I look at the face of my little boy, and I still find it hard to see any good in this.

Our child, Mason Andrew, who is three, was born with facial anomalies and congenital dwarfism.  He has faced many surgeries and will continue to face more in the next few decades.  He has been in and out of the hospital, forcing us to endure periods of endless waiting, fear and worry, and time spent in a hospital waiting area.  

We don't know how much more we can take.  

Next week, Mason will have a cervical halo attached to his head because his spine is collapsing, and if this isn't done, there is a good chance he might become paralyzed.  He is losing feeling in his limbs and is in incredible pain.  It hurts us to see Mason suffering like this; no child should ever have to go through this!  

Mason will probably be in the hospital for at least a week (or so) for careful monitoring and care after the surgery.  He will probably be in surgery for over four hours, according to his pediatric neurologist.  Besides the halo placement, he will have bone grafted to his spinal column to help stabilize it.  It is going to be one of the most dangerous surgeries he will have faced since having his eyes moved when he was almost a year old, and frankly, we are scared to death.

We are trying our darndest to see anything good come out of this.  While we are hopeful that Mason will do well, all things considering, there's always that chance for error (or complications setting up shop), and if something were to happen to our boy, I don't think we could ever forgive ourselves, since Mason has already been through so much hell in his brief three-year-old lifetime.

We're just thankful that we both have a strong faith in God.  I don't know what we woul have done if we didn't have God in our lives.  I don't know what we would have done if we didn't have such a close-knit, loving church family or our rock-solid faith.  We are both clinging to the Cross and trusting in God fully as we go through this upcoming trial.  He knows what is best for our little son and all we can do is pray or hope for the best possible outcome.

I just don't relish the thought of our child facing more surgery or the distinct possibility of him not even surviving.  That is the part that probably scares us the most.  I'm just glad that we have people praying for him (and for us); it is nice to know that we aren't alone in this.  Just keep us (and especially Mason) in prayer; we would really appreciate any (and all) prayers we can get!  Thanks in advance!

~To be continued.~