Preparing for Macy's heart surgery began the night before with her bath and then being rubbed down with these special wipes. Our ward family also started fasting for her after dinner that night. The last time I could nurse her was at 3:45 in the morning, then an hour later she could have had a bottle of sugar water, but she didn't want it. In the morning we had to wipe her down with the special wipes again. Leonard gave our Super Girl a blessing, we said goodbye to Gramma and Gavin (everyone else was still sleeping), then drove to the hospital to arrive at 6:45 a.m.
I like the composition of this photo better than the above one, except it was taking with Leonard's grainy phone, sigh. Macy's saying, "Bring on the Surgery! I am strong. I am invincible. I am woman!"
At the hospital we had to change her into a hospital gown that was just huge for her, have her vital signs taken, and then wait a little bit for her surgery to begin at 8:00 a.m.
I didn't mind waiting, as I got some more precious snuggles in and she fell asleep.
Mommy and Daddy got to give her some more kisses before the nurse carried her off to the operating room.
We then went to this special waiting room just for us to pass the day.
Leonard and I both think Dr. Gyaandeo Maharajh, Macy's heart surgeon is a lovely man. He is a man of science and a man of faith, and we are grateful for his knowledge, expertise, belief in a supreme being, and his humility.
Our waiting room was quite tiny, but made the day much more comfortable. I didn't sleep well the night before, so I was able to lay down on the sectional, watch some TV, add updates to Facebook on my laptop, eat, and relieve stress. I thought this would be the longest day of my life, but it went surprisingly fast. This quote came up on Facebook as something I posted two years ago:
I hope that today you will have peace in your mind and joy in your heart!
Every hour and a half, Tara (our surgical nurse) and Karen (our social worker) came in to give us updates. I'll share what I put on Facebook here:
Macy's surgery update #1: She went under the anesthesia well. Her IVs are all in place and working well. Her chest and sternum are opened up. She should be on the heart and lung machine in about another half hour...
Macy's surgery update #2: Surgery continues to go very well! The doctor has patched the 2 big holes in her heart, and has finished his work on one side of her valve. He is currently working on the other side of the valve (her heart was acting as a 2 chamber heart instead of 4, and the 2 valves she was supposed to have, were just one big valve), and has a 3rd small hole to stitch up. Once that work is done they'll take her off the heart and lung machine to get her heart to start working on its own again for an echo-cardiogram. That echo will be a litmus test to see if they need to do more work or just finish things up to move her to recovery...
Macy's surgery update #3: During the first echo-cardiogram, there was too much leakage from her new left valve, so the doctors went back in to fix things up better. She'll now have her second echo-cardiogram in about 10 minutes. Here's hoping her little heart will be on the mend soon...
Macy's surgery update #4: The second echo-cardiogram gave results that the doctors were much happier with. They are now beginning the process of closing her all up. She should be in the ICU in about an hour and a half to two hours! (By the way, her thymus had to be removed to reach her heart, so we donated it to HIV research and to create the drug used to keep organ transplants from being rejected.) Until next time...
Macy's surgery update #5: She is out of the operating room and in the ICU. Woo hoo!! The surgeon will be in to see us in about 15 minutes, then about a half an hour after that we'll finally get to see her. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and love today!!
Macy's surgery update #6: Dr. Maharajh just came in with his assistant, Dr. Rodriguez, Tara, and Karen. The first thing he said was, "Macy gave us a run for our money." I'm so glad the nurses didn't convey that sentiment during their hour and a half updates! He then said that the next few days will be an intricate dance between what makes them happy and what makes Macy happy.
We were expecting to wait a half an hour before we could see her, but the nurses came in before I could even post this to take us to her. We're with her now and I'll be posting again soon!
Macy is still under anesthesia and will be for the rest of the day and night. I'm so torn- I don't want to leave her, but I also didn't sleep well last night and am tempted to sleep at home tonight while she's under sedation (Dr. Maharajh's suggestion). She's so little and precious and I'm so grateful she's been able to have this surgery today! I'm also so grateful for the love, prayers, and thoughts from family and friends near and far, and even strangers! I am truly thankful 
<3 span="">!
A little weeping Fairy found
A patch of Moonlight on the ground.
She knew it was the very thing
To Mend the hole torn in her wing.
She dried her eyes, picked up the patch
And sewed it on- a splendid match!
~Marion St. John Webb
