What a day?!?!

Dear friends,

First of all, thank you for your prayers and support. Madeline made it fine through her procedure. They decided not to do the scope given all that Madeline had been through in the last couple of days. We won’t have official results until later but Lisa and her nurse said it looked like the placation of her diaphragm had not worked, as her left diaphragm would rise into the chest cavity as her right diaphragm pulled down.

At first this may sound like bad news. Or it could be good news, but explaining the breathing problems she is experiencing whenever they try to turn down the pressure support on her vent settings. That might mean that her airways are fine and we still have to deal with the diaphragm issue.

Michael made it through his surgery today, seems all went well. Thank you to all who prayed fervently for him. The surgeons went in to fix the mitral valve defect but did not find any defect once they went it - praise God for that answered prayer!! Michael is now in recovery in the Cardiac ICU, but anytime after a heart surgery like that the next 48 hours are SCARY. Although he will be getting the best attention and care in the hospital, please pray for God to send an angel to watch over him.

I got a great chance to meet with Kate and Chris and their family members and friends from church and pray with them. We shared stories and had a good time as we awaited updates from Michael. All the same, it was hard being back in the same waiting room we had once been in. I was painfully aware of other families waiting for news. My heart tore right down the middle as I watched Dr. Jaggers (our surgeon) deliver news to a family that they did not want.

Lisa came down for a few minutes to be with all of us. When Lisa returned back to Madeline, she found all of the doctors in the unit back in Madeline’s room – she had another one of her episodes. These new ones seem to be caused by a heart arythmia which first slows her heart and then her sats plummet. The were able to catch part of it on an EKG machine and were discussing amongst themselves what had happened.

We’re not really sure either, but it feels like we’re back at square 1. There is a renewed effort from many docs and teams again on Madeline’s behalf. No one really knows what has been causing these problems lately but they are working hard to find out. Lisa made the mistake of asking the cardiologists: “ How many times can a baby this small have these big desats and be bagged or resuscitated from without any permanent harm?” The answer: “Honestly we don’t know, each one could be her last.”

Work has thrown a couple of real nasty curve balls at us today as well. I find myself stressed out beyond belief. As I write this, recounting the day, I wish it would have ended much sooner than it has. Lisa is going to spend the night at the hospital again tonight, to be with Madeline more and try to figure out what her triggers are. I feel like we need some real turbo charged prayers tonight.

Please continue to pray for Michael as he recovers from surgery. Pray for Madeline, pray that God might intervene and get her over the hump so we can finally start talking about a road to recovery, and a road to home. Pray for Lisa and I and for Michaels family and the family that lost their child today, that God’s peace would be with all of us.

Grace,
Shanker & Lisa.