Please be in prayer for Matthew who is in surgery right now. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am this morning for him to check-in. I’m not allowed in the hospital due to COVID-19 restrictions until he is out of surgery and in his hospital room. Until then I am waiting across the street from his hospital.

This is a big day. Ever since the accident, we have known from research that Jonathan has done that there is a 6-month window in which it is highly recommended that any nerve transfers/grafts/repairs take place. Today is 5 months and almost 3 weeks since the accident.

Please pray for the surgery that the surgical team will find donor nerves they are looking for from the spinal accessory nerve bundle and the intercostal nerves, that these nerves would be in good shape in order to be transferred to the deltoid and suprascapular nerves, that they would be long enough to connect so that a graft is not needed, that if a graft is needed they can use one from a cadaver or harvest one from Matthew’s foot (outer area on the bottom of the foot), for no infections or complications, and that the nerve transfer would be successful.

Please pray that Matthew will be stable and safe on the operating table, that after he is out he will quickly recover and will need minimal pain killers or other medications and that we can return to Kansas City as soon as possible.

Please then pray that the nerves will grow to enervate his trapezius and deltoid so that they can hold up his left shoulder and that he would be able to raise his upper arm stump. This progress of nerve growth (at 1 mm per month) could take a year or two. Pray for grace, comfort, strength, and encouragement for Matthew while he waits and does therapy during that long process.

Thank you for your prayers and for being with us on this journey. Your love and care mean so much to us.

Todd in San Francisco