Just a few days out and we're as ready as we can be. The final meetings with Donovan's pediatrician, neurosurgeon, and neurologist reinforced for us one more time that he is an excellent candidate for this procedure. They said he has good strength and has the right personality with his happy and hard working demeanor.

We learned that Donovan will be fairly sedated for at least two days after the procedure. The neurosurgeon wants him to lay flat for this period and as he put it, Donovan will be "snookered". They have added an MRI before they begin which will increase the time Donovan will be in surgery until 1:00pm. The MRI tells the neurosurgeon where the end of the spinal cord is, which is the point where he will work with the nerve rootlets. This will help him to determine if he will work within one or two vertebrae. This really is an amazing procedure.

We again walked out of the appointments with the sense that this team is talented, experienced, and meticulous. Each has taken as much time as we've needed to answer questions and give us detail. They explain in ways we can understand and give us not only a sense of confidence in them but also in Donovan's ability to really do well. Dr. Skarli, the neurosurgeon warned us to have realistic expectations and cautioned us to not expect a dramatic improvement to his gait for at least a year. He said what we can expect to see first is the reduction of tone (tightness). He gave the example of Aaron, the little guy highlighted in the media links below. Before the surgery, Aaron couldn't lift his foot high enough to put his own sock on but now he can put his foot over his head. Amazing!

There's an amazing sense of peace that has come over us. It's getting easier to focus on the future and not be overwhelmed with the surgery and immediate recovery. I was really happy to hear Dr. DeRoos, the neurologist (and also a physiatrist- specializing in the medicine of rehabilitation) tell us he thinks Donovan definitely may be able to walk with assistance when he comes home. We've heard varying thoughts on this but to know he has confidence means a lot.

We'll keep the blog updated as best as we can next week but we fully expect to spend the first three days passing time as Donovan is in this sedated period and not have much to pass along.

We are very grateful for the continuing thoughts and prayers. They are helping!