Matters of Abby's Heart:: Pre-Op Appointment

Yesterday morning Abby had her pre-op appointments down at Childrens Mercy. Her first appointment was at 9:30am and that was for an EKG & Echo. She rocked the EKG-easy peasy! And 95% of her Echo she rocked too! Her Echo was over an hour long so as you can imagine there is only so many suckers and Bubble Guppies episodes even she could handle! But all in all it was great! Then it was off to the Cardio Clinic. There Abby had a quick check up & blood draw. The blood draw by far was the worst few minutes of her day but she rallied fast! We met with our nurse practisioner, anesthesia, and her surgeon Dr Pastuszko before heading for a few chest X-rays. We went over everything step by step which was good-I'm a the more the information the better. We got the green light for surgery and got her surgery time...11am on Monday. The surgery will take 4-6 hours depending on what will need to be done to repair her pulmonary valve stenosis. The plan is to close her 9mm hole (9mm is roughly the circumference of the tip of your pinky finger but keep in mind her heart is only as big as her tiny fist). They will close it one of two ways-if there is enough tissue he will just sew the hole closed. If there is not enough tissue he will take a tiny piece from the heart sack and patch the hole. Dr P said he doesn't have a preference either way as both are good options. After the repair is he made he will take her off the bypass machine and see how the valve is reacting. Our hope is that patching the hole makes the PVS pretty much go away but we won't know until Monday. One cool fact we learned was that he will wire Abbys breastbone back together and the wires will stay in her forever! He said but don't worry she won't set off the metal detectors at the airport! After surgery she will be in ICU until at least Tuesday morning. The goal in ICU is to keep her comfortable and start the process of removing things like her breathing tube, central line, precautionary pacemaker lines, drainage tube and so on. The goal is to move to the cardio floor Tuesday where we will all be a lot more comfy. Then its just a wait and see how she does. Dr P said she will be in the hospital for 4-7 days which is just mind-blowing! We were told that the bigger kids say that their chests are just sore not painful but feels like their insides have been moved around which makes total sense. We were sent home with a few pre-surgery instructions. After bath yesterday and tomorrow we have to wipe her down with CHG cloths (they are used to help prevent infection). And we also have to apply Mupirocin Ointment (an antibacterial ointment) on the middle of her chest and in each nostril twice a day. Other than that we are just having a normal weekend and trying to get everything ready for next week. We have to be at the hospital at 9:30am Monday morning and her surgery is scheduled to start at 11am. After much thought and discussion Vince & I decided to only let the 6 grandparents be at the hospital during surgery. We are both touched by all the offers to come down and wait with us but we just feel like it would be to much for us. But after she is moved to the cardio floor on Tuesday we welcome visitors! Again thank you for all the love, prayers, help & support you have given us. We are beyond blessed and Abby has no idea just how many people are praying for her. So please keep those prayers coming! I promise to do my best to update as much as I can via text, Facebook & the blog (but the blog will likely be the last form I will use for a few days).

1st Annual Boy Trip

The day after we got back from Oklahoma Vince & Ben went on their 1st annual "Boy Trip". Vince wanted to take Ben on a fun summer trip before Abby's surgery and when he asked Ben where he wanted to go to said Phoenix or Marco Island! I said no way could they go to Marco without Abby, Will & I so Phoenix it was! The boys spend 3 days at the same resort we went to for spring break-Ben was so excited! They had 3 days of just the two of them-pool time, hiking and a baseball game were the highlights! Ben made sure to FaceTime us a few times a day to check in on Abby & Will! Vince said he can't wait to take both boys on a trip next summer! Looks like I need to start planning a little vacay for me & Abby!

Road Trip

A few weekends back we took a 4 hour drive down I-35 to Enid to see Grandma Werner & Aunt Dorie in Enid, OK. I was pumped for a little road trip and the kids seemed to be excited but lesson learned two 2 year olds on a 4 hour road trip equals not so much fun. Ben did great but Abby & Will did not like being stuck in the car at all! But after lots of snacks & a solid hour of Bubble Guppies we made it! We had an added bonus of Aunt Susie being in Enid! The kids had a blast playing with play-doh with the same play-doh tools my brothers, cousins & I grew up with! And of course they had a great time seeking out Grandma's cats! It was a great long over due visit!

Photo Challenge Day 28-30

Photo Challenge Day 19-27

Matters of Abby's Heart:: Pre-Pre-Op Appointment

Abby had her pre-pre-op appointment at the pediatrician on Friday. Her regular doctor ended up being out of the office so we saw another doctor. It was a quick & easy visit! Good news she's now    23.8 lbs (with clothes & diaper on)! That made us all very happy! The doctor checked her out and gave her a clean bill of health! He did mention trying to get some more weight on her so we are working on that! Luckily she loves peanut butter so we've been laying it on extra thick and she ate her weight in guacamole this weekend so that was good too! Thank you for all the prayers that her cold left quickly! Now we just need to keep her healthy these next 6 days so please keep praying for that! The doctor advised against taking Abby & Will to Moms Day Out this week which we had decided earlier that we wouldn't send them. Not worth the risk! 

I want to give a special THANK YOU to all our amazing friends for all the gifts that have been given to her and the ones that have been sent to her the past week! The love being shown to her is beyond amazing! You all have touched our hearts in ways we can not even express!

I will update again after her pre-op appointment at Childrens Mercy on Friday...