Port Pictures....We are through the storm...

This is Micah's last picture of his port. It is just below the scar in the middle. We can see it plainly, but maybe if you don't know what you are looking at, you may not see it! It was easier to see when he was thinner!(o:

This is Micah's neck. You can see the tube (a raised line) that goes from his port into the artery in his neck. It's to the right of the scar in the middle of the picture.  

Micah was still groggy and very white when we got home to my parents. I took this picture just before I tucked him into my parents bed to have a rest before the other kids came back. It makes me laugh how much red stuff they put on him. It went all the way up close to his ears. We were joking that it was probably a boy who did it. A lady would have painted him nicely! At least the red is nicer than the orange they used last surgery! (o:

Micah and Josh were fooling around shortly after Ken picked Josh and the other kids up. I think this crazy is pure relief that it was done. They each had their own reasons.  The Doc very kindly put local freezing at the incision site, so it wouldn't be super tender right away. An hour or so later, Micah got uncomfortable and very tired.

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Here is his port. This is his second one and was in him for almost 3 years. It worked way better than his first. (O:

Here it is a week later. It looks great. They did it right on top of his old scar. That is the third time they went in on that line. It sounds strange, but I love all 17 inches of Micah's scars. They are beautiful and are a testimony to God's care.

The other day Micah and I had our first big discussion about what God has done for him. There were some tears, but it was really important that we talked it through. He was so little when it all happened and although we were honest with him, he didn't know a lot of what was really happening. It all started because I was cleaning my closet and found the plaster hand that we did when he was very sick. The hospital does things like that for kids who are close to palliation. We were also going to do a big picture with all of our hand prints, but we never got around to all getting to the hospital at the same time. I explained to Micah that this hand is now something we have to remember God's kindness and mercy to our family by, rather than it being a piece of him to remember. I still need to frame it in a picture box frame. It was always too painful to look at, but I think we are finally ready. 

Having such an honest conversation with him makes me realize again how big he is getting. He is turning 11 in 6 weeks.  We never in our wildest longings thought Micah would see his 9th birthday, let alone 11th. It's amazing.

Last night I also realized that we missed the fifth aniversary of when it all started.  It is something we have never let go by. I have often struggled with sadness at this time year. The memories were very heavy. (It all started Nov 7 2007, the fall of 2008 was very difficult and he relapsed Dec 7 2009). So to have it slip by unnoticed is a huge blessing. It's not necesarily over forever, but for now we are truly through the storm. Beautiful.