Let the recovery begin

Boy 8 hours can be a long time!!

This morning at 7, Brandi and I gave Kate her kisses as the team wheeled her away for the OR. Kate was all smiles and rode away lying on the tummy with her arms stretched out like a SuperHero.

And then we waited. It felt like forever. They don't give you updates so you just kind of wait and hope and wonder. Cat came by in the afternoon to keep me entertained, and (this will put it all in perspective) I was too stressed out to even play Blokus. But eventually, we saw them wheel Little Kate by on her way to the PICU. And then we waited some more. It was about another hour and a half before they got her all situated. Finally, at around 3:45, we got to come in and see our little champ.

Uncle John describes it best when he temporarily named her "Kate of Borg". She has tubes and wires coming out of arms, feet and mouth, and does look pretty reminiscent of John-Luke Picard as Loqutus. Kate of Borg. Nice one! It's good to get to relax a bit and find some humor in it all.

She is resting now with the help of some good fentanyl. The team of doctors and nurses are planning to try to extubate her yet tonight. She looks good, not too swollen with good color.

They tell me that the surgery went well. The repair of the walls went well, as did the splitting and reconstruction of the valves. Evidently, the two valves are not showing any leaking so far, so the team is pretty pleased.

And the rest of the family is hanging in there. Rhys is happily spending special time with his Grammy. Brandi is holding it all together at home and I'm staying with Kate for now. I think after we get through the next few days our stress levels will all come down a bit.

Thanks for all the support and love. I've done a pretty good job of holding my emotions together, but tonight when I saw all of the people who simply "liked" Kate's update on my facebook status, I finally dropped a few tears. It sounds a bit hokey, I know, but it was just very warming. It's so nice to know that this beautiful little girl has such a world of love and support. Thanks for that.

Much love,
Team Kate