Toben Edney

SPECIAL PRAY REQUEST FOR MY NEPHEW...I am copying most of what my sister-n-law wrote on their blog because it is perfect and easy to understand.

Toben is having surgery on Wednesday for his nevus. Here is some info to explain what Toben's skin condition is and what they are doing.

He has what is called congenital melanocytic nevus. It occurs in 3-4 babies out of a million. Toben's spot is mild compared to many, whose entire back or torso or legs are covered with the nevus. And it is especially good that his nevus does not involve anything such as the ear or eyebrow and that there is some good (non-nevus) skin around it. The nevus is a group of cells with the melanin pigment. It is also usually very hairy, and with his being on his head, it is extra hairy. This spot has the potential to become melanoma later. Along with this, there is a condition that affects a small number of people, called neurocutaneous melanosis. This condition could cause epilipsy and hydrocephalus. We are very sure that Toben does not have this condition, as people who have it have their entire spine and neck covered with the nevus. As for treatment, some people choose to remove them and other choose to just monitor. Since Toben's is on his head and the hair is so think and grows so fast, it is hard for them to monitor it. For the health risk, the difficulty in monitoring, and psycological reasons they have chosen to have it removed.

He will go on Wednesday to children's hospital in Dallas and use one of the best surgeons in this field to have tissue expanders placed in his head. These expanders will be placed underneath the good skin around the nevus right underneath the skin. They will wait a couple of weeks for all those incisions to heal. Then they will start to inject saline in them every few days. This will make the good skin expand and grow. They will do this for about 12-16 weeks, so it will be a long process. Once there is enough of the good skin, their surgeon will take out the expanders, cut out the nevus, and pull the new skin over. Amazing!

Toben's surgery is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Please keep them in your prayers. Please pray for the doctor, Dr. Jay Burns, and the nurses. Please pray for the anesthesiologist. Please pray for his pain and that he will be comfortable.