She is so strong!

Arden's surgery was moved until Thursday which gave her an extra day to recover from the cath and get more fluid out of her. She went in first thing in the morning on Thursday and did a great job. She stayed stable on the ventilator the entire time, and although they had an ECMO machine set up and ready for her (Dr's were REALLY worried about her) they never had to use it! Praise God! ECMO is NOT someplace we want to go! She got out of surgery and we were told it would be a while before they would think about extabation due to the health of her lungs. Dr. Hanley also commented that her heart looked great (all things considered) and that he thinks we need to be focusing on her lungs. They were not inflating and deflating with the ventilator as he would like. So although I am still praying for her heart, it is now doing more work than originally intended, we are all shifting our focus to her lungs. Dr. Wright said a pulminologist wasn't needed yet, that they would see how things settled out after surgery.

Well we are just over 24 hours out of surgery and she is excelling once again. They've already taken her off the NO and have reduced her oxygen to 40%. The machine is also only helping her with 14 breaths a minute and they are weening the pressure support tonight from 7 to 6 as well. The Fellow tonight said he thinks she might be on track to be extabated Sunday morning! What!!! We aren't holding onto any dates, but that is weeks faster than expected! Her lungs are still "wet" so we need them to dry out in prep for her to do all the breathing on her own. If they are too wet, they won't be able to inflate properly and they will flood and she will have to be reintebated. Dr's also noted that her EKG looks a bit different after the last surgery, so she is getting a new EKG every day to trend what is happening in her heart.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.! Elliot also got back today. He had a GREAT time with Yaya Shauna! He saw his first movie in the theater, panned for gold, played with their big puppy, ran and ran and ran, and ate lots of yummy food. :) Big thanks to Freddy and Nana for their support!

It's late, so I'm off to bed. Tonight while I was holding her hand, she squeezed it back. It was perfect. She's been off the paralyzing meds since last night so she's moved a bit and opens her eyes to look at you (I missed her eyes!), but to have her respond by grasping my hand when I moved was heart warming. Little by little she is coming back into her own. Soon, she's be smiling again. I can't wait!

Also, for those of you asking, I checked with Reagan's mom and she said it was fine if directed you to her blog. I've been writing about her mostly in emails b/c I didn't know if it was okay with her mom for me to post about her, but I've got the green light! She is a SWEET girl almost exactly Elliot's age that when through her fourth open heart surgery the day before Arden had her second. Elliot and Reagan had a great time playing with each other before she went in and she loves Arden. We have become close with their family and would love for you to partner with us in prayer over Miss Reagan as well. You can find details on her at: http://reflectionsofreagan.blogspot.com/