Update on K

We went to the surgeon today at Northside. The picture above is K after we got home about 7:30. She is worn out from all of the happenings. I wanted to let everyone know what the surgeon had to say about K's right forearm and hand.

1. She has in fact suffered from Amniotic Band Syndrome.
2. The band is still wrapped around her right forearm and will need to be removed in two stages. The first is to remove half of the band and graft skin in the place where it is. This will take place in six months barring any unforeseen complications. The second is to remove the second half of the band in another surgery three to four months after the first surgery.
3. The damage from the amniotic band is extensive and leaves little to no hope of reconstruction barring a miracle (which God can do). There is a part of the wrist that showed up in the x-ray, but the hand and all the bones we can feel in her hand are nothing more than cartilage and likely will never be anything more than that. She has no motor skills with her wrist or her fingers. Her fingers are fused to her palm and this is good because it will prevent infection from happening in her hand.
4. There is a good possibility that at some point in the next year and a half that she may have to have her forearm amputated.
5. If she has to have her forearm amputated she will be fitted with an artificial arm. The great news is that technology is advancing quickly and there are arms that have been developed in labs that have working fingers that run off of the very same process as our natural limbs do. He told me that it is not quite as fancy as the ones seen in Star Wars (like the one Luke Skywalker had), but the function is much greater than what is currently available. These will be available somewhere within the next five to fifteen years.

K handled the doctor well. She had to have some x-rays taken and I went with her for that. It was something that was not pleasant because I had to hold her down for that. She seemed to enjoy the car ride to Northside because she slept the WHOLE time. It was great! Now she is plum tuckered out from all of the excitement and sleeping even more.

Now about Christa and I. We are doing well. We are actually surprised about how well we are doing. We thought it would be much more difficult for us to handle the news of today, but we had tried to prepare ourselves for the worse case scenario. We have learned several things that we noted earlier when discussing today.
1. K will never know the difference of having a hand and we are very thankful for that.
2. Mom and Dad have already learned so much from this beautiful little girl and she is only four days old. We look forward to everything that she is going to teach us over a greater period of time.
3. K will be a stronger person in the long run by going through all of what she will have to experience.
4. We can see how God is using her to change our lives and we know that God will do the same through her to others. It seems to us that this is part of God's plan. He has made clear to us that He is in control and He does have a plan. We have a great peace in this. I truly believe that God is going to be able to use this situation for not only us to share the love of Jesus Christ but for her to do the same in the future.
5. We don't know that we have ever been better than we are at the present time. We truly have peace that surpasses all understanding. We thank Jesus for that because without Him we could not have the peace that we do in the midst of this situation.

Well, I had better go. Thank you for all of your prayers.

In Christ Jesus,
Nate