stella update...

So... it's been a long week for our little niece (& especially for her parents and grandparents who have barely left her side!) Her surgery was originally scheduled Monday, but got delayed until Tuesday. It made us all a little nervous to have the delay and I don't think we would have allowed any further delays because we just wanted her to have her TAPVR repair and start the recovery process. Being on the other side of the ever-changing of plans in the healthcare system gave me a renewed compassion for my patients and families who are sleep deprived and have expectations of a procedure being done at a certain time and then, "oh- that is going to be pushed back..."

There was a room full of Stella-supporters on Tuesday for her surgery. We knew so many friends and family had joined us in prayer that day, and we waited patiently for news from the surgeon. When he finally came in to tell us that "all went well", we breathed the biggest sigh of relief, felt the greatest joy and cried the happiest of tears. It's amazing how much you can love a person you've only known for a week. Of course, I loved Stella the minute I first saw her and I vowed to be her favorite aunt (sorry, Amber!), but watching her endure so much in her short little life has solidified that love greatly.

It was hard to see her post-op with every type of tube imaginable. It was almost like before surgery, it didn't even look like anything was wrong with her. She was a plump, full term cutie with the double chin to prove it. So, seeing her in the NICU was sad, but she really did look good (I guess compared to the teeny babies in the pod with her...). Seeing her in the cardiac-thoracic ICU put it all into perspective. My niece just had HEART SURGERY... Oh, I am so thankful that they caught her condition in the hospital and she didn't end up going home.

She came back from surgery with her chest still open. That was surprising to see, but it made sense for the swelling to go down before closing her chest. You could just see her little heart beating through the thin sterile dressing, and how precious it was to see it beating strong. They were able to close her chest on Thursday.

She is currently still intubated and her chest tubes are still draining. Cara said they are doing an ECHO and xray every morning and hope to wean her from the ventilator as soon as the chest tube drainage has decreased. The cardiologist originally gave Cara & David a two week recovery estimate. Our goal is to have her home by good Friday. Come on, Stella!