Update from the Surgery

 Dear friends and family, 

Yesterday was a very big day for Seraya as she went in for surgery at 8:00am sharp. As parents there is a lot of emotions that lead up to this day and yesterday was the day led to leaving it all into the Lord's hands. We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for guiding the hands of the doctors. He is worthy of all the praise! 

After the surgery we received a note from Brian and Alaina that read, 

"Wanted to give everyone a quick update. We are thankful that all has gone well. The doctor has let us know that she did have lots of spasticity and he cut 50-60% of the nerves causing it. He thinks this will benefit her a lot. Alaina is just in with her now in recovery. All praise be to God!"

As a family we are so relieved by this update. How incredible that our God in our weakness and frailty also provides this surgery and was definitely needed for sweet Seraya. We see in the last line of the message that we want to direct all praise to our Heavenly Father. 

The journey towards recovery is set and now the road will take a bit of navigating. On a lighter note in her fashion she told the nurses and doctors that "she loves them" and then asked for french fries right after surgery. She is such delight and carries with her that sweet disposition that we all love and adore. A gift from God! 

Brian and Alaina sent an update this morning with the following: 

"He (The Doctor) definitely thinks this will benefit her walking quite a bit in the months/years to come. He noticed when they were cutting the nerves that there was lots of spasticity in her legs which we knew as they were always tight. He tested all the nerves during surgery and cut 50-60% of the nerves that were abnormal and super spastic. Right after they did this they could already see an improvement in the tightness of her legs. Now we can notice it too that her calf muscles and feet, and ankles and everything is not so tight and easier to move. Her spine is not fighting against her so much anymore as they cut those abnormal nerves. It is truly amazing that this is even possible. So for the next two days she has to lay flat in bed to allow her spine to heal properly and prevent any leakage of spinal fluid where the incision is. She’s on pain medication as she’s quite sore, but other than that doing fairly well and in good spirits. She’s able to start eating and drinking as well. 

After the two days are up then she will be able to start to move around a bit. We will be able to sit her up and maybe get her into a wheelchair etc. for periods of sitting up. Physio will get involved as soon as she’s able to start to move around a bit."

The above is a relief and is truly amazing as the parents put it. We will send an update next week on how the road is going. 

Very thankful to our Heavenly Father and ask that you uphold Seraya and the Schutten's in your prayers. It is a long road but our Father is our anchor and refuge in these times. 

On behalf of B & A, 

Jake DeJong