God Answers Prayers

I remember going to Sunday school and cutting out little circles of red, yellow, and green. We pasted them on the black rectangle of construction paper as our teacher (who was more likely than not, my mom) reminded us of how God answers prayers. Its like a stop light. Sometimes God says yes to our requests, like a green light. Sometimes he is silent and we don't get answers for a long time, it's a maybe- not now, but yes later; that's the yellow circle. Then there's the red circle, when God says no. God always answers our prayers. It might not be what we want, but he answers. It my past blogs I've said God is answering our prayers, but I should make it clear, God has answered "yes" to our requests. Praise God!

Today I visited the neurosurgeon in Birmingham. We heard again, that this was one of the worst malformations he has seen and prescribes surgery. My brain is hanging down 2 centimeters below where it should stop. Most cases of CM the brain only hangs down 5-6 millimeters. In these cases, he does not recommend surgery. But mine is hanging down 4 times lower! He presented this information in a direct and informative way with compassion. Not only was he compassionate, he recognizes that God is the Great Physician and its God who directs his hands. He certainly has a vote of our confidence!

"Surgery? I thought there were no symptoms!" As I was talking to the doc, I may have symptoms that I did not relate to the malformation. Hand numbness, balance issues, vision changes, ringing in the ears, having trouble forming words, headaches in the back of the head, these are all symptoms I have. It is really amazing that I don't have any major symptoms, actually I know its God who has been watching over me. Maybe the true blessing is that the malformation was found before anything serious occurred. He said that he doesn't like cases like mine, because it's more preventative and you don't feel you need brain surgery for a little headache. He prefers cases where the patient is seeking relief from their symptoms. Instead of the surgery being a shock and unbelievable, it's a relief. One patient he preformed the surgery on had a very similar case as mine, the malformation was found because of suspected MS and it was found by accident. She didn't have symptoms and following recovery, she realized how much better she felt and how many symptoms she did have!

He said that we didn't have to rush to have this surgery, but we could wait until the summer until Mama was out of school for the summer. So, if surgery is the route we go it will probably be the end of May/ first of June. I would be in the hospital 24-48 hours and would not leave the house for a week. The recovery doesn't seem as bad as we first thought, ten days for sure, no lifting or straining. Once I healed, then I could continue my life as normal and not give my head another thought (haha).

Right now he said to take it easy. I won't end up paralyzed because I sneeze...good thing since the pollen this thick right now. No Jazzercise, walking is enough. A nasty fall or a fender bender could cause some major problems, so our prayer right now is for protection over me through my daily activities. If surgery is the answer, we are praying for the doctor who performs this surgery and all those who will attend to me. And I ask special prayers for Justin. He's our spiritual rock and I know there is a lot of stress on him right now. Not only is he concerned about his wife's brain going under the knife, but working enough side jobs and hours to pay for our insurance. God will provide.

This Monday is our appointment in Atlanta, where we will receive a third opinion.

This in no way has shaken our faith. God is faithful. We are confident He will care for us. God answers all our prayers.

**If any readers have a Chiari Malformation and had the Posterior Fossa Decompression performed, would you please leave a comment as to your symptoms, how far your brain was down in your spinal cord, recovery time and anything else? Thanks!**

Special thanks to Mama and Daddy who came over for the visit. Here is a pic of us taking a break at Starbucks!