the good life: Grateful

I was going to add this post to the one below (be sure you don't miss it) but I decided that this one deserved a post of its own.
You'll remember THIS post... Denver's surgery was scheduled, happening...then NOT happening... Then getting rescheduled to last Thursday.
Well, it happened. On May 13th we took Denver to Cooks to have the neurofibroma removed from his cranium. Neurofibroma is a tumor which grows on nerves anywhere in, on...ANYwhere within the body. Denver's forehead was asymmetrical because of this, and at times of "rough play" or accidental bumps was at times quite painful for him.
The surgery was elective, and considered cosmetic surgery, but in our minds for Denver to grow up it was needed. It would have been hard for him to play any type of "contact" sports and we certainly didn't want any of his friends in school ridiculing him for looking a little different.

We prepared ourselves this time, and I was pretty nervous. Weeks before I was not even sure I wanted to go through with it. I had the thoughts only a mother could have. (risks of the surgery) Horrible thoughts that made me sick to think about. Made me think about just calling and cancelling the surgery all around. I had no peace about it and was so uncomfortable about the thought that I would almost make myself sick.
As the day drew closer I started to feel more and more comfortable. Gad began to pour grace and peace over me and assure me that HE was in control. I was still nervous of course but knew that we were doing the right thing. Things people said, or did was a gift from God telling me He was totally in charge. It's amazing what you get when you pray, isn't it?
The day came and we went to Cooks. Feeling good. Everything went smoothly. Dr. Hubli said he had hoped it would only take about an hour but the tumor was a little more complicated that he thought and took about 2 1/2 hours total. He said that he got over 95% of the tumor and that Denver did a fantastic job in surgery.
So many friends came to the hospital to show us love and support. It was a great feeling and made those 2 1/2 hours go by much faster.
When Dr. Hubli came out to tell us it was done, and Denver did great it was such a relief. A weigh was lifted and I could not wait to go see my little man.
Jason and I went back to recovery and Denver was lookin great. He is the strongest little boy I know.
We stayed the night because the doctor wanted to just keep an eye on him, and also Denver was not keeping any liquids down.
Although I know for a fact he didn't feel good, Denver was a champ. He honestly blew me away. I mean he is 4 years old and recovering better than a 30 year old would.
We got to go home the next day, and Denver was back to his old self. We are told to keep him "down" for 2 weeks...... Um....Really???? We got home and he wanted to ride his bike to the park. How can I keep this kiddo down for 2 WEEKS!?!?!?
It is already amazing how good he looks. There is still a little swelling, and bruising, but you can't even tell there was a bump there on his head. If you saw him, it was pretty hard to miss.
Anyway, here is a few pictures of the journey.

Right after surgery, in recovery