9:35am on Wednesday.....Update

Hope's bleeding continued to slow throughout the night. Huge Praise! The fear was the chest tubes could've punctured her heart when the staff was moving her to another room. While they do not know what caused the sudden increase in blood, they join us in our celebration that it is slowing down. Chappy and I KNOW it slowed due to answered prayer.

At the moment, we are waiting to meet with the Cardiology/Surgery team this morning. They are trying to arrange with anesthesia to put Hopey back to sleep and do an angiogram/MRI today. The post-operative echo showed there is a good possibility the entire aneurysm was not removed during surgery. Some of it appears to still remain in Hope's heart, which can affect blood flow/routing. We knew it was difficult for the surgeon to know exactly where the aneurysm was located when he had her chest open, because it is in the posterior part of her heart, which makes it difficult to visualize since he is working through a tiny hole in her aorta. In addition, with no blood pumping through her heart during surgery, the aneurysm was not ballooning in and out. I am going to ask you, again, to pray with boldness throughout the day that first, the cardio surgical team will be able to find an available cardio anesthesiologist who can put Hope to sleep so the angiogram/MRI can be done as soon as possible. Second, that the aneurysm was completely removed during surgery afterall, leaving Hope's heart with no pressure or blood flow issues. And third, that the team will NOT desire to re-open Hope's chest and do another procedure.

I know our battle is not against flesh and blood----there is a very real dimension that is unseen to our eyes, but nonetheless, hard at work on a daily basis to undermine the Father. In your prayers, please pray against evil that would try to come against Hope in any way while she continues to recover. She is touching the hearts of many at the Children's Hospital, and I am sure the evil one would like nothing more than to interfere with God's tender plan for our little one. You all would be so proud of her. She has proven to be a strong little soldier---she is in alot pain, but still manages an occasional smile. Her throat is so sore due to the surgery, she can't eat or drink without alot of pain and gagging----but to make me happy, she tries. She is nauseous, and has thrown up a few times, but she keeps pushing through. I'm amazed at Hopey, and I love her more today than I've ever loved her!

Thank you in advance for your prayers.....thank you for making her a part of your lives! I'll update when I know anything, but sometimes information is slow coming.