Heart surgery a success!!

Lilly has successfully made it through heart surgery! Dr. C, the surgeon, came in at 2:30 to tell us he had finished and it went as expected. Well almost - it turned out that not only was the hole in Lilly's heart much bigger than they thought it would be - but that she had a second hole (between the upper chambers) that no one had expected. Both were patched. The pulmonary artery band was taken off and that area looked so good that no patch was required there.

Lilly had very little scar tissue from last year's operation which helped things go quickly.

She has two pace (?) wires on which should help straighten out the electrical system in her heart. Dr. C said it is not abnormal to need that after heart surgery and 95% of the time the heart will correct itself. (In the cases where it doesn't, the person has to have a pace maker put in.)

She is also still intubated. She was able to come off the ventilator after only 2 days after last year's surgery, so I think she'll do good again this time, especially considering she is so much bigger.

Lilly's post op should be over and she should be in her room in the PICU within 30 minutes. We can't wait to see her!

We went for a walk along the St. John's river, which is right by the hospital, while Lilly was in surgery. It was actually COLD outside with quite a wind. We were hoping to see dolphins like we did last year.

"Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name." - 1 Chronicles 29:13