It's Not Over Till It's Over

Today was my TENTH fill of this expansion and we hit the big one... my right back expander now contains 750cc!!  It's crazy, it's huge, and it's wonderful!  We are all really excited that we finally made the 750 mark.  My left back expander is trailing behind with 655cc, but that's still great.  And the leg -- would you believe it has 410?  No doubt about it, this expansion has gone pretty perfectly.  Praise the Lord!

That said, although we hoped for this to be the last round of expansion I would ever need, Dr. Bauer's response to today's photos included this key sentence... "Keep in mind that depending on its size it is quite possible it will be a partial excision."  Translated: this may not be my last set of expanders.

There are so many variables that can work together - or against each other - in my surgery next week, and until it is over, no one can guess what is going to happen.  From the beginning of this round, we prayed for it to be successful and infection-free, and those prayers have been answered.  God is taking care of me, and if what's in my best interest includes another round of expansion, we all accept that.  But we can still hope that's not the case, right?   It would be amazing if this next surgery is the last one I need to complete removal of my nevus. 

So, who wants to see what 750cc looks like????

Me in all my glory:
655cc left back, 750 right back and
410 in my leg!

Technically, we still have one more injection to do next Sunday, so these bubbles could get even bigger!  But we are skeptical about whether that will happen because my sister has a cold and we are waiting to see if I get it.  So, the next 11 days will be filled with prayers -- prayers that I don't get my sister's cold, that my surgery is on time and successful, and that my recovery goes well and the pain is manageable... to name a few of the things on our minds.  And I guess it's time to face the fact that we'll be leaving the 80 degree temperatures and heading back to the 30's, so we ought to pull out the coats and start packing too!  As always, we will keep you posted on the days leading up to the big moment.