yes

I am sure most of you are aware since you are probably fans on James' fan page ( if you aren't I encourage you to click to join cause you will get the day to day goodies James is doing) that James was accepted by Dr. Park as a patient for the Selective Dorsal Rhisotomy surgery! Excited is not even close to what we are feeling right now.

Our trip was really easy and fun. James traveled SO well and didnt fuss once ( well except when his Blues Clues dvd was over and he needed a new one) He took a great nap on the way up, so did Josh, and after lunch we started the dvd player. I dont think we heard another peep out of him the rest of the trip LOL! Our hotel was HUGE and really nice. We got a suite that had a living room and a bedroom. I have stayed in these before but was really surprised by the size of this one. It was really clean too and I felt safe for James to explore and play.

I didnt sleep very well the night before the appt. Not that not sleep is really a surprise for me but I swear the clock was turning backwards that night1 I just watched the time tick by and mostly prayed. I prayed for so many things that I dont even think I can list them here. But it was actually a really important time between me and God and so the lack of sleep wasnt really that bad.

We got to Children's hospital at around 8:15 that morning. Found a parking place and got to the Neurosurgery department at 8:30. We signed in and filled out more paperwork then just waited to be called. James enjoyed having his daddy to play with and we were called back at around 8:50. They took us to a room to view a information video. It was really review for us since we had been reading and researching this surgery for a year now. But it did have a clip of an actual surgery which was cool.

After the video was the PT evaluation. The head of PT came in and talked with us a little about what she would be measuring for and watching for. James was a little afraid of her and cried a little but I gave him a pen and he enjoyed drawing on himself. That seemed to ease his fears lol! The pt tested his range of motion and has James walk in his walker for her. He did really great. She then left and came back with a big stack of papers for our home pts and the home exercises for use to do pre-op. We have assumed that the answer was yes since she brought us the YES packet. I tried to not get my hopes up too high though.

Then we were moved to a larger room to wait for Dr. Park. He came in with all his meds students. James was busy playing and didnt even notice as he came in. He talked with us about the surgery and what the requirements are. He went over a LOT of information. I am glad it is all written down because there is no way I can remember all that. He watched James for a few min. and then asked me to take his braces off and have him walk in his walker. YIKES!! James has never even been in his walker without his braces!! I was nervous!

No need though! James did better than I have EVER seen him walk in his walker. He walk all the way across the room with the biggest smile on his face. THEN he crawled on his hands and knees back to his toy on the other side of the room. I almost laughed! James has never crawled on his hands and knees that far. In fact he just started crawling like that about 2 weeks ago. It is beautiful to be witness to actual answered prayers!!

Dr. Park then told us that he thought James was a very good candidate for the surgery. He explained that he felt James had lots of potential once the spatisity is removed. Dr. Park showed us on James what is called clonus. I knew what it was because we used to watch it take over his whole body when he was an infant. But I hadnt seen it for about a year. Dr. Park produced it right off. This is a clear sign of spatisity. Clonus looks almost like a seizure when it is all over but James just has it in his legs now. Basically his little legs shake in certain positions.

Dr. Park was very kind and answer all of our questions very well. He didnt give us the "doctor" answers and try to hurry out of the room. He took his time and really went over everything in detail with us. I feel very informed about everything , and in good hands. Dr. Park even took us to his office to explain James MRI images to us. In Fact Dr. Park told us that he was surprised but all the great things James is doing because on his MRI the damage shows that James should not be able to be doing what he is!! I wanted to starting praising God right there for touching my son's brain and healing it so that he can have a beautiful future.

There have been so many nights that I have prayed for healing. For God to take the CP from James . Even though I prayed this I never really thought it would happen. But it DID. God was healing my son's brain. He WAS repairing the damage that was done! I have been witness to God healing and I didnt even know it! It just goes to show me that God is always working even when i am not putting all my faith in what He has promised He will do. My mouth is officially zipped! Miracle DO happen, God is STILL in the healing business and I have a beautiful 2 year old in my home playing with a mag-na-doddle to prove it!

After our appt we took James back to the hotel for a nap. My cousin and his wife that live close came up and took us to the St. Louis zoo when James woke up. We had so much fun. The zoo was beautiful and we enjoyed getting to pal around with family that we dont see very often. Pictures to follow!! They took us to a GREAT Italian restaurant called Zia's. YUM!!!!

It was a great trip! We even enjoyed the trip home. Now starts the hard part. We have lots of funds to raise and exercises to do. But I know we can get it done. God has brought us this far and He wont let us down. James surgery is June 10th !!! Doesnt that sound like a good day to change a life? Does to me :-)!!!