Hello Ellie fans!
Things are slow for Mom and Dad at the moment finally after a hectic 24 hours. Our job is done!
Ellie soard through the pre-op stuff yesterday and we had a sweet night last night with her in our "hotel" room. Then we arrived this morning at 6:00 and got to stay with her until about 7:30 and surgery was expected to begin at about 8:00 or 8:30. We met the surgeon (very on top of things), the nurses, the anesthesia team. All expect her to do well during the surgery.
The next 24-72 hours will be the determining factor as to how her lungs adjust to the new "architecture" (they actually use that word!) of her changed heart. We have been told it will be a waiting and watching game with a very large team of people involved, all of which we know, trust and like very much up here.
Ellie has her little bag of things with her, including a new medal given to her from the Vatican by one of the nurses here. She was given a light anesthesia in our arms and fell asleep then we kissed her and gave her over to the surgeon, and ultimately to God.
Here are some fun pictures from yesterday. Honestly this blog is a blessing to me to think of all of you who will be checking it and I have fun taking pictures as a distraction while we put one foot in front of the other. Thank you for checking in and I will post as we go! Oh, breaking news - the pre-surgery stuff took longer than expected, they are now getting started closer to 9:30. So, 2 1/2 is the duration of the surgery then one more hour after that to get her to the ICU then we can see her.
Arriving at the hospital yesterday.
We had a "home base" throughout the day we kept coming back to after each procedure. Giving Ellie her medicine - she was very tired and a bit cranky throughout the day as you can imagine with all the interuptions.
Not happy.
Still not happy.
Now REALLY not happy! Time to draw blood and wouldn't you know it this was the most difficult time she'd had in a while. Just wasn't flowing well so they had to prick and stick her four different places. Nothing you can do about that.
Excuse me, do I know you?
Can I please go now?!
Now on to x-ray and a lovely position she just loved being held in.
Ah, finally - a break!
Back to the Ronald McDonald house and doing a little Yoga to calm herself down.
A quick rest with daddy.
Off for a night out and dinner.
Two things we love - Ellie and Moe's.
Back at the room things were...interesting. We had alot to do with a special wipe we had to clean her with, adjust her feeding schedule and a few unexpected messes. That all made us want to make it an early night...
...and so we did!
She was still sleeping when we left at 5:45 this morning.
She was in a great mood this morning in the surgery waiting area.
Got a small dose of a sleep aid that worked instantly.
Going...
going...
almost there...
see ya!
Little Holey Ellie on her way.
Woke up for two seconds to see what was happening but luckily she had no objection to being passed on for surgery to begin :).
Talk to everyone later today hopefully!
