It’s Finally Time
If you have been following our adventures over the past year, you know our youngest child, Elizabeth, has a complex heart condition. As we prepared for her birth this spring, we didn't know how urgently she would need the repair surgery, just that it would likely take place within the first year of her life. Well, the time is now.
We have arrived in Kansas City and will spend at least two weeks at Children's Mercy Hospital between several days of pre-operation tests and then an expected 5-10 days of recovery following the procedure. We would be most grateful for your prayers in the weeks to come. If you are friends with either of us on Facebook we will post updates as we have time and energy to do so.
While we have posted fuller accounts of her condition in previous posts, here is the very short summary. Elizabeth has an "AV Canal Defect" (also called an "AV Septal Defect"). This essentially means the middle part of her heart didn't develop properly, allowing blood to mix between the four chambers. The repair procedure involves a complex open-heart surgery where valves are reconstructed and holes are patched. She is expected to be in surgery between 6 and 8 hours. As with any surgery there are risks, however this procedure has a high success rate and we should know within a few hours how well it has worked.
If you are taking the time to read this, thank you. We are grateful that you are part of our lives -- even if it's been a while since we've seen one another. This past year has been a rollercoaster to say the least, but the constant love and support of our families, friends, and church community has kept us going.
As usual, as a thank you for making it this far, here are some recent family photos from a photo shoot back in May. Enjoy!
