Bub went in Dec. 14th for step 1 in the reversal of his colostomy. To sum it up quickly - everything was successful! Surgery took 5 and a half hours, so it was quite a lengthy process. But, he only had to stay in the hospital 5 days! We were so thankful for this! He is home and recovering slowly, but steadily. We did have a small area that abcessed in the incision, but it is looking really good.

After everything we have been through - this has been remarkably "easy"! This surgery was really a miracle in our eyes. It was pretty doubtful if it would even be possible. But, the Lord brought us an awesome surgeon - Dr. Rodney Clingan in Tulsa. He loves Jesus, and has been the most amazing doctor! We have been quite impressed by him. He has done such a great job... He and Bub prayed together in his office, and right before surgery. We are so blessed to have him as our surgeon!

Anyway, thanks to the prayers of many of you, the rectal tissue was in better condition than expected, and the surgery went great!

So, Bub gets to heal for 8 wks, then we go for testing to see if it worked. If there are no leaks, or tears in the recision area, he will have one more surgery. This surgery will be much less invasive and will "complete the circuit", getting rid of the colostomy and ileostomy permanently! We CAN"T WAIT for that!

I know lots of people are living with permanent ostomy's, but we are really having a difficult time with it. It has been 15 months now, and it's not getting any easier to deal with. So, anyway, we are so thankful to be on the path to getting rid of it!

One more thing. On Bub's last PET scan, a suspicious looking spot showed up on his bladder. Dr. Clingan located a small nodule on the bladder during surgery and sent it to pathology. It turned out NOT to be cancer - just leftover "vegetative matter" from his previous emergency surgery. So we are praising the Lord for that. From an oncological viewpoint - everything is totally clear. YAY!

That's the news for now!