Surgery on January 18? Maybe

UVA called on Friday to say that they MAY be able to do the surgery on January 18. They wanted to alert me because I would also need to go to UVA this Friday for pre-operative stuff.
Of course this is great news!

I had also been looking forward to my appointment at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday. By the way, we are keeping that appointment, especially since the UVA surgery in still scheduled for March 4 at this point.

My sister Gayle got me in touch with a man who had the same surgery as mine in August. His surgeon was the same doctor who I will be seeing at John's Hopkins. He was very enthusiastic about the outcome of his surgery and the whole medical team there. He said it was very difficult at first but that he is back to work as a dance instructor after only four months. I say "only" because most of what I have read says it can take a year to retrain the new plumbing that the surgery entails. Anyway, I was feeling very good about John's Hopkins. We really like the doctor at UVA also, so I guess we will just have to see what the next few days bring.

I would like to thank everyone who is praying for us. I am sure that is the reason that UVA found a possible earlier date after telling me that March 4 was the earliest possibility.

I would also like to thank Alan and Michele Seibert who will be taking care of our boys while we go to John's Hopkins. They have extremely full lives. Alan is our superintendent of schools and Michele is a psychologist at Virginia Tech. They also have three boys of their own. We are so thankful for their act of grace to us.

I am also overwhelmed by the Facebook page that one of my students set up called "Pray for Mr. Moore." Kelli and I are being wrapped in prayer. We are thankful.

So many others have offered to help in so many ways. Once again, thanks to all.

On a totally different note, Matt had his first basketball game ever. About half of his practices were cancelled because of snow, so we weren't sure he even understood offense and defense. At the beginning of the game, he seemed lost - for about 30 seconds. Then he took over the game. He was the smallest kid out there, he was stealing the ball, dribbling through crowds, and taking shots over larger kids. Twice, he even used a spin move to drive to the basket elliciting shouts of amazement from the crowd. I think he might have a gift. Thanks for indulging a proud dad!

Love and joy,
Ray