Today we are grateful for a successful spine surgery for Oakley! It was a long 3 hour surgery, but besides some extra bleeding the surgery went well. Oakley didn’t technically have a tethered spinal cord, but it was at high risk of becoming tethered. Most of our spinal cords end at the L3 or L4 and his goes to his L1. At the very base of our spinal cord there is a gathering of fatty tissue and this fatty tissue was very close to his spinal cord and if left untreated it more than likely would have wrapped around his cord and then it would cause several problems like nerve damage, curvature of the spine, deformed feet, incontinence and other problems. So with this surgery they cut away some of the fatty tissue to ensure that there is space between it and his spinal cord. The neurosurgeon was able to remove everything that he wanted after testing each piece of tissue to make sure that they weren’t cutting any hidden nerves. I was able to see Oakley after he was put in his room and he does seem to be hurting quite a bit. Luckily he won’t remember this since he’s so young. Please keep Emilee, Isaac and especially Oakley in your prayers and thoughts as it’s going to be a rough few days for them. Oakley will be inpatient for one or two nights and then they will be staying in either the Ronald McDonald house or a hotel until Thursday as he has a few other appointments with specialists.