Surgery...again.

Tomorrow Wed. Nov. 30th Steven returns to Childrens Hospital for surgery. The extent of the proceedures may require only an overnight stay but could be as much as 4 nights. Please pray for all that surgery involves. The Lord has been reassuring as only He can be regarding our return visit. We continue to rely on Him answering our collective prayers for Steven's long term health. Blessings, The Landers Family

Thankfulness

We are so thankful for all of you who have reached out to our family specifically to Steven while we have been challenged with this trial. We have felt your prayers and have been blessed to handle in faith all that has been imputed to us. We have understood Moses and his need to have Aaron and Hur hold up his arms so he could pray and God could bless.
Indeed God is blessing. Steven is having minimal pain and handling it with tylenol. His energy level is creeping back too. He is facing the second surgery Wednesday, but we're glad he's gained some strength ahead of time.
Blessings to all of you, we are thankful for each one. God knows how you've helped us and our prayer is for him to bless you abundantly.
With thankful hearts,
The Landers Family

Difficult Gratitude

Post-surgical appointments today at Childrens Hospital revealed Steven's body is still working hard at recovery. Although unrelated to his major surgery, results of last week's test require another, different surgery for Steven. Necessary, yet less severe. Steven will return to the OR and a shorter stay at the hospital the week after Thanksgiving. A bit of hard news today, but thankful for the caliber of surgeons and hospital with which we've been provided.

Test today...

11:30am Steven's resting at home, mostly horizontal on the couch. Pain meds are a must. Recovery is a process. Even still God is evident in Steven's peace and patience. Today we're heading back to CHLA for a test in order to have results by next week's post-op appointment with the surgeons. Please pray the test is effective, pray for Steven's strength and for peace for us. We're all a little nervous about Steven's pain and endurance today. Thank you again. Love, Carolyn

4:15pm Sigh of relief. We're back. Altho this was one test you'd rather not go thru, it wasn't as horrible as we anticipated, so indeed the Lord went before us and prearranged the specifics and supplied some humor. Glad its over. Thanks alot, those of you who prayed for this one!

Home Sweet Home

I am at home! Soooooo glad to be here!
Surgery is easy, its the recovery that's rough.
Here's the deal, the doctor's were actually unable to find where I was bleeding from. There were too many possible places. They diagnosed me with Portal Hypertension. Basically it means that the portal vein which goes into the liver is like a backed up sink. The blood does make it through but takes its time and starts to pool. There's no way to fix that vein. My surgeon consulted with several other surgeons nationwide, she called them the "old boys," and the consensus of opinion was to decompress the hypertension by doing a shunt. In this case it means that using my own veins, the surgeons created a new traffic pattern for my blood to circulate back into my heart and circulatory system. It is pretty complex. The idea is that it keeps the blood from pooling near my liver and putting too much pressure on the nearby collateral veins causing them to burst and bleed. Pretty smart, huh?
Here's what's cool:
A week before surgery, the pastors and elders came to the hospital to pray and anoint me with oil. That was awesome. What was even more amazing was while we were in prayer, my surgeon opened the door to my room. She saw what was going on and rather than back out, she walked in held hands with us and not only prayed with us but received prayer herself. We asked that God would give her wisdom for the decisions that needed to be made and that God would anoint her hands to perform the operation. How often does that happen?
Because this surgery was a big deal, she needed to ask another surgeon to partner with her, not to mention the assistant surgeons. As God would have it, He provided the premier liver transplant surgeon not only at CHLA but nationally to be the partner for my surgery. As it turns out there were some decisions to be made during surgery and God provided wisdom and authority in the OR.
After surgery, when my surgeon spoke to my parents she said, "the surgical procedure went well and now we'll let God do the rest." There's some follow-up stuff left to do but I know God will be present for those too. I'm on the couch resting, and I know God is at work allowing my body to accept what's been done and heal. God is so present in all of this. Thank you for amazing and continued prayers. He is pleased to answer.
Love, Steve

Lapping the sixth floor.

Hey all: Thank you so much for all your encouraging comments. Each morning, mom and I have a time to read the Word and discuss it and pray. Each time she asks me what I want to read from the Bible and every time I say,"something encouraging." We've had sweet times with the Lord day after day.
Just now, reading your comments has been equally encouraging. I'm amazed and overwhelmed by the numbers of you who are asking about me. God had it in mind for you to be a part of my testimony of healing. Thank you for your prayers. It seems so 'not enough' to say only thank you.
Hoping my trip home is this weekend sometime. I've scuffed around the sixth floor in my grip tape slippers enough times. I'm a bit groggy but I'll look forward to seeing you soon.
Love, Steve

Homeward bound

Okay, there are rumblings of discharge. Steven is slowly creeping toward the surgeon's criteria for leaving here. Although pain is better managed now, reactivating the digestive system to normal is brutal, (anyone having major surgery knows this)! Today is the first day to eat anything since the night before Steven checked in a week ago Tuesday. Even still not much of an appetite. Two steps forward, one step back still equals progress and inches us closer to the front door. Thank you for the encouraging comments. Love to all, The Landers Family