What is to Come...

Dear All,

We wanted to let everyone know Malachi's heart surgery date of Tuesday, November 10th, 2009. He will be the first case at 8:00 am.

We met with Dr. Philips today, and he was very nice. We are very comfortable with him and appreciate his humbleness. Malachi's surgery will involve:
(1) removing any scar tissue that has developed since the last surgery (which took a long time to remove last time);
(2) they will attached his inferior vena cava to his pulmonary artery;
(3) they will ligate his "blind pouch";
(4) they will open up his Pulmonary artery and graft in artificial tissue to make the artery bigger;
(5) and they will remove the PA band that was left after his last surgery.

The surgery is very invasive and is estimated to last 8 - 9 hours, due to the rebuilding of the artery, and removal of scar tissue. There is also a greater risk of developing fluid in his lungs, due to being on a heart/lung bypass machine for so long. Dr. Philips did tell us that he leaves a hole on the right side of Malachi's Atrium that helps his lungs adjust to the pressure change, and this also helps with fluid in his lungs.

Malachi is estimated to be in the ICU for 3 - 4 days after surgery, and then he will go up to the heart floor (C5) after that. We are anticipating at least a week long stay in the hospital, possibly two weeks. We also found out that any type of respiratory infection, cold, or any other infection will delay the surgery about 6 weeks. So our biggest prayer is that Malachi will not get sick at all before surgery.

It was a lot of overwhelming information. It is hard to think of having to walk down this road again, but we are trusting that our Lord is taking care of us once again. Malachi will have so much to share someday, of our Great God's Protection. We are so blessed and honored to get to be his parents. Thanks for praying for us, we appreciate it more than you will ever know. We love you all!

In His Loving Hands,
April for all
Psalm 56:3-4