The Unexpected

Although we're not fans of it, we've come to expect the unexpected. And The Unexpected is precisely what we got this afternoon.

We were sitting in the cafeteria here at CHO when Dr. Sun entered sans mask and funny OR shoe covers. He made a beeline for our table and I felt a vague sense of worry set in. The first words out of his mouth were "Logan is fine". He got a little closer, took a seat and added "but I was unable to continue with the procedure".

I was flummoxed. And disappointed. Seriously, God? Seriously?! That damned tumor is still in there?! I thought, the panic rising in my chest. Was it inoperable? Did something look different than it had initially on the MRI, complicating removal? Nope. Nothing of the sort. In fact, he didn't even get a chance to try to remove the mass. Dr. Sun explained that an artery in Logan's neck -- one that was nowhere near where he was working -- had suddenly gone haywire, spurting blood. The bleed lasted only about 5 seconds, but necessitated a 2-unit transfusion. So yeah: A gusher. He said that his blood pressure dropped while they awaited the bags, but that otherwise, he thought Logan would be okay. The vein involved wasn't in the brain itself, rather in the brain covering. Dr. Sun said he'd briefly considered continuing on with the resection, but decided against it for caution's sake.

Logan will be kept in a heavily-sedated state -- along the lines of a medically-induced coma, but not as serious -- for the next 24 to 48 hours until they're sure that the pressure in his brain is stable. He has a wire meter in place that will help with that, and the bone plate that was removed for the operation wasn't replaced so if his brain does swell, it'll have somewhere to go; the bone is on ice somewhere here at CHO and they'll put it back in later. If all goes well, they'll try to do the resection again next week, but probably from the original incision site.

So what happened? Dr. Sun doesn't really know. He said that (and this is essential) he'd never had that happen to him before during a procedure. A very gifted neurosurgeon with thousands upon thousands of hours of OR time under his belt had a new experience with LOGAN on the table? Yeah.

Prayer warriors, the other side attacked today, but God acted. Please get frustrated with evil alongside us, and pray prayers of protection for Logan. The next few days are critical in terms of determining what's next. Please pray for his health, his well-being. Pray that he'll come out of this experience as himself, and that he'll be well enough to try for the resection again next week. And please, recruit more friends, if you have them. There's something huge going on here.

Oddly enough, instead of being angry with God, I'm grateful that He had his hand on the situation and kept Logan from bleeding out. Now I pray that He'll keep His hand on the tumor and prevent it from growing as we deal with this setback.

I need to get to the PICU to see Logan now, but wanted to update and ask for continued, invigorated, ramped-up prayers. Nothing is ever easy when a battle is going on, but GOD is in control and WILL be the victor here.