Operation Completion.

(Sorry...I realize this post is a few days behind and it is a repeat for many of you who have been receiving the emails. Forgive the journal entry.)

Just after surgery...in a lot of pain

Ryan's surgery went very well considering what the surgeon came and told Mark and I following the procedure. I knew Ryan was sick. I knew that he hadn't been feeling real well in sometime. I had no idea just how sick he was, and frankly, neither did anyone else.

Day 1 Post Op: Two thumbs up

It actually went a lot faster than we had anticipated (under 3 hours). The surgeon, Dr. Kim was really awesome. We felt very comfortable having Ryan in his hands. He has us that Ryan is nothing short of a miracle. We've been told several times how lucky we are to have Ryan with us. I guess we are just sort of shocked to hear that because no one knew how really sick he was.

Ryan's Dad and Mark wait for Ryan to come out of surgery

Dr. Kim explained it to us like this. The middle section of Ryan's small intestine was a series of openings the size of a pin holes with huge obstructed balloon sections in between. It was a wadded mess all tangled together, which explains the abnormal hard lump on the right side of Ryan's stomach (which has been there for months). Some of this tissue was dying, definitely diseased, and the reason why the doctors are amazed that he is still here. Dr. Kim said when the pathologist came in and saw his bowel he was taken back, and that guy sees a lot of diseased organs.

Great to have company

Dr. Kim knew he was going to have to see and feel every cm of Ryan's bowel as to know how much and where he could remove without removing too much, so he forewent the scope and just went straight to the knife. He removed 1/3 of his small intestine, the middle third, which was more than he wanted to have to take, but the bowel was so bad that no part of the middle section could be saved. The great news is that the upper third and the lower third are Crohn's free (no active Crohn's) as far as he could see and feel. So for the first time in 10 years Ry won't have to be on the heavy steroids that just really take a toll on his body. You need at least 100cm of small bowel to sustain life and he has double that left and it looks to be healthy for the time being.

Day 2 Post Op: first day of solids in 5 days!

Dr. Kim told us that he performs this surgery all the time and this was the sickest bowel he had ever seen. He also told me that I have an absolute STUD of a husband (which was not news to me) because Ryan has had to be in incredible amounts of pain for a long time with as sick has his bowel was. He was taking Humira shots every other week, and was on two heavy steroids (insanely high doses of each). Dr. Kim said taking the meds was like trying to put out house fire with a squirt gun.The view from Ryan's room

As the docs and nurses tell us "We don't know how Ryan is alive?", we certainly know. We feel very blessed and thankful to our Heavenly Father. Not only has he preserved Ryan's life, but it seems as if he has been spared from what should have been even more pain than he has been experiencing. This has truly been miracle after miracle. We know this is our Father in Heaven's will, and has come about as a result of all of many prayers, fasting, and temple attendance.