As I sit at the desk in our hotel room tonight, I feel so tired. Our day has been so long and so full of many emotions. It was a relief to know that Victoria’s surgery was over and that she was in recovery. However, when we were able to go back and see her in the recovery room, my heart ached for her.
Victoria’s incision was covered with a bandage and two tubes ran out from her chest helping with the drainage. It was very hard to look at, and to be honest, Mark and I felt queezy at the sight. We had become accustomed to her breathing tube and other wires, but the blood visible in her additonal chest tube made it very difficult for us. To be honest, that’s the most blood I’d ever seen in my life. I had to take a few deep breaths to make it through the visit. I didn’t want to leave her because of my uncomfortable feelings, but it was also hard to be with her.
While in Victoria’s room, the nurse explained that tomorrow they will begin trying to ween her off of her breathing tube. They will probably lesson her medications so she may wake up a little, but they still plan to keep her relaxed so she is not tempted to pull at her wires or tubes. The on-call doctor came in the room to share with us that she was doing very well. There were a lot of things discussed and I will probably share those things in a future blog because my brain is on overload at the moment.
I feel myself wanting to be excited about Victoria’s recovery, but honestly, I feel “cautiously optimistic”. It’s a phrase Mark and I use often. I pray all continues to progress well, but I still feel so worried about her. I know Victoria has a long road ahead of her. I think I just want to take one moment at a time and just thank the Lord when that moment passes without her having any problems or complications. I guess sometimes you just have to take days like that … moment by moment.
PS – You will see a photo of Victoria in her recovery room.
PSS – If you look back at “The Longest Walk” you will see newly added photos of us with Victoria this morning right before she was taken from the RNICU to surgery.
Mark and I just met with the surgeon, Dr. Knott-Craig. He told us that Victoria’s repair was the hardest he had ever done in his career, and he has performed hundreds of them. He said that originally when he opened her up that her heart defect was so severe that he had thought of putting a band on her pulminary artery, which would be a temporary fix, and the repair would need to be tried again at around her 1st birthday. Instead, he said that he “stepped back” and tried to think of the best way to do her heart repair. Somehow he figured out the best way to complete her surgery and he said that he believes that it is a good repair. He told us that her blood pressure, oxygen and her heart rate were much better now.
As Mark and I sat with the surgeon, hearing all of this coming out of his mouth, we were amazed. We knew that God had performed a miracle! God put wisdom and knowledge in this doctor’s mind that he did not have on his own! God gave him the steadiest of hands to do such a delicate surgery. We sat wide-eyed knowing that we had just witnessed the hand of God move in the hands and mind of Victoria’s surgeon.
They are cleaning her up and doing some final tests right now. We will be able to see her in about an hour.
Thank you so very much for lifting up our little, sweet baby. She is already such a testimony of the miracles of God. He can take the impossible and make them possible! We praise Him that His will was to allow Victoria to stay with us a little longer. She is such a gift and we praise the Lord for His favor.
We feel like it’s been forever that we have been sitting in the waiting room, but our name was finally called with an update on Victoria. These are the exact words of the attendant:
“The major part of the surgery is done and the patient is doing satisfactory.” She also said, “This is what you want to hear.”
Praise the Lord for His favor on us and our little baby girl!
Please continue to pray for her as she is not out of the woods yet. I’m sure she will be in a delicate situation for several days as her heart and body adjust to the surgery. Pray God’s continued hand on her.
Thank you for your love and prayers. We will continue to update the blog with her progress so keep checking in. Again, we love you all and could not feel more blessed to be in such a wonderful family of believers!
Mark and Heather
Surgery has started. Thanks so much for your prayers!
Mark & Heather
