We now have more information about Kate's surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for Monday, April 13th at 7:30 AM. We will be heading up to the hospital the night before (Easter Sunday), so we can be there bright and early.
She goes for Pre-Op on Friday, the 10th, where they will do another Echocardiogram and a chest x-ray, among other things. We are praying that she will not flip out when she gets there. She has become terrified of doctors.
This coming Monday, April 6th, there will be a committee meeting of approximately 20 cardiologists and throrasic surgeons to go over Kate's heart cath and previous echo, to make sure that the full repair is the best option for her. Her cardiologist told me that she still thinks it's "a struggle to know which surgery would be best." Currently, the surgeon is planning to do a full repair, but if that changes after the committee meets, her cardiologist will call us.
They gave me the names of the two procedures that they are planning to do on Kate. One is called the Rastelli , which, all by itself is a very complicated surgery. This is where the surgeon will attempt to close the huge hole in Kate's heart and build a conduit to attach one side of her heart to the other. For patients having ONLY this procedure, they are normally in the hospital for at least two weeks afterwards, barring all complications.
The second procedure is the Senning . This is a procedure that reverses the flow of the blood in the upper chamber of the heart. Complications from this include possible need for a pacemaker, among other things.
The surgery is expected to last 6 to 7 hours, with another 1-2 hours to get her stabilized before we can see her. The surgery is further complicated by the fact that Kate's heart is not only on the wrong side of her body, but it is turned totally backwards. It just makes hooking things up all that more difficult.
They provided us with a video of what to expect afterwards when Kate is in the Pedicatric Intensive Care unit (PICU). It was very helpful--and forwarned us of the many tubes that will be coming out of her body.
Please pray that she will do well, that the surgeon will do a wonderful job and that there will be no complications. Also, please pray that we will keep her healthy until surgery, that Jeff and I will stay healthy, as well as the surgeon, Dr. Bove. We believe it is no coincidence that he is considered the best pediatric thorasic surgeon in the COUNTRY, and that God brought Kate to our family so that she could have her surgery at U of M. Also, please pray for Zoey. She shares a room with Kate and I know she will not understand that Kate is away temporarily. In the orphanage, she watched children leave to be adopted and they never came back. We don't want her to think Kate left to go to another family and that Zoey will be in 'danger' of doing the same. She is bonding so well, and we don't want that to be harmed. We WILL be allowed to let her visit Kate, even in PICU, so we plan to do that.
Please pray that we will be a blessing to the staff and to the other families in the hospital. We want to be a light of the HOPE we have in Jesus even in hard situations.
Yesterday as I asked God for comfort, He reminded me of the first verses He gave me about Katelyn Joy.
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great JOY..." Luke 2:10
"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid..." Matthew 15:27
"Then He placed His right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid..." Revelation 1:17
