Surgery Progress - Day 7 and NOW AT HOME!

Approximately seven days after open heart surgery, Aspen is now back home!  Talk about a speedy recovery!  From fighting off potential germs and infections to healing the heart muscle after a complex surgery, the human body is remarkably resilient...

What a special week it has been for our family... we have made many new friends and cannot express enough gratitude to our CMH medical community.  While the week started with tears and the fear of the unknown, we ended with lots of smiles and laughter.  These are the times you simply cherish, and will remember forever. 

We cannot thank each and every one of you enough for your continued support.  We will have more updates very soon! 

May God bless you all!

P.S.  Aspen sends her love to all of the staff at CMH.  She was all smiles leaving the Sutherland Tower early this afternoon.

Intercepted a Letter

As a father, I've always wondered when "The Time" would come.  When I reference "The Time", I am referring to my little daughter dating.  As many of you have seen via the blog, our little Aspen went on her first date with Sandy and Marvin's handsome son named Austin.  I'm not going to lie, I was nervous, but knew that Austin had a heart of gold and that he had a fantastic set of parents.  The date went extremely well, but little Aspen was surprised that Austin had not picked up the phone to call her --- post date.  While she was saddened, she knew that it was also important to play the dating game.  Surprisingly, she told us that it was critical to not agree to all dates right away and to not answer every single phone call.  I smiled...

HOWEVER, while Aspen has been in the hospital (and unable to check our mail box), I intercepted a letter.  I don't think she'll mind that pops was snooping through her mail!  In fact, she will actually be super excited to see that her first date wrote a very sweet and sincere note, which included one of most adorable dressess known to mankind.

Sandy and Marvin, I hope you don't mind that I am sharing the note.  It is perfect for such a stressing time! 

Sincerely,

A Smitten Father

Surgery - Day 3 Progress

Good evening,

Quick update...

Aspen had a fantastic Day 3!  Her ventilaton tube, kidney tube, pacemaker wires, brain electrowave wires, two IVs and catheter were all officially removed.  She was also allowed to consume a few ounces of Pedialyte in order to replenish her vital minerals and nutrients.

She was quite alert for being so heavily sedated over the past couple of days! 

We continue to praise God for all of the wonderful love and support he has supplied us over the last few days.  This not only includes watching over little A, but also for everyone thinking and praying for us.  Thank you all!

Surgery - Day 2 Progress

Just wanted to send out a brief update - Aspen is doing well, praise God! They weaned her off four medications today and are slowly weaning her off the sedation medication. She woke up for a brief second and looked us both in the eyes before falling back asleep, but that moment was priceless to us!

She's still on her ventilation machine because they need her more awake before they take it out to ensure she can breath well on her own. It may come out later this evening or tomorrow morning.

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. More updates to follow...

Surgery - A Success!

All,

Amy and I are excited to report that Aspen's AV canal surgery was a success!  The medical staff at Children's Mercy has been FANTASTIC.  We couldn't have asked for a better team of care professionals.  It's simply astounding to see the amount of care and affection poured out by Aspen's doctors and nurses.

Our amazing Lord continues to provide for our daily needs, as well as bless us with continued love and peace through these difficult times!

We will be updating everyone with more information in the coming hours.  For now, we wanted those who are following the blog to know that she is doing very well and resting peacefully!  Thank you all again for your continued thoughts and prayers... they are MUCH appreciated!

Below are a couple of photos of Aspen resting in her bed. 

More updates to come...

Love,
Matt & Amy

The Morning of Surgery

Today is the day we've been anxiously and nervously awaiting for the last five and a half months.  Aspen will undergo open heart surgery to correct her AV canal defect.  While we had BELIEVED we were mentally prepared for this special event, it was simply heart wrenching to hand our little girl over to our medical staff! 

For those of you who would like more information relative to the specific defect, please click here.  If you are even more intrigued to investigate more about the heart defect, please click here.

Thank you all for the phone calls, emails and prayer requests.  We truly appreciate each and every one of them!

Evening Before the "Big Day"

They say a smile is worth a thousand words, but how could these smiles not be worth a million? 

We decided to capture a few quick photos of Aspen before her "Big Day".  Enjoy! 

Pre-Op Complete

We just got back from Children's Mercy this afternoon after a three hour PreOp appointment. Everything is set for surgery tomorrow at 6:30 AM. We were able to meet with the chief cardiovascular surgeon (Aspen's surgeon) and a few people from her care team who walked us through what will take place tomorrow.

So here's what will happen - we will arrive at 6 AM, they will prep her for surgery and then we will hand her over to surgical team (the part I am dreading). Then the anesthesiologists will place several IV's in her veins along with an arterial port in her chest/neck. This will take anywhere from a half hour to an hour. Then the actual surgery will begin, which should take about 2.5 hours. During the surgery she will be on a cardiopulmonary bypass machine that will circulate her blood for her. She will also require a blood transfusion, which is standard for a patient of her age. After surgery is complete they will be keeping her sedated until Wednesday morning so that she sleeps through the toughest part of recovery (praise God!). Based on how well her body recovers, they said that she will most likely be able to be taken off the ventilator on Wednesday, at the latest, Thursday.

We will send out an update after surgery is complete. Thank you all so much for your texts, emails, phone calls and support, but most of all for your love and prayers. We have faith that God is going to heal our little angel.

Post Comments - UPDATE

Just a quick update relative to our blog maintenance... 

We have adjusted a couple of features that will now allow the majority of you to post comments without requiring a blogging account.  Thank you to those of you pointing this out to us, as we simply overlooked this feature!