It's official...

We are headed to Duke for surgery. 

Reyn's surgery is scheduled for February 15th which means pre-op is on the 14th.  We will depart for Durham on the 13th and will plan on being in Durham 7-10 days.  The plan is for Reyn to do pre-op on the 14th then Duke will admit him that evening.  Dr. Friedman will make his rounds that evening and answer any questions we may have regarding surgery then Reyn will be prepped for surgery the following morning.  The planned surgery will take approximately 5 hours.  He will be expected to spend one night in ICU so that he can be monitored closely then moved to a normal recovery room for the remainder of his stay.  The amazing part is that he is only expected to be in the hospital for 4-5 days total!  If all goes according to plan he will then be released but we will stay in the Durham area for a few more days to ensure recovery is right on track.  At that time we will return home for the remainder of Reyn's recovery, which really just consists of rest before returning to work.  We are relieved to have made a decision and feel confident in the abilities of the staff at Duke and Dr. Friedman, in particular.  Thank you for praying with us throughout this process and for continuing to lift us up in prayer. 

It would be a major understatement to say that these past couple of months have been tough.  They have been the most trying times in our lives.  I have learned that it is very easy to praise God when times are good but not so easy in the valleys of life.  Reyn & I knew early on from his diagnosis that God was giving us an opportunity to continually trust Him...these two "planners"/ control freaks.  And so we continue to trust in the promises of God.  We know that He will never leave us nor forsake us according to His Word.  We know that He is with us every step of the way and that is where our peace comes from.  We choose to praise you, Lord during this most difficult of times because You are worthy of our praise! 

Once again we thank you for your support and friendship.  Please be in prayer for us as we figure out the logistics of travel and as we prepare for Reyn's surgery.  We have been blessed with multiple offers to help.  Right now we believe that Jackson will stay in Marietta with "Pop pop and Momo".  Jackson adores his Pop pop and Momo so this is a true blessing.  It also allows him to keep his regular schedule.  Grier will be traveling with us to Durham because I am nursing so please pray for safe travels.  We will also be looking for a place to stay close to campus so that we can go back and forth to the hospital easily.  Lots of little decisions left to make but at least we know the big decision has been made.  There is certainly peace in knowing which direction we are headed.  I'll continue to update the blog but that's all for now.

Love,

the connellys