Power of Prayer

This happened months ago but I have felt the need to record it. I want our family to remember the tender mercies we experienced during this time.

After a long month of Internal Medicine, with little physical activity, Tanner's back was really bothering him. He had sciatic pain that made it hard to sit. He tried to start working out again but that only seemed to make it worse. After a couple of months of being really careful and slowly working back into exercise he started to feel a little better.

We decided to go to North Carolina to be with the Hiltons after Christmas. On New Years Eve, Tanner went and played basketball and ended up in the ER with excruciating pain. I was pretty annoyed with him as I headed to the hospital but right when I saw how much pain he was in all of that annoyance was gone. Baydon and his brother were able to give Tanner a blessing and once he got some pain medication he was able to relax a little but he was experiencing numbness in his leg and foot. After an x-ray he was released from the hospital.

Tanner got an MRI a few days later in Morgantown and met with a neurosurgeon. The Doctor was amazed with how well Tanner appeared to be doing with the amount of pressure that his bulged disc was putting on nerves in his spine, which was causing the numbness. He and Tanner decided to wait a while and see if the pressure would go down on its own. A few days later he began to feel burning in his foot whenever he had to go to the bathroom. The neurosurgeon decided that the safest thing would be to go in for a microdiscectomy as soon as possible. This was Saturday night and Tanner was scheduled for surgery Monday morning.

I began to feel so anxious. There were so many things that I was worried about: who would take care of our kids on such short notice, what were the risks associated with spinal surgery, how long would Tanner's recovery be, how was I going to do it all? We are so blessed to have wonderful people here who were willing to drop everything to take care of our older three kids while we were in Pittsburgh all day for the surgery. My friend Anna who is a nanny came over early that morning (and refused to let me pay her) and once she had to leave Jenilara brought her kids over and was there until bedtime (leaving a meal in the fridge) and then Melissa came until we got home late that night.

Tanner's surgeon told us to go to the ER because that would be the fastest way for him to get into his scheduled surgeries that day. We were so blessed to be able to get through the ER quickly. The ER doctor even said that she had never seen it happen that fast. All through this process Eliza was so good. She slept while we waited in the ER and charmed anyone who saw her the whole day. She helped keep me distracted during Tanner's surgery which was a blessing because I really don't like the waiting. For the longest time the screen in the waiting room said he was out of surgery and in recovery but no one had come to tell me that he was awake. Finally I went up to the desk and asked and they called and said that he was doing great and they were sorry they hadn't told me. As I left the waiting room I finally started to break down. It was all I could do to not bawl. The whole surgery I had been calm and collected but it was such a relief to know that all was well.

When the doctor came to talk to me he said, "I don't know your husband well but he must have a very high pain tolerance." He said that when he opened up the sheath the gel-like substance from his disc came shooting out. Tanner had been going to work and fulfilling his church calling (we had gone on a speaking assignment the day before an hour and a half away from home) all under extreme pressure.

I really love seeing Tanner after a surgery. He is always super chatty and loves everything. There was some show from the History Channel about the people who go and find antiques and Tanner couldn't stop talking about how fun that would be; normal Tanner probably wouldn't enjoy it that much. He also asked me several times what the doctor had said about his pain tolerance and then would ask, "You told my family what the doctor said about my pain tolerance right?" or, "Did you tell Chad what he said?". It was pretty cute because Tanner usually doesn't care too much what other people think.

For two weeks Tanner couldn't bend, twist, or lift anything over ten pounds. The kids were all very sweet with him and loved to bring him ice packs or talk with him. I was so afraid Austin was going to jump on his back and cause all sorts of damage but he was so good. After the two weeks Tanner was right back to work. The first weeks back he was in some pain but he has been making good progress. He still has some numbness in his foot that bothers him but we are hoping that it will either be resolved or he will get used to it.

Living so far from family this whole ordeal could have made us feel very alone. But leading up to, through and beyond Tanner's surgery, so many prayers have been said in our behalf. People fasted for us, and we received messages from so many family members the day of the surgery. Chad sent a text message to say that he had left his patients to go and kneel in prayer in his office during Tanner's surgery. Although I was physically alone in that waiting room, I didn't feel alone. I know that we have been lifted through this trial because of the faith and prayers of others. In the first session of General Conference, President Eyring said it perfectly when he said, "The family that prays together is together." During the surgery I felt so much peace and comfort and I continue to feel that peace. Because of the faith and prayers of our family we didn't feel alone.