"All Great Things Are Preceded by Chaos"

Today was surgery #26. This was a big surgery, not the most important. The most important was #1, the one that saved his life. (thank you, Dr. Humphries) Chris was anxious, but brave. This surgery lasted 11 hours, and involved one urologist, two trauma surgeons, and one plastic surgeon.

The urologist was not able to remove the stent in Chris' ureter yet, as he was not 100% that it would not leak.

The two trauma surgeons worked long and hard (7 hours) to repair the intestines that were damaged last April. All went as expected, and Chris' vitals remained stable the entire time. The trauma surgeons removed three pieces of small intestines, and Chris is left with 192cm of small intestine. They also took out two pieces of large intestines, where the colostomy was and piece of the left side that was involved in his fistulas. The colostomy and fistulas no longer exist, and will be closed from the inside out and packed to heal. The plastic surgeon was able to insert a biometric mesh where Chris' fascia (muscle on top of intestines) once was, and was successful in closing him up the middle. This is what we have prayed for. The next step is to ensure he does not get any infection over the next week.

Chris will be in a lot of pain over the next few weeks, but does enjoy having visitors from time to time. We know you all care, and will let you know when he is feeling up to seeing his friends and family.

Thank you for the prayers, the encouragement, the support, and love. We are celebrating a successful 26th surgery. Now, we wait.

Jamie Lynn