Surgery update

For those of you who missed our tweet on Friday, Pierce's shunt surgery was moved to tomorrow morning at 8 am. I really appreciate the fact that Pierce's neurosurgery team really wants him in/out of the hospital before RSV (cold/flu) season gets under way (October-April). I must admit, I'm glad we are rushing this... gives me less time to sit and think about it!

Please be in prayer for us as Pierce goes in for his 4th surgery. I'm so dreading the moment when they come and wheel him away. Hate it! Pray for a speedy recovery and that Pierce would thrive with the shunt. Speaking of thriving, yesterday Pierce rolled over from his tummy to back for the first time! Looking back, it was so comical. We were sitting in the living room, watching the Carolina game and Pierce was playing on his tummy. All of the sudden I look down to see him, mid-roll and flop, down he went. I don't know what his reaction to rolling was, but after I immediately started screaming for Nik to come see, crocodile tears welled in his eyes. I think he scared himself, or I scared him, or perhaps both? Nonetheless, this was a HUGE accomplishment. Something to check off the list. I know it may not seem like that big of a deal to most, but with a micropreemie every little milestone is one worth rejoicing over!

Ok, back to the shunt-one of the main goals for Pierce's shunt will be to keep it from overdraining. Apparently, because he is draining most of his fluid on his own, they'll have to be careful to not let the shunt do more work than it has to. The neat thing is that the shunt is adjusted externally after placement. It's very high-tech and I'd probably make a fool of myself trying to explain, so for now, just know that it uses magnets and the neurosurgeon is able to adjust the rate at which it's draining.

After surgery, they'll be carefully monitoring the shunt for any signs of infection or malfunction (both of which could require immediate surgery). Please pray that things will go well and that our little boy will bounce back from this just like he always has. Also pray for continued protection as we take P to the germ-infested hospital. Just a quick trip there on Friday (for his post-op), warranted a massive OCD-attack from Mommy. :/ I have a feeling hand sanitizer and lysol spray will be our friend for the next few days.

We will update mainly thru twitter while in the hospital so be sure to check the side bar of the page for updates!

Love,
The Franks Family

PS- The picture posted above adequately sums up my emotions as we go for surgery tomorrow. For weeks now, I've been trying to catch this cute sad face that Pierce often shoots while waiting to be fed. Isn't it just the most adorable face ever?!