Miriam will have another expansion tomorrow morning. This one may be routine, which would mean a short surgery and an outpatient stay. However, her long rod has started eroding the rib where it is attached near her shoulder. The attachment point has become more prominent under her skin, but the rod does not feel loose and she isn’t in pain. Her orthopedic surgeon could not tell based on the pre-op x-ray how much it has moved, so he will be investigating during surgery tomorrow. If the attachment seems loose or in danger of eroding through the bone before the next surgery, he will go ahead and exchange the rod for a larger one and re-seat the attachment point on a different rib. In that case, she will be admitted for observation and stay overnight. If the attachment still seems secure, he will only expand the existing rod, and we will plan to exchange and re-seat the rod next time since she has nearly outgrown it.

Miriam is missing the last day of second grade for surgery, but she is ready to move on to third grade. She brought home literal piles of work from school over the last few days, and we are always amazed by her creativity and her maturity in writing. We’ve had lots of big events in the family in recent months: Miriam and her cousin Kate both received their first communions, we traveled to New York to witness the ordination of her grandfather as a deacon in the Catholic Church, and we attended the baptism of her newest baby cousin. God has been good to bring many joys to our family, and we pray Miriam will bounce back from this procedure quickly so she can embrace all the new adventures of summer. Thank you as always for your prayers and support.