Thank yous

It is very scary to be in the position of having a child that you know you are incapable of keeping alive without help. Now, our baby girl is happy, giggling, talking, exploring her hands and feet, eating, growing, enjoying life and HEALTHY!  It is an absolutely wonderful feeling to be on the other side of these last nine months (since diagnosis).  We knew she was being born with DS and a serious heart defect and had no idea how it would affect her or how the surgery would go.  Now Katie is 14 weeks old and it is behind us!  We can focus on our family and our daughters.

We have a lot of people to thank for getting us to this point. 

Our OBs and genetic counselor: they gave us information, facts and no pressure.  It makes me sick to hear stories of doctors that encourage scared parents to kill their baby.  Thankfully, we had wonderful support and never had to fight that battle.

NICU nurses and doctors: I have a whole post on the wonders of NICU nurses but, in short, they took wonderful care of Katie in those first few days while I recovered from the c-section and helped to get her home and eating!

Pediatric cardiologist:  Katie's doctor, Dr Egan, saw the opportunity to fix her heart in one surgery (rather than several) and seized the moment.  He pushed Katie to the head of the line, had her case discussed with the surgeon and other cardiologists, and set her surgery date within the month.  Because of him, Katie will not need surgery every ten years to keep replacing her pulmonary valve.  The surgeon told us it was already close to being too late (at only 10 weeks old).  They did the surgery just in time.

Surgeons:  Katie's surgeons were Dr Alfieris and Dr Gensini.  I can't even imagine having the skill or confidence to do what they do.  They do open heart surgery on children and their proportionality tiny hearts.  They manage not only the children but their parents on one of the worst days of their life.  They are passionate about their profession and save hundreds of lives.  Incredible.

Surgery support staff:  I don't have any idea how many people were in the operating room with Katie but I know there were at least anesthesiologists and surgical nurses.  I am sure there were a lot of busy minds and hands helping Katie and  I want to thank them for their hard work, dedication, and focus.  

PICU nurses are a lot like NICU nurses.  These men and women are able to gracefully take care of a child in critical condition and to help the parents through the process.  They are kind, caring, calm and intelligent.  Katie had two nurses solely with her the first 12 hours, one nurse in the room with her the first 2 days, then one nurse just outside her door the remaining 4 days.  They were always present and in control but never over bearing.

Katie never need a blood transfusion but she did receive extra blood to work the heart/lung bypass machine. The machine works for the heart by removing the blood from the body and pumping it back in.  The extra blood is used to fill up the machine so there is enough volume to flow through the machine and Katie at the same time.  Therefore, some anonymous, generous, blood donor also had an important role in fixing Katie's heart.  We are truly thankful.

Countless numbers of people have been praying for Katie.  Our friends, family, and church have been dedicated to prayer on behalf of Katie.  They have also spread the word to their friends and their churches.  On the day of Katie's surgery, our church and the ladies in my MOPs club held a prayer vigil.  People (some I know and some I don't) volunteered to pray for Katie during certain times of the day.  The most critical first 12 hours we had at lease two people praying for her every minute!  Thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts, we appreciate and are thankful for each and every one!