surgery day results & recovery

Okay, apparently I was SO exhausted last night when I sat down to post to the blog that I didn't even remember the empty post I put up entitled "so far so good." :) John mentioned it this morning. I have no recollection of hitting "publish." I was also in the middle of texting/posting a Facebook update at 11:30 last night when I fell asleep, only to realize this morning that I never sent it. :) Kinda funny, but that gives you some perspective on how exhausted we are. So, for the actual update...

 

First, THANK YOU for caring, loving, supporting, encouraging and praying! We appreciate you so much. We literally felt lifted up as so many of you prayed for and encouraged us yesterday. The work of God's hand has been obvious to us! Praise Him!

 

Yesterday was hands-down the most difficult day of our entire lives, and without a doubt, God sustained us through your prayer support and encouragement throughout the day. We enjoyed some precious time Sunday night (a few pics in the last post) snuggling, holding, kissing, talking to, singing to, reading to Brooke. I even got to give Brooke her pre-op wipe-down bath. After several hours with her, we finally went back to our apartment for two hours of sleep. We came back to the hospital yesterday morning at 5:30 for more snuggling and holding before they took her down to surgery at 7:30. I've never felt the kind of emotion that I felt in those two hours. The only way I know to describe it...absolutely gut-wrenching and so, so sweet and intimate at the same time.

 

After we kissed Brooke one last time, they took her to surgery...and we waited. We received updates from the OR nurse every hour or so, as evident by the Facebook updates and texts I sent yesterday. THANK YOU again for praying for Brooke and for us as she underwent the Norwood procedure--the first of her three open heart surgeries. As I indicated yesterday with my updates, the surgeon said it couldn't have gone any better. Huge praise! This was a major hurdle for Brooke. But, as we well know, it was the first hurdle, and the next couple of days are critical to her recovery. We've been by Brooke's bedside off and on consistently since about 4:30 yesterday afternoon when she came back from surgery. I've never seen so many wires, tubes, monitors. It's quite an overwhelming sight. One I will eventually show a picture of to give you perspective (if you've never seen a little one after a major operation). For now, I'll just leave you with the image above...Brooke on her way in to the OR. At this point, we are able to touch her feet, hands and top of her head. We love talking to her, singing to her, reading to her and rubbing her little foot. She is completely paralyzed through medication so that her heart is not stimulated anymore than it needs to be to allow it to heal and grow stronger. She will have an open chest for another day or so until the extra fluid drains off.

Another praise, she had a great night! Overall, her numbers look good. The first several hours post-op for her are all about keeping her comfortable and closely monitoring heart function and many other fine details about how her body is responding to the heart operation. She is doing well overall, and we are thrilled. However, we know that recovery is day-by-day and really hour-by-hour at this point. The two main concerns right now are the elevated lactate in her body as well as the amount of urine output. They are currently administering a drug to help her pee, which may very well also help her lactate come down into a normal range.

 

Praises

• God's mighty hand is at work and evident!
• Surgery went very well.
• Brooke is doing well so far in recovery.
• We have excellent care here at St. Louis Children's. Phenomenal doctors and staff!
• We have excellent family and friend support, and that has made this journey easier.
• Our big girls are doing well back home.
• God is drawing John and me closer to Him and closer together through this journey.

Prayer requests

• Brooke's lactate will come down and urine output will increase.
• Medical team will find the right balance of medication to help Brooke in recovery.
• Brooke's heart will continue to tolerate the shunt that was inserted and continue to function amazingly well.
• Brooke's little body will tolerate all of the medication she is on (6-8 different meds at this point).
• Brooke will continue to receive excellent care, including the best-of-the-best nurses. We have one day and one night nurse assigned to Brooke each 24 hours. They have all been wonderful, but we have our favorites already. :)  
• John and I work in some rest here and there this week as a majority of our days and nights will be spent at Brooke's bedside. 
• God's power will continue to be evident to all involved and that HE would be glorified!

Thank you again for lifting us up!