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August 2nd update

Thank you for checking in on what is happening with Harper. Here is a new update from Harper's mommy : 

harper's 4th surgery was last friday.  it wasn't planned.  we've learned that things happen that way with plastic surgery and with this type of injury.  it will be a slow, roller coaster ride.  back-up to last wednesday.  i noticed that her pinky bone was exposed again (3rd time).  i was incredibly discouraged because last time the doctor had seen it, he'd mentioned the fact that he might just need to eventually "take" that bone.  obviously, we did not want that to happen...would be really hard to explain to harper why the doctor would purposely cut off a bone.  i e-mailed him a picture from my phone.  the quality was terrible, but you could clearly see a yellow dot where the bone was showing.  that is the only proof we have that it actually ever was showing, though, because God did a miracle with that little hand.  when we got to the hospital on friday morning, for the surgery where the doctor was going to try to cover the bone, THE DOCTOR COULDN'T SEE THE BONE anywhere.  he kept commenting about how much better her hand looked than what the picture had shown, because he knows that i'm a photographer (to which i would always reply with a negative comment about the Blackberry camera quality).  i honestly still can't believe it.  i keep trying to explain it away.  the doctor and ryan kept looking at me, almost feeling sorry for me, when i kept insisting that i was 100% sure i'd seen it...all day Wednesday i'd seen it and been sick to my stomach every time.  i'm still upset that no one else saw the "before" so that they could TRULY appreciate the miracle that God did, but at one point the doctor looked at me and said, "well, Somebody fixed it."

 

here's the crazy part: at one point that day (Wednesday), when i was in between phone calls with doctor's offices, i had the single thought, "you should pray for a miracle."  but i answered in my head with something like "that's stupid.  it won't happen."  so i'm ashamed to say that i didn't pray for a miracle.  i really felt like God healed her just to show me that it is possible and that i need to GROW MY FAITH.  however, i talked to my mom today and she said that her exact prayer had been that the Lord would cover that bone.  so, i guess He could answer her prayer and slap me in the face at the same time.  PRAISE YOU, O GOD WHO ANSWERS PRAYER AND PUTS YOUR HAND OVER OUR DOUBTING MOUTHS!!

 

she may still lose that little pinky bone.  i have no idea what God has planned, but i know that next time the Lord puts that thought in my head ("you should pray for a miracle."), i WILL pray for it.  no matter what it may be.  as far as the surgery, the doctor did another small skin graft from her stomach and basically laid it over the end of the 2nd graft that was healing really slowly.  he was also trying to give that pinky end some extra coverage.

 

update as of today: went to her post-op appointment to get the bandage removed.  the doctor is NOT big on bandages, so this was the first time her hand has been bandaged after surgery, and i have to say that it was SO nice to have that thing covered and padded for 4 days.  i felt so much more relaxed and less worried and naggy.  none of us were excited about getting the bandage off, but obviously we want what's best for that hand.  as the doctor was pulling off the bottom layer of guaze, it pulled on the spongy bandage that was sewn onto the graft.  it pulled pretty hard, i guess, because her hand started bleeding.  and harper started to panic a little.  we got the bleeding stopped, but i was/am pretty discouraged at how fragile her hand is right now.  ryan and i were talking about how we wish we could just put it in a cage or something...to where it could still get air, but would be protected from anything she could bang it on or rub up against.  tonight at bedtime, it (the new graft) looked pretty gray...we know that's not a good thing.  so, i will pray myself to sleep tonight asking God to yet again show us what He can do when we have FAITH.  if it isn't a pretty pink color by Thursday, i won't doubt God's ability or His level of love for us; i will heartily assume that He has something else in mind for that precious little hand.

 

side note:  if you aren't a believer (of God or miracles), please don't be offended or off-put by the way i write.  i've thought about making things as matter-of-fact as possible, in hopes that maybe we'd get more donations that way, but i literally cannot seperate my spiritual thoughts from the facts.  God has never been more visible and tangible to me than He is now. 

 

constantly counting our blessings,

Katie