Surgery Date

Please pray for Stephen as his next surgery will be a month from now on August 17th at 11:30 am.  It is crazy how emotional it was to receive the date.  Old scars were ripped back open.  I tried to call my family to tell them but had to revert to emails instead.  It breaks my heart that he will have to go through so much again.  He doesn't deserve this.  He is so innocent and sweet and I don't want him do have to endure so much again.  I know it will break our hearts looking at him in that condition, especially when he looks up at us with his big blue eyes and I again won't be able to hold him or even explain to him why he has to go through all of this.  It seems like such a huge step backwards yet the reality is that this surgery is another necessary step forward for him to live what we pray is a long life.
During the first surgery they reconstructed his heart to function on only 2 chambers and created a shunt to take blood to his lungs since his only functioning ventricle was pumping blood to his body.  He will soon outgrow the temporary shunt that directs the blood to his lungs so they will be creating a new route by connecting the superior vena cava (which carries the blood returning from the upper body) to part of his pulmonary artery.    In the third and final surgery (when he is 3-5 years old) the lower body venous blood will also be diverted to the lungs  which will then allow all of the oxygen poor blood from the upper and lower body to flow through the lungs without being pumped; it will solely be driven only by the pressure that builds up in the veins.  Crazy I know.  I am always amazed that they came up with such a series of surgeries that will allow our son to live with half a heart.
All surgeries carry great risk so please pray that it all go well and that Stephen powers through this one just like the first.  Please pray that his body again can tolerate being put on bypass and that his heart would not have the same complications as it did during the cath lab.  Also pray that he remains healthy as the date approaches.  Even the slightest illness could postpone the surgery.
Sometimes the only words I have are "this sucks".  I know God has worked great things through Stephen's heart, and he will continue to do so, but the pain is real.  I put off writing this post because of it.  We knew the surgery was coming but having an official date made it so much more real.
We continue to put our trust in God knowing Stephen still is, and will forever be, in His hands.

Thank you for your prayers