Just received another page - 11:07am.
"They are still working away, about half way there. Anna remains very stable".
Thank you friends for continuing to pray, pray, pray!!!!!!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Anna Grace - June 25 - Update # 3
Pager updated #2 - 10:07 am
"They are working away in the OR, all is well."
Thank you all for continuing to pray for Anna Grace - these are critical moments for her.
"They are working away in the OR, all is well."
Thank you all for continuing to pray for Anna Grace - these are critical moments for her.
Anna Grace - June 25 - Update #2
9:15 am - Just got our first page.
"All is going well in the OR, baby Anna Grace is very stable, they will soon be on heart/lung bypass, will send hourly updates until they are finished".
"All is going well in the OR, baby Anna Grace is very stable, they will soon be on heart/lung bypass, will send hourly updates until they are finished".
Anna Grace - June 25
Today is surgery day. We are at the hospital ... it is now 6:30 am and Anna Grace has been taken back to anesthesia. We are back in the all too familiar PCICU Waiting room. Someone should be in shortly to give us our pager - that is how we will stay updated on Anna Grace's progress during surgery today.
We arrived here at 5:30 this morning to check in. Anna Grace was hungry, but doing pretty well overall. When they took us back to get her vitals and get her changed into a gown they gave her some type of "happy medicine" orally. I don't know what it was, but they were able to get her O2 sats and blood pressure checked without her crying. O2 sats were 68 today..... just a big indication that she needs this surgery. We took some pictures of her and cuddled and hugged on her. Brian prayed over her before they took her away. They allowed her to take her favorite pink blanket and one of her stuffed animals to the OR.
As you can imagine, this is hard for us. It really is hard to hand your baby over for surgery. We are trusting the Lord - He is soverign over everything. We are entrusting our baby to HIM.
Please pray for Anna Grace today as you think about her. Pray that Dr Bradley can do all that he needs to do today and that there are no complications with anesthesia (heart/lung bypass), no complications with the surgery, no chylothorax and no stroke. Also, I want to mention that this surgery will change the pressures in her head (her pressures are very low right now) and this will cause severe headaches for her as her body adjusts in addition to the trauma of surgery. Please be praying that her little body will tolerate the pressure changes well.
I would also like to mention a PRAISE to the LORD today.... Anna Grace's rash completley cleared up. When she woke up this morning the rash was GONE - thank you for praying over this for her.
We will keep you updated throughout the day today.
We arrived here at 5:30 this morning to check in. Anna Grace was hungry, but doing pretty well overall. When they took us back to get her vitals and get her changed into a gown they gave her some type of "happy medicine" orally. I don't know what it was, but they were able to get her O2 sats and blood pressure checked without her crying. O2 sats were 68 today..... just a big indication that she needs this surgery. We took some pictures of her and cuddled and hugged on her. Brian prayed over her before they took her away. They allowed her to take her favorite pink blanket and one of her stuffed animals to the OR.
As you can imagine, this is hard for us. It really is hard to hand your baby over for surgery. We are trusting the Lord - He is soverign over everything. We are entrusting our baby to HIM.
Please pray for Anna Grace today as you think about her. Pray that Dr Bradley can do all that he needs to do today and that there are no complications with anesthesia (heart/lung bypass), no complications with the surgery, no chylothorax and no stroke. Also, I want to mention that this surgery will change the pressures in her head (her pressures are very low right now) and this will cause severe headaches for her as her body adjusts in addition to the trauma of surgery. Please be praying that her little body will tolerate the pressure changes well.
I would also like to mention a PRAISE to the LORD today.... Anna Grace's rash completley cleared up. When she woke up this morning the rash was GONE - thank you for praying over this for her.
We will keep you updated throughout the day today.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Anna Grace - June 24
We are back the the townhouse... pre-op work is all done. We arrived at the hospital this morning at 8:00 am and did all of our admission paperwork and then headed up to the 6th floor to "Same Day" for our pre-op work. When we got off the elevator on the 6th floor I saw a woman standing in the hall. I thought to myslef... "she sure does look a lot like my friend Mrs. D" As I got closer I thought, "she really does look like Mrs. D" and what do you know.... it was my friend Mrs. D... all the way from Spartanburg to see us. I really only had about 2 minutes to speak to her before we had to head to "Same Day" but what a treat to have my friend come all the way to Charleston!
Anna Grace was a very brave girl today, but her stranger anziety is still in full force. She did not have to be sedated and she got her echo, her EKG and her blood work done. Her white blood cell count was NORMAL and surgery is a GO! She did however breakout in a yucky hive rash yesterday which I thought was a heat rash but the doctors today said it looked like "contact dermatitis" - which means she has come into contact with something she is allergic to. The more I think about it I think it is the laundry detergent which is used here at the townhouse... Tide. Note to self, do not buy Tide. It is not going to delay surgery and hopefully the rash will clear up once we get her to the hospital out of contact with the Tide.
After all our work up we talked with Dr Bradley, the surgeon. He explained what will happen in the surgery. He will be removing her shunt and suturing her Superior Vena Cava directly to her pulmonary artery. This will bring blue blood directly to her lungs. He said she also has a narrowing on the left pulmonary artery which he will enlarge by using a patch of human tissue. She also has a narrowing of the "Y" connection that was put connecting her aorta to her pulmonary artery so he will be putting a patch on that to make it larger as well. He said surgery tomororw will take about 6 hours. We have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 5:30 am. Anesthesia will take her back about 6:15 am or 6:30 am to start her anesthesia and get all the IV's and lines run and to get her intubated as well. Then she will be put on heart/lung bypass. Just like last time they will give us a pager anf give us updates about every hour with how she is doing during the surgery. After surgery she will go back to PCICU. Dr. Bradley said that most likely he will be able to close her chest at the conclusion of surgery tomorrow so we are praying that is the case and that her chest will not have to be left open. Amazingly... he said if all goes well we could be home in 10 days or so.....
So, there is a lot to be in prayer about..... please pray for Dr. Bradley and his team - this is a very major surgery, pray that Anna grace does well while on heart/lung bypass and that she can come off it with no problems, pray against chylothorax.
Thank you.
Anna Grace was a very brave girl today, but her stranger anziety is still in full force. She did not have to be sedated and she got her echo, her EKG and her blood work done. Her white blood cell count was NORMAL and surgery is a GO! She did however breakout in a yucky hive rash yesterday which I thought was a heat rash but the doctors today said it looked like "contact dermatitis" - which means she has come into contact with something she is allergic to. The more I think about it I think it is the laundry detergent which is used here at the townhouse... Tide. Note to self, do not buy Tide. It is not going to delay surgery and hopefully the rash will clear up once we get her to the hospital out of contact with the Tide.
After all our work up we talked with Dr Bradley, the surgeon. He explained what will happen in the surgery. He will be removing her shunt and suturing her Superior Vena Cava directly to her pulmonary artery. This will bring blue blood directly to her lungs. He said she also has a narrowing on the left pulmonary artery which he will enlarge by using a patch of human tissue. She also has a narrowing of the "Y" connection that was put connecting her aorta to her pulmonary artery so he will be putting a patch on that to make it larger as well. He said surgery tomororw will take about 6 hours. We have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 5:30 am. Anesthesia will take her back about 6:15 am or 6:30 am to start her anesthesia and get all the IV's and lines run and to get her intubated as well. Then she will be put on heart/lung bypass. Just like last time they will give us a pager anf give us updates about every hour with how she is doing during the surgery. After surgery she will go back to PCICU. Dr. Bradley said that most likely he will be able to close her chest at the conclusion of surgery tomorrow so we are praying that is the case and that her chest will not have to be left open. Amazingly... he said if all goes well we could be home in 10 days or so.....
So, there is a lot to be in prayer about..... please pray for Dr. Bradley and his team - this is a very major surgery, pray that Anna grace does well while on heart/lung bypass and that she can come off it with no problems, pray against chylothorax.
Thank you.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Zachary Update - June 23
Well, our leisurley day got a little chaotic. In his excitement to go the the pool Zachary was running around the townhouse and fell and split his chin open. As we speak Zachary, Brian & Miss B have gone to Nason Mecial (on reference from our Crossbridge Ministry contact) to most likely have his chin cleaned and glued (I don't think they do stitches for these things anymore). I am at the townhouse with Anna Grace. I told Brian he could pick staying home with the baby or taking Zachary. He picked Zachary. I think he's going to have a rougher time than me. I feel so bad for Zachary, we were having so much fun together. This is his first split chin - I'm sure it won't be the last. I feel bad that I'm not there to comfort him - I hope one day when he's 20 he doesn't say "remember when I was three I busted my chin and you weren't even there"! Mommy guilt.... no one tells you about Mommy guilt before you have a baby.
Please pray for Zachary as I'm sure he's hurting and a little scared right now. Please pray for Brian as he tries to comfort Zachary.
Please pray for Zachary as I'm sure he's hurting and a little scared right now. Please pray for Brian as he tries to comfort Zachary.
Anna Grace - June 23
So this morning has been leisurley. We thought we would be at the hospital today, but since surgery was postponed we rode bikes & went to the pool. Well.... Brian had to work, but me, Zach, Anna Grace & Miss. B had a leisurley morning.
Last night a very sweet & wonderful family from Crossbrisge Ministries here in Charleston brought us a meal so I didn't even have to cook last night. This ministry has been so sweet and supportive to our family, I can not say enouogh wonderful things about them. They have continued to pray for Anna Grace all these months and it is such a comfort to have them close by while we are so far from home.
Brian, Z & Miss B are at Walmoart right now buying a pool float & me & Anna Grace are hanging out the the townhome trying to stay away from germs.
Tomorrow begins our hospital journey so we are really loving having today to have FUN!
Oh... so let me introduce you all to Miss. B. (I did get her permission to BLOG about her). She is a college student who is helping us out during our stay in Charleston with Zachary. She also happens to be one of the daughters of the family who owns the townhome where we are staying. What a blessing this family has been to us. Zachary LOVES Miss. B - he loves having "his friend" to play with. The Lord has blessed her with such a compassionate heart... I can't wait to see where the Lord is going to use this young lady... we'll... He's already using her to minister to us.
We are just in awe about how the Lord has taken care of all the details of this "heart journey" with Anna Grace. He has taken such good care of us - physically, emotionally & spiritually. This is not an easy journey to walk, but we are thankful.
Last night a very sweet & wonderful family from Crossbrisge Ministries here in Charleston brought us a meal so I didn't even have to cook last night. This ministry has been so sweet and supportive to our family, I can not say enouogh wonderful things about them. They have continued to pray for Anna Grace all these months and it is such a comfort to have them close by while we are so far from home.
Brian, Z & Miss B are at Walmoart right now buying a pool float & me & Anna Grace are hanging out the the townhome trying to stay away from germs.
Tomorrow begins our hospital journey so we are really loving having today to have FUN!
Oh... so let me introduce you all to Miss. B. (I did get her permission to BLOG about her). She is a college student who is helping us out during our stay in Charleston with Zachary. She also happens to be one of the daughters of the family who owns the townhome where we are staying. What a blessing this family has been to us. Zachary LOVES Miss. B - he loves having "his friend" to play with. The Lord has blessed her with such a compassionate heart... I can't wait to see where the Lord is going to use this young lady... we'll... He's already using her to minister to us.
We are just in awe about how the Lord has taken care of all the details of this "heart journey" with Anna Grace. He has taken such good care of us - physically, emotionally & spiritually. This is not an easy journey to walk, but we are thankful.
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