Heart cath went well...& in the local paper sameday

This morning we woke up bright and early to give Anna her last meal before the heart cath, and awoke to the article about our international adoption in the local paper. We arrived at the Outpatient center at 10 and procedure did not start until almost 2....Luckily, we had a front row seat to all the action in OP center..(Very busy morning with lots of patients and no beds, so we got a hallway bed by the nurses station where everyone kept her entertained- thank you nurses and staff!!!)

(Giving Daddy a shot)

(giving herself a shot-pretend)

Everything went well with the procedure, although lengthy (2 hrs), she did fine. At this point, she will be treated medically, and not surgically (an answer to prayers!!) Once she got back to the room was a different story.....It was like a bull in a china shop trying to keep a 4 yr old flat and still, and leg straight-with no sedative. Needless to say, she has been asleep finally for about 2 hours. We should get to come home tomorrow if all goes well tonight.

(all hooked up!)

You can check out the great story on International Adoption from our Chattanooga Times Free Press paper this morning.
http://epaper.timesfreepress.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=ChatTFPress/2010/03/15&ID=Ar01101&Locale=

Thanks everyone for your prayers today, and for continued prayers as we work through these medical issues.

Procedure Monday, March 15th and another in April.....

Got the call from the Cardiologist today, and Anna will be going in on Monday March 15th for her Cardiac Cath to evaluate her heart. We will have to stay in the hospital overnight and should get to come home by noon on Tuesday. Expected that call, but did not expect to have to go get her blood drawn AGAIN (which we just had done a couple of weeks ago), especially since she just had 2 shots yesterday and a TB skin test :( She may be wanting to get rid of us soon, but I hope not. And then, our phone rang from the Orthopedic MD later and her hip hardware removal is cancelled for the 23rd, and now rescheduled to April 27th.

She also started preschool this week and has done absolutely GREAT!!! I know that she enjoys the interaction with the other kids and activities they do, and so excited for her to start learning more and more….She is also proud that she carries a lunchbox and has her very own, just like her siblings.

Mickey and I were talking about how well she has adjusted and just become a part of our family, and we are so truly blessed. We never imagined it would be this easy and smooth. It is heart warming to just be holding her or sitting beside her and for her to just reach up and give you a big kiss- for no apparent reason!!! Or for her to wrap her little arms around your neck and just squeeze ya. She has become so affectionate with all of us, and it just brings so much joy to us all. She loves to play with her brothers and sister, and even just a simple game of hide and seek or ball thrills her.

A couple of weeks ago, I would have said her "I love you's" to us were just to be copying/repeating us. But I am convinced that she loves where she is at, and is loving life!

Update on Dr's visits this week

This week we finally started our round of doctor’s appointments to the specialist.

Monday we saw the Orthopedic MD- he said overall the China doctors did a very good job. She has a plate (American made) and 3 screws in her left hip- and they need to come out. We will be having outpatient surgery on Tuesday- March 23rd to remove the hip hardware and for them to do a hip arthrogram (injecting dye into the hip to check things out). This is an outpatient surgery and she should be able to go home the same day, and about a week recovery. This will in turn let us know which surgery would be next. There are 3 options- and the worst would be to rebreak her hip again and be in a spica cast for awhile (and we really don't want that one) So praying for good news with that one. He was very optimistic in thinking she will be able to run some day and also will walk without a limp, or less of one.

Wednesday we saw the Cardiologist MD- he said the hole in her heart was repaired very well. There is still some pulmonary stenosis (narrowing) of one of her major blood vessels, but nothing needs to be done at this time on that. However there is some excessive tissue growth in one of her ventricles that may be obstructing the blood flow inside her heart and causing the pressure to be too high. So, she will be having a heart catheterization done. We are not sure if this will be before the other surgery, or after, or when- waiting on the phone call. She had an EKG and echocardiogram today and not one tear or whine- she did great. This procedure will be done and require one overnight stay.....
Your prayers are very much coveted during the next few weeks as Anna undergoes at least one procedure, possibly two.