Success!

Emma had successful heart repair surgery this morning. We arrived at the hospital just before 6:00 and went up and visited her. At about 7:00 the surgery team came to her room to move her move CHOC to St. Joseph’s through the basement tunnel. We spoke with the surgeon and the team prior to the surgery and they had high hopes. At 7:30 they took her into surgery. The pre-op portion was supposed to take between an hour and an hour and a half. At 9:20 we received our first update from the case manager. She came in to tell us that they were well into the surgery. She was on the heart lung bypass machine and Dr. Gates had her chest open. We received our next update about 10:30 saying that the surgery was going well and that Dr. Gates was in the process of repairing the hole in her heart. At about 11:40 the case manager came back in and said that the repair had been completed and that Dr. Gates was in the process of closing her back up. At 11:55 Dr. Gates came in and told us that the surgery went as expected. He told us that the VSD had been repaired and that the valve between the heart and lungs had been widened. He said that this should be a one time surgery and that she shouldn’t have any more heart problems. Overt the next couple of days Emma will be closely monitored. We have been informed that if we see 10 people in her room that we shouldn’t be alarmed. It is all part of the recovery. We are so thankful for the amazing team of doctors and nurses who fixed our daughter’s broken heart. Thank you for all of your prayers, especially this morning. And most of all thank you God for protecting our daughter.

Mark, Alissa, and Emma