kristaphillips I was okay all day today. I was strong and joked and read a book and tweeted updates and ate (alot… I’m a stress eater…) and was determined to be okay.
But the moment the surgeon came in here and tell me that she was done and doing fine, I broke down and cried like a big baby. (I totally know it is okay to cry…but they were tears of fear and not joy, and THAT is what I think is goofy of me!)
My momma told me I needed to blog to feel better, so here I am. Writing, regardless of what kind, is cathartic to me for some reason.
So, she came through surgery fine. She is off the heart lung bypass machine and her chest is closed, and she only has one chest tube. They moved her RPA from behind the aorta to in front of the aorta, thus making it impossible for it to sit on that coronary artery. No artery squashing allowed in this baby’s heart!!!
They patched the LPA as well. It is still smaller than the RPA, but it is bigger and should do just fine for her. From the pictures, things look good.
I should be exstatic… and I AM.
But I also know there are still questions to be answered. While what they planned to do worked wonderful and the surgery went great, they weren’t confident that it was her problem. It was just the only plausable thing they could find that could be causing it, but they’d never seen it happen before and couldn’t guarantee us that it would bring her out of heart failure or off of oxygen.
And even if this WAS the problem and it IS fixed, her left ventricle still was weakened and most likely was damaged by lack of blood flow since the transplant (we aren’t sure how long this has been going on.) So there is still the question of if the left ventricle will regain it’s strength. Most times it does, and they are pretty optimistic that it can, but there is still a small chance that it won’t.
I guess my point is this:
YEAH! The surgery worked!
But please please still pray that this is what she NEEDED, and that her left ventricle will regain her strength!
This is NOT me not having faith. I DO have faith that God is with us, that He knows EXACTLY what needs to be done. But I just want to go into this with eyes open so I can be Annabelle’s best advocate… besides Jesus of course, who is her REAL advocate.
In all, they took her down at 2:30, and they finished around 8PM. It was a little longer than they originally anticipated, but mostly due to the large amount of scar tissue they have to go through because of this being her 5th surgery in the same place.
*big sigh*
Now, I just need to see my baby (probably in about 2 hours-ish) and then sleep. In that order!
THANK YOU all for being with me today in Spirit. So many people commented, sent messages, texted me, or called, and every single one meant the world to me. If anything, it took my mind off what was going on in the OR for just a bit, and encouraged me a TON. For some reason, I find it really hard to “pray” on surgery days. My prayers consist of “Please, Please Please” and while I KNOW God knows my heart and hears those prayers just as well, knowing so many other sane-minded people are beseeching the throne on our Annabelle’s behalf… it is humbling to us and a great relief.
Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!!
Will update sometime tomorrow on how she is doing.
Sometimes we just pray: "Help!" It's all we can think to say, and He knows what we mean.
And He does help.
So glad for answered prayers again today.
I'm glad you got through today without "losing it". That's truly been my prayer all day is that you would be comforted and strengthened. I do hope this is what your sweet baby needed and that she can breathe deep when its all said and done. Praying,praying,praying! ~Lis
So glad things went well! Praying for your family and that this fixes the problem:)
Krista- I have been with you in my heart and prayers all day, and am so so thankful for Annabelle's safe surgery. I have been following you and Annabelle so closely that when I tell my family that I am checking on "my baby", they know exactly that I am talking about your Annabelle! 🙂
Sending Huggggs and Happy Thoughts!
a.
Krista, you've held up amazingly well considering all the stress. Don't berate yourself for crying my friend. It's much better than keeping things bottled up.
I'm so glad Annabelle came through the surgery. We'll continue to pray.
Still praying for you all. Thanks so much for the update! 🙂
Krista, I'm a weepy woman. I cry at the drop of a hat. Sheesh, if someone even so much as takes off a hat I might shed a tear. So, I hereby give you permission to cry.
Tears are therapeutic. Tears are Christlike. I mean, hey. He knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, and yet our Lord still wept for His friend.
You've been on emotional overload for months. The stress is bound to get to you at times. Fears are bound to creep in. That doesn't mean your faith is weak. It simply means you're human–and normal. What would be abnormal would be to have no emotional response or need for release.
My heart goes out to you and Scott. This had to be a brutal day. I prayed numerous times and had a brand new contact on Twitter asking to be updated because he and his entire family were praying for Annabelle. God hears. He knows. He cares. And so do I and many, many others.
Sorry to leave such a long comment, but I felt the Lord leading me to share this with you. Hugs, my friend, and more prayers.
Been praying today, Krista. And as I read your post that Annabelle was out of surgery, and how traumatic today has been for you, all I could think of was:
She made it through the surgery. That's one small step in the right direction.
Just keep taking those steps. God's holding your hand and leading you forward!
My family and I have been praying all day for Miss Annabelle and all of you! Praise the Lord for answered prayer and we will continue praying. She's a little trooper! Y'all are in my prayers every day.
Hi Krista,
I think you at least deserve 2 messages for the kind of day you all are going through. I am imagining that coming to your blog and finding comments from friends you do not know would give you extreme comfort. You are NOT alone, not for one single minute! You can read and reread our notes, and know that people all over are pulling for you, Little miss Annabelle, her sisters and her daddy. Let's not forget all of the people at the hospital taking care of your little angel. I sit in amazement of how strong that little pumpkin is. May she rest well, breathe easy, and heal quickly.
We continue to pray without ceasing.
Linda and family.
Sending angels to surround you!!
^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^
Love you, Krista! Our thoughts and prayers were with you guys all day! Praise the Lord! The kids, and staff, will be so excited to hear this update tomorrow at breakfast! Thanks so much for keeping us posted!
Love you!
Julie Zaragoza
These are good words tonight and my prayers continue for Annabelle and for you, too.
God's peace for body, mind and soul.
Carolyn (in Las Vegas)
So thankful Krista and will definitely continue to pray, pray, pray.
My dear, a writer friend of mine posted a link and I just found out about your precious bundle. I am praying. I am also leader of our prayer team and will make sure to post this in the morning and let people know.
When you can do nothing else, just rest in the Lord and know He is ultimately in contorl–of everything–and it will all be worked out according to His will. Rest in Him. Prayers.
I love how the body of Christ will rally around others as prayer warriors. Prayers are abounding for your precious baby girl and for all of you!
So thankful for a safe surgery and praying that it was exactly what she needed. You all have been on my mind and in my prayers all day. Will continue to lift you all up in prayer. Thanks for the updated.
I am SO glad that Annabell's surgery went well! I will continue to pray that this will fix things. I am so the same way about praying when it's my son having surgeries. I feel God's presence but the words often fail me. It is so good to know that others are praying for me. And that the holy Spirit does too with words that can't be uttered. So I am honored to be able to pray for others when they are going through the rough waters. And yep there is no way to get through something axcept to go through it. I'm so glad Christ goes through it with us.
I'm so glad you know Him! How impossible this would be with out knowing God loves you and promises to help you.
A book by Randy Alcorn has been a real encouragement to me right now. It's called The Goodness of God. It's a little book with excerpts from his BIG book If God is Good Why is there Suffering (or something like that. If you get a chance to read it I would highly reccomend it. Maybe you can be as encouraged as I have been.
Sending you hugs and prayers for each of you,
Wendy
Krista –
I was so thrilled to her that surgery was over and she is recovering ok! Your family and Annabelle have been in my prayers and thoughts every minute of today! Prayers will continue to be sent your way….
Kelli in Nebraska
Praise God!!!!!! Prayed for you throughout the afternoon and *so grateful* for how well things turned out!
It's an honor for those of us following Annabelle's story to be Aaron & Hur for you, Scott, and all four precious girls. God Himself is with you as your Mighty Warrior and He is your Peace!
We'll keep praying!!!
Glad to hear this report and will keep praying. Hopefully you can get some rest tonight!
Thanks for the update. I have asked so many others that faithfully prayed for Daniel to pray for your Annabelle today. I'm excited to share the good news with them but will continue to pray and ask them to pray, as well.
Krista, I'm so happy the surgery went well. You must be exhausted. Continuing to uplift you, Annabelle and your family.
Glad to hear you ALL came through. Still praying!
What a relief to know she came through surgery and is s well as can be expected.
Continued prayers for you all!!
{{Hugs}}
Dear Krista,
Hopefully you will not be reading this until tomorrow morning, but if you are awake…Whenever I am so afraid, and I don't know what to do..these words I would ~pray without ceasing~…
"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD"…
"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD"…
If I pray that little prayer without ceasing..it brings on a very tranquil feeling of calm…
I hope this helps you too!
Close your eyes, be at peace and BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD".
Your peach is in the best hands she could ever be in.
You are a very brave mommy and daddy.
GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU.
PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING.
Here comes those angels to surround you all…
^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^ ^j^
Linda and family in Iowa.
Thank you God that the surgery went well! Prayers were definately answered! I will continue to pray…
You precious girl! Let the tears fall and don't think twice about it. Prayers going up for all of you.
Krista,
I hope you don't mind but I copied a portion of your latest post to update the family and friends I had asked to pray for Annabelle. I actually sent you a copy of the email, too, so you could know exactly what I used and said.
Still praying for all of you.
Krista you and Annabelle and your whole family have been so much on my mind through this. God bless you.