MONDAY, 9/17/07

Yeah, we're home!!!! Gracie was moved out of Pediatric ICU Saturday afternoon and released to go home yesterday!!! We were both soooooo ready to get home! When they moved her out of ICU to another room she almost completely refused to eat or drink anything and she almost got put back on her IV. So, I was up half the night pushing fluids with her and by Sunday afternoon she was taking them better. Thank goodness! They did chest x-rays, labs, and another echo cardiogram and the doctor said she looked great and was ready to go home. She was still extremely lethargic and not herself but I suspected it was just because she was totally terrified at the hospital. Scott and the rest of the kids drove over and picked us up and she brightened up a bit just seeing them. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept great all night. It didn't take too long after she had her bottle this morning before she was smiling, laughing, crawling, and even climbed up on top of a little step stool!!! I was hovering over her & totally had to slow her down because she was scaring me to death! She was so glad to be home and just kept kissing me all day--it was soooo cute!!! I will try to post some pictures tomorrow but for now I need to get to bed. Thank you again to all of you who have prayed and are still praying for her. We love you all!

SATURAY, 9/15/07; 8:00 AM

I had quite an emotional day with little Miss Gracie yesterday. The few times Gracie had "come to" over the last few days it was like she didn't even know who I was. Yesterday, anytime I made eye contact with her she would close her eyes which is what she did to me for the first 4 or 5 days after we got her. One of the nurses explained to me that many people who have been on by-pass machine during surgery have said they have memory loss, confusion, and are very disoriented for weeks. They told me not to expect to take home the same child we brought here. She woke up very upset and uncomfortable several times yesterday and it was heart wrenching for me because she didn't seemed comforted by me being there at all. The nurse let me hold her and she didn't like that at all & was very uncomfortable so we basically put her right back in her bed. I went to lay down for a while in the afternoon and all I could do was sob. I miss her---even though I'm here with her and I miss Scott, Kaleb, Lucas and Chloe too. I just want to go home and for things to be "normal". The evening went much better though. When I went back to her room at around 5:30 pm she "came to" and wanted to sit up so I helped her. She just sat there and stared off into space for a few minutes. She seemed like she was getting really tired so I slowly started to lay her back down but she resisted and then put her arms out to me and leaned into my arms!!! Yeah, she wanted me!!! I carefully picked her up and she zonked out and I couldn't stop the tears!!! Hopefully I will see some more glimpses of our sweet little Gracie today.

FRIDAY, 7/14/07; 10:30 AM

Gracie is doing better each day. They removed her ventilator and stomach draining tube from her mouth at about 4:30 pm yesteray. It has been so good to smooch her little lips again!! I was able to give her a bottle with a few ounces of water w/a little apple juice flavoring this morning and she loved it! She is still super groggy but they stopped the pain meds that were making her so sleepy. So, she should start to wake up a bit more today. They were FINALLY able to remove her two chest tubes that were inserted during surgery and a few other tubes. Yeah!!! She still has her tube inserted into the lining of her lungs and that is still draining quite a bit of fluid so will stay for now. She still has several other tubes and IV's but some of those may also come out today. Still have no clue right now as to when she will be released. I don't really have any hopes for a Sunday release any longer, which is what the "average" recovery time would have been. But the doctors know what is best and we certainly wouldn't want to take her home until she is COMPLETELY ready. Thanks again for your continued prayers!

THURSDAY, 9/13/07; 10:30 AM

Gracie is still stable but her chest tubes continue to be draining more than normal. She developed fluid around her lungs overnight so they are inserting a catheter right now as I write this to drain it out. I'm not sure what all of this means exactly but I do know that her recovery is taking longer than "normal". Her oxygen levels are excellent though--before surgery they were in the 60's & low 70's and 92 is minumum for "normal" oxygen levels in the bloodstream. Now they are around 98 so that is awesome!!! Her blood pressure is a bit low still. Thank you for continuing to keep her in your prayers!

QUICK UPDATE 9/12/07

I just discovered a computer in one of the waiting rooms! Gracie's surgery went extremely well yesterday and we are so thankful for all of your prayers you lifted up for her and us. They did a full repair and expect her to be perfectly "normal" after she recovers. They put a patch to close her VSD/hole between her left and right ventricle. It turns out that she didn't have a pulmonary valve stenosis because she didn't have a pulmlonary valve!! All she had was a blob of tissue that was blocking most of her blood from pumping into her pulmonary arteries which then go to her lungs, etc. So, they removed the tissue and said she is fine without the valve. They will keep a watch on it and if at some point they feel she needs a valve then they will put one in through a catheter procedure. The surgeon decided to leave her left pulmonary artery alone (the one that is half the size of her right) because he said that it was functioning perfectly and that it should grow as more blood flows through it. They will also keep a close watch on this and if it does not grow over time then they will enlarge it through a catheter procedure also. She is still sedated but has come to a little bit and is NOT happy!! It is very hard to not be able to hold her!!! They had hoped to be able to remove her chest tubes and breathing tube today but her blood is clotting slower than normal so they didn't get to. Usually children with her condition have surgery between 6-9 months of age but since she is 16 1/2 months then her heart has had to compensate for the abnormalities longer and so the clotting is just slow going. Hopefully they will come out tomorrow!!! Scott headed back home this afternoon and I've had a pretty quiet afternoon. We've had lots of visitors which has been really nice. We've met lots of other families here and it's definitely not a "fun" place to be with all of the sick children and it is really wearing on me. We have taken some pictures but they are pretty graphic so we will post some when she doesn't have so many tubes and is awake. One of our friends here is letting me borrow her cell phone so if you'd like to call the number is 509-279-9954. Love you all!

WE LOVE YOU BABY EZRA!!!!!

IN LOVING MEMORY OF EZRA LUCAS
JUNE 25-AUGUST 29, 2007

Our very good friends, Abe & Jessica, lost their 2 month old beautiful baby Ezra to SIDS last week. We hope you will join with us in praying for God's comfort & peace to surround them, their other two boys, Malachi & Josiah, and the rest of their family. We love you Abe, Jess, Mal & Tuk!!!