Update on Ella's Surgery

Ella is home and doing great!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers today for Ella and our family. What a blessing to have friends and family praying, thank you!
Ella did great today! We got to Cook's at 7:30 this morning and were home by 12:30! Can you believe that? I was amazed. The surgery went well, her surgeon said she did great and everything went smoothly. Thank you Lord! She was a little grumpy waking up in recovery and on the ride home but once we got home it didn't take long before she already wanted to get down and play with Eva. Children and their resilience just blows me away!

Honestly, today has been a good day. I'm glad this is behind us but today was good. As much as I dread surgeries and having to let my baby go, the Lord gave me His peace today just as He has always done before with every other procedure and surgery so today was no different. We are so amazed and thankful for the level of care that Ella received. The Lord has put incredible people in our hospitals!

On Friday we had an unplanned, last minute pre-op consult in preparation for today mainly because when you look on paper at Ella's medical history she ummm, well..."looks bad" as they told me. Cook's called to see if we could come in for this reason. Lovely. That sounds mean to say but I agree, she has alot going on and is one complicated little girl when you look at it all written out. I have learned to laugh at moments like this when I have to go down the list and explain the congenital anomalies, the heart defects, the spine defects, the shoulder problems, tummy issues, why we needed a feeding tube, and "No, she doesn't have a syndrome" and please stop listing off ones YOU think she might have and the list goes on. Now, I don't mind having to explain it all like I used to because I see it as one more opportunity to give Ella's testimony about what an incredible God we serve. I love that they needed to see Ella in person because she "looks bad" on paper and were blown away at what they saw because what she looks like on paper is far from who she is or what she looks like in person. The Lord has done mighty things with her despite her differences and she is a living, breathing, walking miracle and there is no denying it. She is, just like the meaning of her name, "a bright light." I could go on and on.

Anyway, so Ella and I took a quick trip up to Cook's on Friday and the nurse that was taking care of us was a nurse we had before for a different procedure which was so reassuring and while we were there another nurse came in just because she heard Ella was there and she remembered her from 2 years ago and just wanted to see her. Crazy you might say, but I just looked at it as little ways God was showing me He was right beside me and is taking care of us. SAME THING happened today. The nurse that took Ella into surgery today was the same sweet nurse that took care of her during her omphalocele repair surgery when she was 2 days old. I want to say unbelievable, but it's not. The Lord is just so sweet that way to give us his peace in supernatural ways as well as in ways we can see with our physical eyes like putting familiar faces in front of you when you're feeling fragile.

So, things are good. We're so thankful that things went well and that this is behind us. We are so proud of both of our girls and how they love each other and support each other even though they are four and 2. Sweet sisters! Again, thank you all once again for your prayers, encouragement, and support. It is such a blessing to our family! Here are some pictures from today!



If this doesn't make you smile I don't know what will. Eva, Eva, and her "loud" clothes. This is what she wanted to wear today and it was good medicine for the soul to just look over at her in her crazy outfit. Makes me laugh!

Starting to feel a little loopy after some pre-medication. Ella was so funny, several minutes after she got some Versed a nurse walked in the room and Ella said, "I'm sleeping" even though she was wide awake. The nurse asked her if she was sleeping with her eyes open and she shook her head yes with a big smile on her face. Hilarious.

Saying good-bye :(

Sweet baby in recovery

Playing "Surgery" once we got home. Now instead of always playing "going to church or to the doctor" like they do I can bet this is going to be our new play scenario...surgery. I'm not sure where the hot pink feather boa comes in but wouldn't real life surgery be much more pleasant if everyone wore feather boas? I think so. Notice Eva with her heels and clipboard with her "paperwork and stickers" for Ella. Awesome.

Nurse Eva and her patient. I love these two...and didn't I say in my last post that this surgery wasn't going to slow her down much? I'm pretty sure I did. Keep praying for smooth, quick recovery!

Thanks for praying, we are so blessed!

Surgery on Monday for Ella

Well friends, it is surgery time again for Miss Ella Hope. It's been a little over a month since she had her G-button removed and it was our hope and prayer that everything would close up on it's own but that is unfortunately not the case. Her G-button site has continued to leak and after talking with her surgeon they have said that at this point surgery is required.

So, Ella will have surgery this coming Monday morning, March 28 at 9:15. We would covet your prayers once again for her for a smooth surgery, quick recovery and for no infection. They will do what's called a gastrocutaneous fistula closure which in "Amy's Terms" means they will go layer by layer and close off the stomach first and work back up to the skin closing everything off. As much as I had hoped that things would just naturally heal up there was a large part of me prepared for this outcome so we are at peace about it and feel confident in this decision. Ella is a trooper so I have no worries that this is just a minor hiccup and isn't going to slow her down much at all.

Thanks for loving and praying for our sweet Ella, keep those prayers coming!!