Today is the Day

Hello All-

Well, this is it.  In an hour, we check in to the hospital.  I must say that I actually slept last night, so I am either in denial or my body is at peace with things.  Yesterday Hannah had her pre-op "stuff" and she did great!!!  She was even sure to smile when they did her chest x-ray.  One little twist is that this operation is not going to be a clear-cut Fontan, as we originally expected.  Apparently, Hannah's heart has a muscle within it that is obstructing blood flow.  There are two ways to deal with it, but unfortunately, her last surgeon removed the leaflets that they need in order to do one of the "fixes", so we are stuck with the less desirable one.  We didn't plan on her to be on the heart/lung bypass machine for this operation, but now it is a must.  This also means that she will have to get a blood transfusion...another thing we weren't planning on.

Though this is a setback we weren't planning on, that increases the riskiness of the operation, we really feel comfortable with the decision that Dr. Quinones has made.  Afterall, they are the experts...

The last two days have actually been quite nice.  I'll post photos later.  Sunday night we picked Craig's parents up at the airport and that night we went to the West Edmonton Mall.  That place is huge!!  We went to the small aquarium they have there, and Hannah even got to see part of the Sea Lion Show.  We went to dinner at Moxies for Mother's Day, and then headed back to the hotel.  Yesterday, after a long day of tests and imagining, we sent Hannah off with Peg and Dick while Craig and I toured the PICU.  Man, having a few extra sets of hands has been so helpful.  Plus, I am sure that Hannah gets sick of seeing my face all the time!!!  Hannah dozed off for a while in the hotel (in a chair in the middle of the living room...something she never does!!!) and we later had some dinner here in the room.  Afterwards, Hannah and I decided that it was too nice to be cooped up inside (we'll be doing enough of that in the next week or so), so we went for a walk around the block with Craig and Dick.  Peg stayed behind, and apparently was quite busy herself...the fire alarm went off in the hotel!!!  The four of us managed to find an Italian pastry/gelato shop closeby and Hannah was all excited to have vanilla gelato...and she got to eat it like a big girl in a cup!! 

The first night we were here, Hannah coned Peg into laying with her for a while before she went to bed, and somehow I got roped into sleeping with her...that was interesting.  That girl kicks!!!  Last night she was wiped out and managed to spend the night in bed by herself while Craig and I bunked on the pull out couch.

Well, I better get going.  We're showered, but we still have to wake and dress Hannah.

I'll post updates when I can...

Thank you all!!!
Sharon