Evelyn is successfully out of surgery. The surgeon said that everything went well. She'll sleep through the night with a breathing tube to keep her blood pressure low.
Pam (Ing's sister)
we're all a little under the weather, but not totally sick. kirb came home early today and is taking a nap . . . as are joe and anna who also aren't feelin' 100%. hopefully it won't get any worse and they'll be back up and at 'em soon. also, we're hopin' no one else catches it (especially the MOM!)
the blessings just keep comin': you might remember the miracle washing machine. just today we got a free refrigerator. believe it or not, we have a thing for getting free appliances (we got a free dishwasher in 2007 that was also a huge blessing . . . but that was pre-blog). my grandma and her sister bought a townhouse together recently and the previous owners had done a kitchen remodel and got new appliances (sounds familiar . . . much like the washing machine story). anyway, turns out 2 women in their 80's don't have much use for an extra frige in the basement so they said we could have it. it also turns out an extra frige in the basement DOES come in handy for a family of 7!!! i washed all the shelves and drawers and bins and stuff this morning and hopefully soon it will make it's way into our kitchen and the old one will move to it's new home in the laundry room. if we can get the water piped over to that part of the kitchen we might even be blessed with an ice-maker . . . will wonders never cease?
"Basically, Evelyn has a piece of muscle tissue just below the aortic valve that is causing her heart to pump inefficiently. Her pressures below that part of her heart are exceedingly high because she has to force blood past the tissue and then through the valve. This is a problem that her surgeon fixes 10-11 times a year and he said, "It was a matter of time that we'd see it in a transplanted heart." Of course, Evelyn will be the first to have it fixed in a transplanted pediatric patient. Her doctors are certain this is the best plan for her and have researched the options since discovering the problem in August.
The surgery is scheduled for Monday, November 10th at 7:00 am. She will have her pre-op appointment this Tuesday. We'll find out more as far as the surgery itself and expectations for recovery. When we met with her surgeon, he said, "Let's do it Monday, and we'll get her home for the weekend." We'll see...Evelyn plans to tell her classmates that she'll be gone next week. I asked her how she'd like to handle it and she said, "I'll just ask Mrs. Huffer for a few minutes before our morning meeting Monday." Evelyn is not fearful of this, but she knows other people may be worried about her. We told her that people pray for those having surgery and give them hugs, gifts, etc. We ask that you respect her eight year old perspective, though, and the work we've done to make certain she has positive feelings about the hospital. She knows she's had five other surgeries, and she is having this one to make her heart work better.
We thank you -- in advance -- for your support."
so there you have it. rebekah does not seem too concerned yet and is excited for the chance to visit evelyn in the hospital. the girls (it just so happens that lydia's best friend is ev's sister frances, which works out nicely for us) spent almost all weekend together. they were here on saturday and at their house on sunday. they had a great time together! these are a few pictures i took on saturday. ev & rebekah are quite a pair, as you can see!!!
please pray for evelyn, for her older brother, hugh, and younger sister, frances, her parents ing & dennis, the surgery, the doctors and all that stuff!! it's a big deal, but she's a trooper and we trust all will go well. thanks so much for joining us in praying for this great family. if you want you can also visit evelyn's caringbridge site. there is a link on the left hand side of my blog, or the address is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/evelynmaeveryan. we appreciate your prayers so much!!
