Neurosurgeon Update

I am so thankful for my little Addie and for all the wonderful doctors we have been able to work with. We saw the neurosurgeon, Dr. Lin, Monday. He was looking over Addie's left arm and trying to figure out what is causing her lack of motion. After his examination he has determined that from what he can see it is a brachal plexus injury, meaning there is some nerve damage up around her shoulder. He referred us to Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago in order to do an EMG. The EMG is a test that will try and determine where and how much damage there is to her nerves. We are scheduled for that July 21st. They will have to put her under to do it and it should take about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  After that we will see Dr. Lin again on August 15th to follow up looking at the test results and any progress she has made. We will then decide if surgery is necessary, which is looking very likely. She would either have a surgery where he goes in a cleans up the scar tissue build up around the nerve or  a nerve graft where he would take a nerve from her knee and put it in her shoulder. We are also in the process of adding more therapy sessions we will be seeing occupational and physical weekly instead of every other week. Hopefully, with the increase in therapy we will see more improvement and as always the older she gets the more she is capable of doing in therapy. All of this information in the last couple of days has been a lot to handle! It can really stress me out when I think about all the Addie is going to have to go through. Surgery is never easy and even just having to be put under for the testing runs its risks. It is a scary time. I am tempted to start to question God, but then in the midst something happens that reminds me of just how far He has brought her. Do I hate that she has 2 or 3 more surgeries in the next few months of course I do. But I am reminded that almost a year ago we didn't even know if she would be able to use her hands. We didn't even know if she would live or need excessive heart surgery. As scary and time consuming as this stuff is it is all orthopedic! I may never know why God did not heal her all miraculously and that is okay. I don't act that way, but deep down I know it is okay. God has been carrying me through this. He and I have had some hard conversations because I just don't understand and they all end with "Okay God I don't get it, sometimes I don't even like it, but I trust you. I know you are here and have been here and there is a bigger picture that I am not seeing." Those are not easy words to keep saying as they pile surgery on top of surgery. It isn't easy to be joyful and happy in the midst of the scary, but I know who God is and in that I can rejoice. Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice IN THE LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" I have been teaching the boys this memory verse and it came up in my Bible study today it and just hit me. It doesn't just say rejoice always but rejoice in the Lord. God doesn't ask us to rejoice because of our circumstances but to rejoice in Him regardless of our circumstances. There is a huge difference there. I can rejoice in Him because of who He is and then that gives me the freedom to praise Him in my circumstances because He has a master plan. He is working it all out for good because He is love. 1 Corinthians 13"4-8a ^" Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." These are the characteristics of God. And He lavishes this love onto each of His children. It is an agape kind of love that only He can have and He has it for me and He has it for Addie. That is something I can rejoice in. I don't have to have all the answers because I know the one that does! He is not going to fail us!