9/2/2011 - Surgery continuing

Just received an update from the OR at 2:15.  Sam is doing well.  They have finished the part of the decompression where the bottom edge of the skull is removed.  They had a lot of the hardware in place for his neck fusion.  They have to finish placing the rods and thought that could take a couple hours yet.  After the hardware is in place they will monitor the flow of Sam's spinal fluid and make the determination on whether or not they need to do the duraplasty (the next step in decompression where they angle up and remove a portion of the skull further up to provide more room for the brain, then cover it with a protective membrane).  Continue to pray with us that this will not be necessary, as it carries additional risks in surgery and recovery.  Thank you for continued prayers.