1) Madi was supposed to have this rod removed (this was to be in preperation for a huge surgery that should happen about 1 year after the rod is removed) on August 23 (which was the 1st day of school) The week before at the pre-op appointment, however the surgeon hadn't gotten all the information from the other surgeon that will be doing her Huge surgery, so he canceled the surgery! We all wondered WHY LORD? A sidebar: Madi told her daddy after that surgery was canceled "Daddy, I prayed that I could go to school on the first day of school, & she did.)
2) Then a week after she started school . . . the rod broke and we all wondered WHY LORD?
Sometimes we never know WHY...but sometimes God graciously gives us a glimpse of what he has been doing behind the scene in His own time.
Here is a look at the xray. The smaller rod on the right is attached between 2 ribs this lets them ratchet the "titanium rib" out as she grew to stretch the rod as she grew.
3) The surgeon's report to my son shows us a little of what intervention God has been doing in Madie's life just in the last 45 days! He said: if I had removed the rod when the first surgery was scheduled, I would have had to make an incision from the top of the rod at her neck all the way down her back to the bottom of the rod to remove it. But since it broke at the bottom just above the anchoring screws into her disk, I was able to remove it with just 2 small incisions & she won't have near as much tissue that has to heal and less chance of infection! (But we still need to pray for protection from infection!)
Praise God! He truly works in mysterious ways! And He doesn't always let us know why... and unfortunately we don't always trust God when bad things happen in our lives. . . but we still need to trust Him . . . because He sees the whole picture & He knows what we need in order to grow in Him. Romans 8:28 comes to my mind so often. "For the good"...may not be what we would like to happen, but "for the good" that will bring us closer to God & to trust Him more.
Sorry this is so long.....
Please continue to pray for God's mercy & healing for Madi.
Thank you so much! MeMa Lagene
