Surgery Cancelled

Well today didn't go exactly how we had planned. Last night we gave Maddy her pre-op bath with the soap that the hospital gave us on Friday in preparation for her surgery. We put her to bed, then woke her at 1:30 to feed her for the last time. We got up at 5 a.m. this morning and gave Maddy some pedialyte and then packed up and headed to Cook's Children's in Ft. Worth for Maddy's MRI and tethered cord surgery. We got to the hospital right at 7:30 as we'd been requested to do and checked in for the MRI. Then we waited for 2 hours and they finally came and got the poor very hungry and tired baby to sedate her for the procedure. Only one of us could go into the sedation room with her so I went. They give gas through a mask and then put in the breathing tube and iv. The parent only stays until the baby goes under. It was really sad. I've seen her go under for an MRI one other time and it tears me up every time. Their eyes kind of roll back but the eyes don't close so it is so creepy because it looks like they died. The nurse closes their eyes after they go out. Then you have to say bye and leave the room so they can do everything else. Horrible! Anyway. We got that done and then they went ahead and took us up to the surgery waiting area. So we waited for about an hour. We had about decided that the doctor had just started surgery without coming out to talk to us when he walked out. He asked us to go back into a private room. Well at this point my heart is like a lead weight pounding in my chest because last time that happened the doctor told us that Maddy wasn't going to be able to live outside of me. Anyway, he took us back and said that from what he saw on the MRI he was not comfortable with doing the surgery. The reason was that even though the spinal cord still appears low in the spinal column, there is no thickened filament or fatty tissue that indicates the traditional tethered cord. It could be that the filament is still tethering the spine but it is not enough of an issue to warrant surgery at this point. He suggested that we cancel surgery and then follow up with him in three months to check how she is doing and make sure that she still appears to be asymptomatic for any issues caused by a tethered cord. Well of course  we agreed. I mean, if the surgeon is telling you he's not comfortable with doing the surgery because at this point he thinks the risks outweigh the benefits, what else are you going to say? They took her to a recovery room and woke her up. We gave her some pedialyte again to make sure she wouldn't throw up and then they discharged her and we took her home. It has been a very long day and we are very tired but very thankful for how God worked and that we got an even more positive outcome than a successful surgery would have been. One of the things that I have thanked God over and over for, especially in the past few days leading up to the surgery, is the blanket of prayer that has been over Maddy going into this day. In some ways I feel bad that we alarmed everyone over this and then it was no big deal, but on the other hand, I think it ended up being no big deal because so many people were praying and God answered those prayers. Thank you so much for praying for us so diligently. We do ask that you continue to pray for Maddy in this situation. Even though she did not have surgery, the issues with her spinal cord are definitely not fully resolved. So we ask for your continued prayers for her, but today please rejoice with us and remember to thank God for what he has done for us today.