Out of Surgery!

Libby's surgery went very well today. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and didn't have to wait long before they brought us back to get Libby ready. Jon was able to go back to the operating room with while they gave her the anesthesia. He said she was very upset, but fell asleep quickly. The surgery itself went very well, but according to the surgeon it was tough. Because of her heart defect Libby has developed a lot of collateral blood vessels. Dr. St. Louis said that it was difficult to maneuver around these. Also, Libby's heart is in a slightly different position than normal because of the defect and this also made it harder to get to everything. The surgery itself took about 4.5-5 hours and the good news is that Dr. St. Louis was able to repair Libby's heart in such a way that she probably won't need another surgery for at least 10 years. Yippee!! Libby is now in the Pediatric ICU and she's doing well. Her nurse says that all her vitals and labs look good. She's been running a little bit of a fever, but nothing serious and her temp is starting to go back down. One thing they're watching for is bleeding. They had to close off many of those collateral blood vessels, but some may still be leaking.

Right now Libby's in the Pediatric ICU and she's still asleep. I'm not sure how long it will take for her to wake up. She's also on a ventilator and will be until she starts breathing above it. One of the first things I noticed when I first saw her (besides all the tubes and wires) is that her fingernails are nice and pink! Before surgery her oxygen saturation levels were normally between 65-70%, but now they're close to 100%!! It's so exciting to see that. The doctors just did rounds and seemed pleased with how she's doing.

Now I'm just praying she's able to get out of the PICU soon and move to a normal room. The PICU is fine, but visitors are limited and I can't imagine getting much sleep in here. We are so appreciative of all the prayers for Libby and us. I'd write more, but I'm exhausted from such a long day and I'm not sure I'm thinking too clearly. (not too different from normal :) I'll update again soon.