Battle Scars!

Max has been through a battle. An emotional, spiritual and physical battle. And with any battle comes some wounds, scars and bruising. We are so proud of this little guy. He has been an absolute warrior throughout this whole process, continually impressing us and ALWAYS being stronger than his mom, dad and the others around him.


The emotional battle continues as Max clearly remembers this surgery, at least for now. He only needs to see his incision or think that we are going to try and remove the little pieces of tape or glue that are still all over his little body. These are still stuck to him because the emotions flood over him whenever he thinks that we are trying and remove them, even if we are not. He has had SO MUCH stuff done to him over the past 7 days that it is simply too emotional to continue on. Many of you will not see these emotional battle scars because when you come to visit Max or see him in public, he will be happy, smiling and full of energy. You won't be able to tell that he just had heart surgery in the same way that before surgery, you would never had known that he needed it. It is in the quiet moments of bath time, pyjama time, diaper changes and when he has realized that he has overdone it while playing with friends or family, that these emotional scars become visible. These are proving themselves to be the hardest for Abbie and I as his parents.

The spiritual battle is less obvious. But as Christians, we know that God loves our little boy even more than we do. We also know that, despite his understanding being minimal, Max loves God too. And we know without a doubt that God has been bombarded with prayers for Max over the past month. The spiritual battle continues but it has been made easier by each one of you that has interceded on his and our behalf. Thank you.

The physical battle is the most obvious. You can see it. You can touch it. I can show you pictures of it (see below). Although it looks the worst, it will eventually become a token of the past. As the emotional and spiritual battles linger and continue to be fought, the physical struggle is mostly finished. Yes there is still some physical pain that is being treated with medication and love but within a few weeks, the physical nature of this battle will end and what remains will be a few scars. These scars will help to tell the story of Miracle Max.

And for those of you who know the entire Miracle Max story, which literally began weeks after conception, you could never deny these 2 truths:

1. Max is a valiant warrior
2. Max is a miracle child

For those of you who do not know the whole Miracle Max story, we plan to blog about it at some point. To shed light on the Miracle Max title and also to share Max's story with those who love him. 

Cam

Max's sternotomy scar

Scars from sternotomy, pacing wires (either side of bandaid)
and chest tube (under bandaid because of stitches)