Update on Meeting with Surgeons

Amy Funk here. I'm feeling the funk creeping around again and think I could be on the verge of being in one but I'm saying no to the funk. Not gonna do it. Really I think what it is is that ever since we met with Ella's surgeons on July 16th about her surgery things have gotten more real and I'm just a taaaad bit more emotional. Had a big breakdown the other day and was doing the ugly-cry on sweet Rick's shoulder while he just calmly talked me back to my senses. Feels good to have a good cry every once in a while ya know? So I had my snorting, sniffling cry and should be good for another week or two and poor Rick just ended up with a wet shoulder. :) He is so sweet and is just the most amazing husband ever. I'm so blessed to have him.

I've been meaning to update for awhile now on our meeting and about surgery details. Thank you so much for the prayers, phone calls, emails and texts that day, it was so encouraging. So many of you have been so sweet to ask about how things went and your support means so much to us, thank you. Overall it was a very positive meeting and we feel good about the doctors and their plan to help Ella. With that being said, the surgeons were also very up-front with us that the problems with Ella's shoulder are very complicated but at the same time fixable. They were very pleased with the images they got from the MRI and CT Scan and feel like it has given them a good road map for what Ella's shoulder looks like, where bones are, blood flow, etc. I'm not a medical person so it's hard to explain what all is wrong but there are just lots of bones that are not in the right place or attached correctly, the main ones being her shoulder blade and collar bone. There is also some strange blood flow which is one of the main complications to the surgery. Basically, they are going to have to build a functional shoulder for Ella and do a lot of moving around of bones and reattaching of things. Despite all of the problems though, they are very pleased with the function she has in her left arm right now. This was good to hear because we have really worked hard in PT to get her moving that left arm and get it strong for surgery. Yeah Ella! Right now she has limited range of motion in her arm and neck but they are expecting that to improve once things are in the right place. They told us not to expect complete range of motion but to expect better range. They are going to do their best to create a normal looking, functional shoulder but told us to be prepared that it might not look exactly like her right shoulder or even be level with it. So, we don't really know how to prepare for what it will be like, look like, or what she will be able to do after this is all said and done but we have peace in knowing that to help Ella, this has to be done. We believe the Lord is in control and that with Him all things are possible so we're expecting blessings from this.

Even though we believe the Lord is holding little Ella in his hands through all of this it is still very hard to know something is wrong with your baby. Do I wish things were different? Yes. Am I scared? Yes. But, He is faithful and we are just taking all of this one day at a time knowing that there is still a very long road ahead and He will continue to be there every step of the way. It was very surreal sitting there listening to the surgeons and looking at images of your child's bones and blood vessels and seeing that something is very wrong. Very informative, interesting and at the same time overwhelming. I kept thinking to myself, "How did I get here? Is this for real?" and "I think I've heard enough and need to leave now." :) We were there for several hours and saw three of the main 5 surgeons that will be a part of Ella's surgery. Ella's primary surgeon has pulled together an amazing team of surgeons and in addition to the 5 there will also be numerous others who will be assisting and observing. So, needless to say there are a lot of people involved here and we are thankful that they are pulling in the best of the best to help Ella. I am listing the names of the surgeons and would ask that you be praying for each of them and that the Lord would use the talent and wisdom that He has given them to the best of their ability to help sweet Ella.
Dr. Ezaki-Ella's primary surgeon
Dr. Roden-Pediatric and vascular surgeon
Dr. Weprin-Pediatric Neurosurgeon
Dr. Oishi-Plastic surgeon
Dr. Herring-Pediatric Ortho
Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. We feel so loved and supported by all of you.

To explain a little more, I thought I would just answer some commonly asked questions about what to expect for her surgery to help inform everyone.

Q: When is her surgery?
A: Surgery will be August 19th. We will be admitted to the hospital on the 18th and will spend the night there. We don't have a definite time of day that surgery will begin yet but we're assuming it will start early morning.

Q: How long will surgery be? Will it be one surgery or multiple?
A: We're not sure. The doctors said that it could take anywhere from a few hours to all day. They don't know so to be prepared they have reserved the operating room for Ella all day. Yeah...all day, kind of makes me want to throw up. They are planning to do the repair in one surgery. They indicated that if there was a need for surgeries in the future that they would be minor or cosmetic.

Q: How long will she be in the hospital?
A: They said they expected her to have a 3-4 day hospital stay. I'm not banking on that but we'll see. I'm expecting longer but what do I know. Even if it's a week or more, that's nothing compared to our 2 1/2 month stay in the NICU.

Q: Will she have a cast?
A: From what I gathered, she won't have a cast but they will use some type of wrapping to keep her arm immobilized and she will wear that for 3-4 weeks. After that we will go back to Scottish Rite and they will take it off and make plans from there with regards to therapy, etc.

Hope that helps! Again, thank you so much for your constant support and care, we couldn't do this without such faithful family and friends. Be praying that little Ella stays healthy, surgery is 3 weeks from Wednesday. Crazy! Pray for peace for our family as we anticipate this hurdle. We'll update as we know more. Thanks so much!