The Day After Surgery..............

A BIG KISS FOR YOU ALL!

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:20

This has been a day of thanksgiving and praise to God. Abby has had two major surgeries in 10 days...both successful! We have had the very best doctors and medical care here, but we also realize that it is only because our Heavenly Father has blessed the work of their hands that our baby is healthy and healed.


We did have a pretty big scare this morning....Abby's smile was lopsided and one of her eyes was not open all the way. Also, the bandage over the incision on her head felt wet which is not a good thing after this kind of surgery. That usually means that the body is not able to dispose of the extra spinal fluid on its own and a shunt will be required.

We were immediately sent up for another CT scan, which showed that all of Abby's ventricals had filled with spinal fluid and were bigger than they were before the surgery. The resident surgeon, Dr. Naftel, came in to check Abby's wound and found that the bandage had simply soaked up the Neosporin that was put on her after surgery. It wasn't wet at all (Thank you, Jesus!) and even when he pressed rather hard on the wound, nothing leaked out. He checked the incision on her back from the first surgery and it also was dry.

Abby has also run fever all day but that is pretty normal after major surgery. It was 101.2 early this morning. She was given Tyelnol but the fever is still at 100 this afternoon.

Abby's bladder is not working entirely on its own. She is able to void about half of her urine but is still being catheterized every 6 hours. If she is not able to void completely on her own by discharge, we will be sent home with everything we need to catheterize her ourselves.

We have not been given a discharge date yet, but we're hoping to go home by Saturday

PRAYER POINTS FOR ABBY:
*Please pray that Abby's body will begin to dispose of the excess spinal fluid on its own the way God created it to. Pray that there will be NO spinal fluid leakage from her head or her back.
*Pray that Abby's bladder will completely "wake up" and she will be able to void 100% of the urine on her own.
*Pray that the fever will break and that she has no infection from the surgery.






Dr. Carin Richards, (left), Brooke Talley LBSW, (right) and Leigh Anne Harrington LCSW PIP, (not pictured) from International Adoption Clinic were in the area and dropped by to see Abby today. What a happy surprise to see all of the wonderful people who have done so much for Abby...not to mention they introduced us to Dr. Blount, the pediatric neurosurgon who fixed her back. Thank you guys for caring so much about our precious baby. We love you all!






Daddy finally gets to hug Abby!








After 10 days of laying flat, it feels good to sit straight up. We take so much for granted....this is a major victory for Abby just to sit up!





When Abby's nurse, Teresa, saw how good she was feeling today, she said we could take Abby outside....which is probably the best therapy for her besides getting a big hug! Thank you for giving us the "go ahead" Teresa!






Mama wants to get in on the fun too!





Thankful and grateful parents!