mean a really cranky Mommy! I am hoping to be able to soothe her and actually make the recovery time enjoyable, as I can (hopefully) listen to my classes while I do other things and be able to take the time to read to her and do things we normally don't have time for.

Honestly, I am not scared about the surgery itself. I am aware that some pretty terrible things could happen, but I also believe that God is big enough to get us through them. I just hope we can make the most of this time and I can soothe her as needed.

I have been pretty stressed out lately with various concerns, constantly needing to remind myself to trust Him and push on with what really matters, but I have been so encouraged by our great time with the Thompsons, as well as with the way several of you have reached out, mailed us letters, and taken care of some of our practical needs in the past couple of weeks. THANK YOU! I can't describe how important that has been!

Thanks for caring about us and supporting us as we pursue Him!

Erin