Happy New Year!

Christmas this year was a lot of fun. Both boys were pretty excited about the hustle and bustle of lights, decorations, cookies and gifts! It was also really fun celebrating Benaiah’s 1^st birthday (December 23^rd) so close to the birth of our savior. Having Benny’s birth so close to Christmas has given me such a renewed outlook on what Mary endured while carrying and birthing our Lord. What a completely miraculous event!

I was also quite excited to actually be a part of Christmas this year. Last year, having just come home from the hospital on the 25^th and then driving up north on the 26^th made Christmas just not quite as enjoyable as normal years J So this year it was great to be back into the swing of it all!

Mark has had a lot of time off from work in the last two weeks so it has been a blast hanging out as a family of four. The boys just love having him around so much. They have been doing a lot of ‘guy stuff’ in the garage lately. That makes for some really happy boys, and a lot of dirty laundry for me J We also were able to get Benny’s one year photos done just in time before his look is going to completely change.

Benny was born with a congenital nevus. That is what the little brown spot (‘birthmark’) on his lip is called. About 1 in 200,000 babies are born with these, but usually they are much worse, covering large portions of their bodies (I would not advise you to look up any photos unless you want to cry). The larger the nevus is, the more opportunity for malignancy, although even the smaller ones (like Benny’s) still hold a small percentage for turning cancerous. Fortunately for Benaiah, his is small. Unfortunately for Ben, being right on his face, the location is not ideal. From the day he was born we have been dealing with doctors and struggling with how we feel about it. Does it matter? Will he care? Will kids tease him? Will his teachers unfairly judge him acedemically? 

A couple of months ago we had a long awaited appointment with a specialist from Gillette. This was a second opinion, but a good one. This specialist is one of the best in the state. He does amazing work with children who are born with cleft lips and congenital nevi. Although a little bit arrogant (I thought, but Mark didn’t), he is very confident that surgery on Benny’s nevus is the best option. When we asked for his recommendation his response was “oh, you’ll do it. If you are not comfortable now, then it will be when he is old enough to decide later.” (doesn’t that sound a little arrogant to you?! –okay, I am done…he is a good doctor). That response made me really see it from Benny’s perspective. Yes he would want it gone, and Yes he will rather look at a small scar than a big brown spot over his lip. So we are going to do it. 

The surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday, and will be the first of two to three total surgeries. They will be spaced approximately 6-8 weeks apart. I am a whole ball of emotions right now in anticipation for Wednesday. I am really excited for Ben that these skills and technologies are available to help make his face look more like the other boys he will be growing up with. I am so thankful to our Lord that Ben does not have any of the other health issues that normally go along with Nevi. But with all this rejoicing and thanksgiving comes a very scared and nervous heart. I have been trying so hard to keep this in the Lord’s hands, but am quite nervous about handing my sweet Benny over to complete strangers to be put to sleep. Please pray for me. Please pray that I can feel complete peace on Wednesday before, during and after the surgery. Please pray for Ben, that he is resilient throughout the entire surgical process. And please pray for the Doctors and nurses that will be working on/with Ben. That they can be completely rested and clear minded during his surgery.