Lia Kate's Surgery on Tuesday

Lia Kate will be having surgery on Tuesday, April 6, at 8 a.m. We would love your prayers for a good outcome. When we first decided to adopt Lia Kate, we knew this surgery would happen soon after coming home. And, the day has finally come. It's a little surreal.

Lia Kate had two medical special needs when we adopted her. The first is a VSD heart murmur. Now that we are home, we know it is very small (~2mm) and is "of no consequence." Looks like we'll just be following up with the cardiologist once a year to make sure the VSD is getting smaller and smaller.

Her second special need is a pedunculated skin tag on her neck. It is about the size of half of my pinky finger. The problem is that it is midline (above her spine). Because of this, we have been seeing a neurosurgeon. Apparently, any midline skin issue (birthmark, hemangioma, skin tag, etc.) can be related to spinal abnormalities. So, he sent us for an MRI so that we could see what exactly was going on beneath the skin tag. We found out that the skin tag has a little stalk that goes into her skin but stops short of the spinal column. This is a good thing. However, the doctors are guessing that it used to have a connection with the spinal column (in her case this is called a cervical meningocele), but that it closed off and healed up. We are thankful that the MRI showed that her spinal cord looked perfect and there is no spinal fluid or nerve tissue present in the skin tag. The doctor said this is about the best case scenario we could have. Thankfully, this skin tag is located on the neck (cervical area) versus lower on the back, which could be associated with a lot more problems/risks. We are so thankful that Lia Kate has no deficits related to neural tube defects such as meningoceles. She is so bright and is perfectly on target for gross and fine motor skills.

So, at 8 a.m. tomorrow, the neurosurgeon will be going in to remove the skin tag and the stalk beneath it. The doctor is pretty confident that he will not have to go into the dural sac (this is what houses the spinal fluid and protects the cord). But it's always possible that once he opens her up, he will see that the stalk is more than skin deep. From my conversation with him, he is optimistic that it will be a straightforward, simple surgery. We are praying and hoping this is the case. If he does go into the dural sac, Lia Kate will be in the hospital for 4 or 5 days to make sure no spinal fluid leaks. If he does not have to open the dural sac, we will probably spend at least one night in the hospital. Please pray for her safety tomorrow morning and that this surgery will, indeed, be as simple and straightforward as the doctor expects.

Overall, we feel very thankful and optimistic about tomorrow. But would love your prayers for our little girl. I will be updating this blog tomorrow as the day unfolds. Thank you in advance for your prayers!