Tori: Prayer Request

I received this prayer request from friends of ours in our old homeschool group. This family is very special and so loving. Their daughter Tori has spina bifida and has been through a lot in her young years. She is one of the sweetest little girls you'll ever meet. I had the surgery for scoliosis when I was a child but Tori has the added problem of a tethered spinal cord. I cannot even begin to comprehend the complications of such a surgery. Could you please lift her up in prayer this week?

Please add Victoria to your prayer list for the next several weeks. She is having a major surgery on Tues, Jan 13th for scoliosis. She will have a tethered spinal cord release at the same time.

Goals: to stop progression of spine curvature, to straighten her spine as much as possible and to avoid forthcoming complications unaddressed scoliosis can bring. Her scoliosis has been monitored since birth and has now progressed to the point of having large curves in a couple of directions. Releasing the spinal cord should also assist with this.

Surgical procedure expectations: 8-10 hrs.; 4 surgeons; spinal cord release, placement of rods, coils, screws; closure by a plastic surgeon; this runs a moderately high risk of infection due to the length of the procedure.

Expected Recovery: 5 days-3 wks in hospital (avg 7-10 days); surgeon describes about 8 weeks until she starts to "feel like a human being" again.

Specific prayer requests (for those able to pray with greater specificity!):
1. for Tori to enter surgery as healthy as possible
2. for a successful procedure which accomplishes the intended goals;
3. for no infection to occur;
4. for a successful and relatively speedy recovery for Tori--without picking up anything in the hospital while there;
5. for her lungs to handle everything well--(she has a history-from younger years-of lung issues). Docs expect she may be on a ventilator for a couple of days post-op. Please pray that she is able to be either vent-free post-op, or only has to be on the vent to assist with pain/healing-not for lung complications.
6. for her to have as positive and caring an experience as possible and as few difficult memories about this as possible to avoid excessive doctor/hospital fears & anxiety.
7. grace for our family to go through this major life-rearranging event well.

Thanks so much--we so value the intercession of our brothers & sisters!