Friday, April 20, 2012

Kirby update

What a rollercoaster ride the past few days have been......but praise God there is now progress and stability! Since the last update, Kirby came out of her 13 hour surgery (Norwood Procedure) on Tuesday night around 10:00. There were some complications after the surgery was completed with bleeding and the inability to get her blood to clot. This is the reason for the lengthy surgery. In a nutshell, the Norwood Procedure is the rerouting or the veins and arteries to the right side of the heart. Kirby's left side was too small to use, therefore, the this was a necessary procedure. She will function one only a single ventricle heart. This is a brief summary without going into the exacts of everything they did. Following surgery and throughout the night, Kirby's vitals were strong and positive. Following this procedure, the doctors leave the chest open with only a thin covering over the chest.....yes this does mean we can actually see her heart beating. They do this to allow easy access in case of emergency and to allow swelling to go down.

Wednesday morning, Kirby's oxygen level was decreasing and blood pressure was unstable. The doctor decided to open the covering over the chest to see what was causing this problem. He found that the valve in the heart was leaving significantly due to dialation of the heart. This was likely due to the body being over-worked. The doctor made the decision to put Kirby on the ECMO machine to let her body rest and heal. The ECMO machine runs the heart and the lungs for her. Due to the leakin gof the valve and other factors, Kirby was retaining lots of fluids causing her to be very swollen. This whole process caused for a scary day for us as parents seeing her swollen and puffy, along with her open chest. The ups and downs are tiring and it can easy to become weary.

Wednesday night was a restful night for Kirby and she maintained her stability and vitals. Thursday morning we received positive news of some decreasing fluids,  the ability to decrease some of her medications for blood pressure and a decrease in the leaking of the valve. She maintained her stability throughout the day making for a much calmer day for us as well. We have had many visitors including Paster Tony, who joined with us in praying over Kirby in the ICU and with the family.

As of this morning, Kirby continues to remain stable with continual progress being made. Kirby has miles to go but we are getting there an inch at a time. Thank you Lord for watching over our baby girl!

We are so thankful for the many prayers going up for us not only all of the US but also worldwide. We have been humbled and overwhelmed by God's grace, goodness, faithfullness, strength, provision and more over the last weeks. It is comforting to know we can give it to God and rest in his goodness.



3 comments:

  1. Praying for your family. I am a heart mom with a Hypoplastic little girl. She is now two years old and thriving. These first few months are so very difficult, it is shocking to see their little chests open - I will be continuing to pray for you! I am happy to help you in any way I can.

    Heart Hugs and Love in Christ,
    Tina B.
    Mom to Anna Grace (HRHS)

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  2. Continued love and prayers for each of you! your strength and faith are an inspiration for all! Love, dawn

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  3. Thank God for the positive update on Kirby! God is good! We will continue to pray daily for Kirby and her loving family! Love --the Weavers

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