Surgery Update II

Everything is great! Zoe made it through her surgery successfully and we are SO proud of her. But before we get too excited, we need to get her through the next 48 hours w/o incident. The doc says that's the best indication of how she will do--so we are reserving a complete celebration until a little bit later.

In the meantime, though, we are celebrating today's success! Zoe was very tough during her surgery. While the doctors pulled her liver and small bowels out of her chest, she managed to maintain the same [healthy] heart rate and blood pressure throughout the entire procedure. The doctor said that the hole in her diaphragm was bigger than expected--essentially the entire right side was missing, so he had to use a goretex patch as opposed to her own muscle fiber, but we are perfectly fine with that. It's no surprise to us that she needed a patch, we just didn't expect that the hole was going to be that big. The goretex patches work great, the only drawback is that they don't grow with the child, so in a year or two she may need the patch replaced. There is also a risk that she can reherniate and we won't necessarily know it. Reherniation can be pretty dangerous, but the doc left some slack in her patch so there's room to grow and the docs will monitor her closely for the first few years of her life.

We are going to continue to watch her through the night. She was given some medicine that paralyzes her skeletal muscles to keep her still during the surgery and we'd like to see that wear off. They also leave her stomach open (covered, but open) because her abdomen needs time to make room for the liver and the bowels. If they don't keep the abdomen open, a lot of pressure builds up in her abdomen and lungs and that's the last thing we want. Oh, and it turns out that her right lung, which was compressed by the liver, is about 1/3 in tact and that made the docs quite happy. Over the next few months her lungs will fill out the space in her chest and, in fact, they will continue to grow until she is about six or seven.

In the mean time, her sister had some big firsts as well today as well. Sadie got a big time IV removed yesterday so mom and dad got to hold her for the very first time this morning. It was so amazing--for all of us. She also had her first spit up. We all said that was because she was so worried about her sister's surgery. But, everything has calmed down in her tummy and both girls are resting quietly right now. So are mom and dad.

Thank you so much for everyone's thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. We know it made such a big difference today!