Before and After

Before surgery

Perched on Mama's lap...a little sleepy at only 6:15 AM

All dressed for surgery

Silly girl rolling her eyes (probably at Pastor Kraig!)

Granny comes bearing gifts from afar (Pennsylvania!)

Breathing treatment (she was as happy as a clam with Granny holding her)

And she's off to see the surgeon!

After Surgery

In PACU (Post-Anesthesia Recovery Unit)

Before Morphine

Now in PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit)

After Morphine

Good Night!

Before-Surgery X-ray

The severe curve is called kyphosis.

Since she had her head tipped back for this x-ray, you also get a good look at her VP shunt.

After-Surgery X-ray

You can see the two rods side by side.

There is still a very slight curve, but the huge curve is gone!

The cables wrapped around near the top of the rods allow the rods to grow with her

so that she will not require surgery every year to adjust.

Before-Surgery Back Pics

This is one of the few really good pics of her back I have.

She was less than a year old here, I believe.

Ready for surgery

The discoloration over this area is probably due to how much they had to stretch the skin to put her all back together after her myelomeningocele repair two days after birth.

After-Surgery Back Pic

Yesterday Madeline was pretty sleepy most of the day, waking only to wimper, sign cup, and get more morphine. She drank lots of water and generally looked at us like, What did they do to me?? She ran a high fever which Dr. Didelot said is completely normal for spina bifida kids. Evidently the since so many of her nerves are dead, they cannot tell the brain that there is inflammation, so anything this huge causes high fevers especially at night for around three days. Last night she was running a fever up to 103.

So far today she has been awake more, and her temp is down to 99.5. She has had some valium for muscle spasms. She ate a couple bites of pudding and drank lots of PediaSure, cried when the bubbles and music went off on the thingy at the side of her bed, refused to smile for Mommy, and smiled and blew a kiss to Daddy when he came in!

We were moved out of PICU today, so we are all settled into our private room with a private bathroom and shower!

We've been so blessed by so many of you. Diana and Kirsten Metz kept the girls overnight so we wouldn't need to get them up so early in the morning, my mom drove from Pennsylvania to be with us during surgery and then to keep the girls through the week. Pastor Kraig and Aunt Pam and my mom's friend Susan spent hours with us here. We've received so many texts, emails, phonecalls and Facebook wall posts, and to top it off, a bunch of Glen's Twitter friends from all across the country went together to bless us with "out-to-eat" money (and evidently, we're going to have to eat a LOT (: ). You know who you are, and there is no way we could ever thank you enough.

Our worship pastor, Liz, sent me this verse yesterday, and I was so moved by it: Proverbs 14:26--Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.