History
3.21.07 SURGERY UPDATE
Tomorrow ( March 23) Etta will undergo surgery that will last for about 6 hours if all goes well. She will get prepped at 7 am and begin about 9am. There are literally thousands of people focused in prayer for this time tomorrow, so this is a very exciting time for us. We are looking forward to hearing how people are touched by God as they take time to seek Him.
Although we believe in and have experienced physical miracles, we feel that the miracle of modern medicine has been God’s gift to us and Etta. All of this amazing knowledge, development and skill seems to point to a great intellectual creator. What a cool thing to create a species that is able to repair itself. I love how God keeps letting us in in on all little secretes. Glimpses of his infinitely complex and immense creation. What a Gift!
Nice to see all of your messages posted! We are truly blessed to have so many friends and family to lean on in this time, but I want all of you to know that no greater peace exists than the one that comes with complete surendure to God’s spirit of Love. We are EXCITED to be involved in this little person’s life and can’t wait to see what is in store for her future.
We love you all because He first loved us.
Jesse & Juana
3.24.07 FINALLY SOME REST
We are still rejoicing over a successful surgery! Praise God.
Today we are still trying to process everything that has happened in the last 72 hours. What a shock to the system. We finally hit a breaking point last night and wrestled with the difficult reality that there is so much more ahead of us as we continue on with Etta’s medical needs as well as developmental issues. Although this first surgery seems to be a success, we have many hurtles to overcome in the future.
We have been blown away by how many have responded on the guest book and it makes us feel good to know that so many people care.
This whole ordeal has been a major lesson in perspective. We have a whole new perspective on life at this point and a whole new perspective as parents.(even though our career is in it’s beginning stages)
3.26.07 CLOSE THE DEAL
Tomorrow Etta’s chest will get closed up and we couldn’t be more excited! Over the last couple days, we have watched her improve in color and her swelling has gone down dramatically since the surgery. It all seems painfully slow to us, as we can hardly wait to be able to hold her again. Jesse has gone back to work this week, but plans on working from Rochester as much as possible. It is a blessing that his job allows this to be an option! Please continue to hold us in your prayers for strength, courage, and faith. We love you all!
Jesse & Juana and Etta
3.30.07 PROGRESS
Well, we seem to be on a fast track. Yesterday we saw Etta get her ventilator tube removed, so she is breathing on her own now. Her vital signs are all EXCELLENT and the nurses have commented on how fast she is recovering and showing signs of a successful operation.
We are confident that this is because of all the prayer support that she has received! Keep it up. She will be home in record time.
Today she may get her nose air lines out. We are so close to getting to hold her again. We are so anxious!!
One major prayer request: That Etta would take well to oral feeding when the time comes. That will be soon. We hope.
Also that Christ would continue to be glorified in all of this.
Love,
Jesse, Juana & Etta,
3.31.07 ETTA TAKES THE BAIT
More encouraging things! Today she took a bottle. This is soooo good because her eating is one of the major things that determines when she gets to go home!!
We are so blessed with all of the prayer support from all of you. We can FEEL it.
I would like to spread the blessing and ask that some of you would commit some time in prayer over the heart condition of a little girl named Cloe that we have met here at Ronald McDonald House. She is from Arizona and her Mommy and Daddy have brought her here only to find that her heart condition is worse than expected. Surgery is risky and they are not sure what to do. Please pray that she would be healed or that a good solution could be found. She is 6 years old.
Love to all!
Jesse Juana & Etta
4.1.07 COLDS AND COLD WEATHER
Hey everyone! Happy April Fools Day. Things are coming along good today and that’s no joke! Etta has taken a bottle a few times today and seems to be doing well. We are holding our breath that she will be ready to come home by the end of the week.
I came down with a cold due to stress and being around other people with colds so I’m feeling pretty run down. It’s also hard to not get depressed after being here for a while. Even though things are going awesome, it’s hard to not fixate on all the hurdles that lay ahead of us with the next 2 surgeries. It’s a struggle to just take it a day at a time and not get bogged down in the big picture.
The weather has turned cold here again. It was 80′ last week. Down to low 40s now. And lots of rain.
Please don’t forget to pray for the heart condition of our little friend Cloe. She is so precious and we want to see the best for her and her family. What a little bundle of joy she is. God was having a good day when he made her!
Love, Jesse
4.4.07 WE’RE GOING HOME
Over the past 48 hours Etta has made huge progress and we expect her to be discharged this afternoon! It’s been only 12 days since she had her surgery!! We are amazed at the blessing of her speedy recovery. Prayers have played a big part in this. Thank you all. We’ll keep you posted.
Pray for a safe ride home and peace as we get settled back in with our new little addition.
Love,
Jesse & Juana
4.4.07 PLEASE PRAY
I just got done talking to some parents that we met here during the first week in the NICU.
Their baby just died this morning. They are completely heart-broken. Their names are Frank & Stephanie. They live in Iowa. Please pray that they would have peace and support during this hard time.
It is so hard to see the other side of the coin. We are blessed to be taking our baby home today.
Jesse
4.20.07 GETTING SETTLED IN
It’s been a while since the last entry so I’m sure you are all wondering how things are going.
Etta is doing GREAT! We take her to a cardiac specialist every other week here in Mankato. Her oxygen levels are good and she seems to be doing just fine in her physical development. She is eating well and weighs about 1 pound more than her birth weight at this time. She is such a delight! We love her like crazy!!
As parents, we are discovering how much hard work it is to care for a child regardless of special medical needs. We are still rather sleep deprived and expect to be so for quite a while. When I got home from Rochester, I was recovering form a minor cold. Due to being so run down from all the stress, I managed to get a sinus infection once I was home which developed into bronchitis. Needless to say, the last two weeks have been challenging.
But, we are all in good health now and hope to stay that way. We are constantly amazed at how God has ordered these events and has continued to provide support in a variety of ways. This has all been such a huge lesson in perspective for us! We can’t look at the world the same way we did before.
Thank you to those who have contacted and supported us recently. Things have been rather quiet because I think people are afraid we don’t want to be bothered! Not so! Life doesn’t stop now! We want to see and hear from everyone! We love you!
Jesse
5.11.07 BACK TO MAYO
We were planning on going to Madison to Visit Jon and Regan this weekend, but ended up here in Rochester. On Wednesday, Etta saw her pediatrician and her blood oxygen saturations appeared to be heading down. We wanted to be sure everything was OK before we left for the weekend, so we stopped in again on Thursday to check her saturation levels and found them to be even lower. We noticed her color was not so good, so since we were already packed and pointed in the right direction, we left from Mankato for Rochester and called ahead to let them know that we were coming in to have her checked out. We checked her in to the emergency room where she exhibited a fever, but normal saturation levels… to the surprise of the doctors and ourselves.
To make a long story short…. six hours, two blood tests, a spinal tap and some antibiotics later, we were admitted to the Pediatric ward. We are currently working with the doctors to determine what happened. A possible explanation is that we caught the early stages of an infection yet unidentified. We are having more tests done over the next couple days to check her heart function, immune system, neurological system and possible problems with acid reflux.
This kid is definitely still under construction and we would covet your prayers!
5.14.07 SOMETHING TO GO ON
For the last 3 days we have been through a lot of needles and screaming and waiting for test results. Finally we have some answers.
Apparently, Etta has a bacteria growing on the Gore Tex tube used to create the shunt between her pulmonary artery and right ventricle. This bacteria is not subject to attack from her white blood cells as it would if it were infecting natural tissues with integral blood supplies. This is common for patients like Etta, but it is not known just when the germ was introduced into her blood stream. Her doctors suspect some time during her recovery from surgery, but there is no way to know for sure. What we do know, is that this will take a long round of antibiotics to clear up. We will be here a minimum of 2 weeks and quite possibly 6 weeks!
Our stay here has been leaps and bounds more stressful than the first. We are trying to live out of a small hospital room and Juana is especially at risk of suffering because she must stay with Etta at all times to feed her, with no real opportunity to leave the building or go anywhere. She is already feeling cooped up and exhausted.
This can change.
WE NEED YOUR PRAYER SUPPORT.
We love you all. Thank you for everything.
Jesse, Juana & Etta
5.17.07 GOING HOME
Sorry, time and details have gotten away from us, but some of you who have called already know the big news….Today we are going home! The doctors have decided that Etta may receive her antibiotic doses from home via arterial line. A nurse will meet us at home this afternoon to instruct us on proper procedure. We will have to do this twice a day for 6 weeks, with a visit from a nurse once a week. We are so excited to go home! We are at the end of what we can handle as far as living in a hospital is concerned.
Thanks to you who have called to cheer us up and you who have visited. I’ll try to post some more photos this weekend.
Peace and love,
Jesse
5.21.07 A NEW ROUTINE
Hey folks, a quick update to let you know what’s happening.
Etta is doing well here at home. We are administering 2 antibiotics thru a PICC line in her arm. This must be done 3 times a day for the next 5 weeks. Add that to her other oral meds for heart and reflux… along with constant breast feeding, and she is pretty much a 24/7 workout. It’s all Juana can do to make it from 6 am each morning to midnight when we finally get her to sleep. We are hoping to get some help from some people in our church to help lighten the load. A few hours of help goes a long way!! Thanks for all your prayers. We are exhausted, but thankful for all that God has provided!
Jesse
6.09.07 OVERDUE UPDATE
OK, so it’s been a long time since we have managed to get some updates out and I’m sure some of you are wondering what the heck is going on.
We have been very consumed with taking care of Etta and her medication needs since we got back from Mayo last time. I am actually writing this update from Mayo right now as we have had to return AGAIN. More on that in a bit, but first a little timeline as to what has happened in the last couple of weeks.
May 22nd — We return to Mayo after only 4 days of being home with Etta and her new PICC line in her arm. This line became clotted and we had to spend the rest of the week waiting around for a game plan which eventually involved inserting a new Dual PICC line thru her leg.
May 23rd– As if being completely exhausted from or last 10 day stay in the hospital wasn’t enough, I came down with food poisoning the morning after arriving at Mayo and spent the next 72 hours puking, sweating and generally feeling like hell. The irony: I got it from hospital food.
May 24th –Etta finally receives a PICC line in her leg and we are told that we will be able to go home. Our home drug administration set up is improved over the first one that we went home with and we regain some sanity from not having to administer antibiotics 3 times a day for a 3 hour duration each time. None the less, we have 4 weeks left of dealing with infusion equipment and dangling lines.
May 25th– We are finally discharged and happily return home.
May 26th – June 7th —We hang out at home and try to maintain a routine with feeding and medications, etc. Etta becomes a voracious eater and chunks out nicely. We have dubbed her the “Milk Tick”.
June 8th– Juana goes back to work and I take a couple of weeks off to stay home with Etta because she requires special attention and we can’t afford in-home health care. Only 2 hours back at work and I call Juana at work and tell her that the PICC line has broken off externally and we will have to go back to Mayo.
Jesse
6.09.07 GOOD NEWS
Last night was one of the most stressful times of my our lives!
Because we need to save her other leg artery for her next surgery, we had to try to get a regular IV line in for her antibiotics administration. We tried for 4 hours but no success. She got stuck 7 times- twice in the foot, twice in the head and 3 times in the wrist and hand.
The good news today is that we are going to discontinue the inline drug infusion and go home with an oral regimen. The oral antibiotics are not viewed to be quite as effective as her previous ones, but it is the next best thing considering the situation. We are sooooooo glad to be going back home today!!
Jesse, Juana & Etta
6.09.07 PLEASE PRAY
Please pray for Etta’s Uncle Travis. He is a soldier in Iraq. We just found out this morning that he was hit by shrapnel from a grenade yesterday and he has a piece in his brain. He is getting transported to Germany for medical attention. Please pray for his health and safety. Also Pray for Aunt Stacey. This is very hard for her.
Jesse
6.25.07 NEXT SURGERY DATE
Ok people. We have a date. July 16th, Etta will undergo surgery again to continue the process of re-building her heart. We will be returning to Rochester on the 11th to begin some prep for her procedure. We are told that most kids recover from this one in 1 week! So we are hopeful for another miraculous recovery time for her!( She was more than a week ahead of her projected recovery time for her last surgery!)
We all know what that will require of us. Let’s start lifting her up right now and watch God move!
Jesse
7.14.07 OUR SUMMER IN THE HOSPITAL
Yesterday Etta’s surgeon informed us that we would have to postpone surgery on Monday due to a narrowing of the left aorta. She will have a procedure next Thursday to stretch the aorta with a balloon device via heart catheter.
She will have to wait one more week after that to have her previously scheduled 2nd surgery. We are not thrilled with this news as it in not how we had hoped to spend the rest of July. It’s pretty hard to shift gears like this……..but if the timing is right, so be it. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and support. Hang in there with us!
Jesse
8.05.07 SETTLED IN FOR RECOVERY
I will start by saying that Etta is coming along swimmingly and it is absolutely due to all the prayer support from all of you that understand it’s significance! The last 2days have been unbelievably grueling with all the waiting and anxiousness, but God has been faithful in His promise to see us thru.
In the last 2 weeks we have been challenged with health issues that have made it impossible to get to this point without the selfless help from our friends and families. Consequently, we arrived here in Rochester with no energy to spare. Friday was the hardest day of my life. I was completely exhausted and in pain. Late in the day I came to the end of myself.
It’s pretty common to hear Christians talk about “giving up” stuff to God. I don’t think I really grasped the concept until Friday. It is not an easy thing. For me, it hurt more than the pain that I was giving up. It goes against every natural human instinct to fight it out. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done. I just lay there while Etta was in surgery and gave up the fight to be strong of my own accord. Jesus was so tangible at that moment and I just hug on. A very real milestone in our relationship.
I also want to mention that Juana and I have experienced some healing and reconciliation in our marriage in the past few days. What a major blessing from God at a time like this when we need solidarity.
So much more to say, but I have to go. Just remember to love those around you and forget about yourself.
Oh, and there is no “getting back to normal”. This is LIFE. Should we only long for the way things used to be? What a dead life. Let’s live what is happening NOW and call that “normal”.
Love, Jesse
8.07.07 OH, YEAH
right…also, etta got the breathing tube out yesterday late afternoon. she looks great, and is a hungery little monster. i think they started her on breast milk sometime late last night. she’s back to wiggling around and grabbing hold of her many lines. she’ll keep the nurses busy from here on out. for those of you interested in technical details about surgery…the glenn shunt that the surgeon put in on friday, connects the pulmonary artery to the superior vena cava. this increases blood pressure to her head, so it might remain a bit more puffy than the rest of her for a little while longer. it’s why her bed is set at an angle in the pictures that we haven’t posted, yet. 
also, surgery took longer than anticipated because they increased the diameter of her left pulmonary artery. it was smaller than the right, and this should keep everything growing appropriately. her surgeon did say this was something we may need to watch, or address in the future as he was only able to get so far out. but, this can be stretched with a balloon stint between surgery 2 & 3. she was on bypass for about 5 minutes, while he cut out scar tissue that had grown around the hole in her right and left atria. in etta’s case she needs a good size hole here for her heart to work correctly. again, something we need to watch, as it seems she may be prone to scar tissue build up. all-in-all, she has progressed well, and we are looking forward to another quick recovery!! she continues to amaze us and ground us. much love, juana
8.08.07 GIVE ‘EM THE ONIONS
friends– praise God with us for the sweet taste of strawberries and His bountiful provision. we shared a great meal of fresh from the garden food with surprise visitors, last night. it was a welcome reminder of the awesome power of community. God is again working us over to be more like Jesus. it is a very painful process to see God’s people through the eyes of His Son. we feel as though we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and there is so much to do here that we are not eager to leave. etta, on the other hand, will likely be discharged friday. she is a bit on the grumpy side, but no more narcotics, and a slow digestion process will do that to a girl. she would love to be eating more than she is, but she needs to ease into it a bit. today was better than yesterday, and i anticipate the same for tomorrow. please add to your prayer list some new friends. isabella was born on saturday to doug and dawn. she had heart surgery today. she is very precious! thank you for continuing to pray for roy and kaari, and faith and charley. chris, thank you for a fabulous new home page!! a very welcome sight after a long day! ted, margy, emilie, and jasmine, thank you for your company, prayers, and love. what a blessing you are to us. summer, what can i say. you are amazing. thanks, again, for unbelievable food. we are blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit in this place, as we struggle to let go of our selves. we are honored to be involved in etta’s life and where it has brought us. pray that God uses the three of us in a way that honors Him and brings Him glory. may God bless you with His presence tonight. much, much love, juana
8.10.07 JESSE
ah, yes, another prayer request. this ones personal. please pray for jesse’s body. i have never seen him endure so much. this is serious. please pray for guidance. please pray for protection. please pray against infection. please pray for healing. please pray the steriods kick in so his body begins repairing his colon wall. please pray for the pain to subside. please pray for mercy. please pray for rest. i believe i may have to have him hospitalized some time today. please pray i can take care of etta, as her discharge is today. God has gone out a head of us every step of etta’s medical journey, please pray the same for jesse. it seems crazy, but i’m aching to know what God has for us next. what a ride. i may be calling on many of you for help. much love, juana
8.11.07 HOME IS WHERE YOU GET YOUR HEART FIXED
friends- we are back at the black lantern. jesse is home on bed rest for the week. etta is sound asleep. it’s late and there is much to say. i pray that God fills you to over-flowing, as He has done for me tonight. i’m more ready for “what?” than i’ve ever been. in love, juana
8.14.07 HMMMMMMMMMM
friends– jesse was admitted to st. mary’s hospital in rochester this evening. his mom deposited him safely, and is returning to help me out with etta. his dad will stay with him for a couple of days. we’ll see where we are at after that…he’s being put on iv steroids and fluids, blood cultures were done to see about infection, and a cat scan is being done later tonight to look for lesions. i don’t know much more than that, really….as i find out i will do my best to leave updates. please pray that he get good rest while hospitalized. good night, juana
8.18.07 FIRE STARTER
friends– jesse is still in the hospital. this is a slow process, so i guess there isn’t much to update you on. there won’t be any “play by play”. they are just working on managing pain medications so the rectal spasms are at a minimum. if there isn’t much improvement with the steroid, then there is a study drug he can try. that’s about it…he’s just resting, so his body can heal, or, atleast he’s trying to. today i’m thankful for our friends jen and jason. your service to us has been wonderful. we love you dearly. summer, tim, ray and julie–thanks for following God’s call…and putting it into action. katie–thanks for the laughter…it really is an awesome medicine. four hours of sleep in the afternoon, an evening of burning stuff in the yard, a late night road trip with some crazy friends to pray for my husband, and a happy, gurgly baby this morning, has made for a refreshing 24 hours. i’m feeling pretty good, and praising God for community. life feels more real, more whole, more what i’ve dreamed it could be, than it has in a long time. if any one is interested, and you don’t already know, there will be a taco fund raiser at evangelical covenant church in north mankato tomorrow at 1:00 pm. come hang out. it’s for etta. much love, juana
8.27.07 LET IT GO
friends– today jesse went in for surgery to have his colon and rectum removed. surgery began at about 12:30 pm. he was moved from st. mary’s to methodist hospital yesterday evening. the surgery should be between 4-6 hours, and recovery should be about a week. the last two weeks have been very difficult. we have learned so much about our relationship with eachother and with God. He now has our undivided attention. it’s amazing that it has taken so much to get it. i am so thankful for our friends and family who have responded to God’s call. God’s timing has been perfect, of course. we are in awe of the peace He has given us. i will be honest, i am at a loss for words to describe the experience thus far. we believe this will be a great story…it already is. God is so good. He is on the move, and we have been blessed to be a witness to it. thank you to all who have been here in the last week. soon, jesse and i will sit down together to tell you more about this journey (and hopefully leave new pics!). i pray you experience peace and joy today, as we have. God is REALLY good!! much love, juana
9.19.07 HIDING OUT AT HOME
Dear friends,
Yes, we are home. Its been hard to get it together enough to communicate all that has happened and is happening. We are drowning in God’s provision and love…manifested thru all the generous actions of our friends, family and strangers. So, I’m not going to try to say everything that I would like to say about living in Rochester for most of the summer or what it is like to waste away in a hospital bed for weeks. I would invite you all to call, stop by, even invite us over for dinner or bowling. (I may have to refrain from the latter, but I’ll keep score.) I’m gaining strength everyday and my pain is slowly diminishing. Etta is the picture of health and is really doing the best of the 3 of us. We will try to do a better job of updating and adding photos. We love you all.
Jesse
10.05.07 OBSTRUCION
friends, well, still no photos, we know, but we can still leave these updates. be patient as this site gets jostled around a bit. we were cruising along at home for a while. jesse went cold-turkey off the narcotics that he had been on, which made for a difficult few days. also, on wednesday we discovered a bowel obstruction, which put us in the ER in mankato for the afternoon, and an overnight stay there, as well. thursday we left for rochester for jesse’s scheduled appointment, and he was admitted there to continue managing the problem. he is still there, and probably will be for a couple of more days. etta and i are home, now, and hopefully jesse will be joining us, soon!! we have been blessed with many helpers over the last couple of weeks. work has begun on the studio, again!! the 13th of october there will be a work crew here to side the north end of the building, and do some prep work so we can paint it soon. we are truly honored by the support that everyone has provided us.
God bless, juana
11.21.07 YOUR VOICE IS HEARD
ok, ok, fan club. i know who you are. i am dedicating today (minus any etta interuptions) on fixing the picture situation. be prepared to experience etta-overload!!! ah, it’s been a difficult couple of months. jesse made it home a few days after the last entry. then we all got colds, then we all got the flu. we are working on countless projects…including a couple of small business ventures. i’m afraid i’m not yet able to disclose much about the one, but please pray that all parties involved see the potential. the other is our little online shop….visit www.theblacklantern.etsy.com. Also pray that we continue to iron out the kinks in a relationship that hasn’t seen much maintainance in the last year. that’s about it, really. man, time flies when you’re having….um, fun? much awaited love, juana
12.16.07 GOPHER
friends– tonight i leave this message with a heavy heart. Gopher was hit by a car and died this afternoon. He was a very dear friend to us when we needed one most. We are so sad to be without him. We are thankful for our friends and family who love us and loved Gopher as part of our family. We are having a funeral for him this evening. Please pray for us during our grieving process………thanks, juana
Etta’s Next Surgery
1/23/08
Etta will be having another heart surgery some time early in February. Her final surgery will still be a couple years out, but some “fine tuning” needs to be done now to ensure success. More details soon when we have a date set.
Wow
1/29/08
first of all, thank you to everyone who has checked in on etta’s blog and written us a note. again, we are in awe of the community of people who have gathered themselves around her. thank you for the encouragement and information. to those, who directly e-mailed us, and those who have offered further communication, i’m in the process of responding. we sort of got more than we expected, and it may take me a little while to catch up! since this is a fairly new version of etta’s blog, i was going through entries from the old one…how quickly i forgot what a crazy year we had! probably for sanity’s sake! anyway, i needed to be reminded of the many ways that God has provided for us…it has truly been amazing. so, i will be posting the old entries…most of them anyway…in hopes that someone else will appreciate the journey, as well.
as far as etta’s next surgery…we leave the 5th of february for a couple of tests. the 6th is the heart cath. to get some specifics on the narrowing of her aorta, and take a look at her left pulmonary artery ( it’s always been a bit small). the narrowing we had dialated prior to the second surgery, but it appears it hasn’t kept up with her growth, so they will be putting a stent in on the 7th. the idea is that this should fix the problem (the narrowing has created different blood pressures in the arms versus the legs), and better prepare her heart for her last big surgery (the fontan). we will continue to update the site as we go. much love, juana
Surgery News-Etta’s Patch Job
2/6/08
Ok! We have new info for you. Etta is good to go for surgery tomorrow morning(Thursday,7th). Computer images of Etta’s heart catheter procedure showed us the area that her surgeon will be working on. Rather than a using a stent to improve the blood flow, he will be patching in additional material to make the area more voluminous. This should be a very successful solution to the blood pressure discrepancy. She will be having surgery mid-morning, sometime between 7 and 10. It should be a short one in comparison to the last two, only 2 or 3 hours. Please remember us in prayer tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for the kind comments so far and all the support! I’ll try to get some new photos up tomorrow.
Jesse
Nice Morning
2/7/08 , 11:00 am
Etta went in for surgery this morning around 10:30. She was in a great mood regardless of all the monitors and IVs dangling form her body! She was being so good and hardly even tried to pull anything off. Amazing! Surgery should be about 3 hours and then she will be stationed in the cardiac ICU for the rest of our stay. More later when she is all done and back in her room. Thanks for all your prayers!
Jesse
All Is Well
2/7/08 , 10:00 pm
Etta is doing great and we are happy to say that she already has her breathing tube out!! She look soooo good! The surgery went swiftly and her doctors are very pleased with the outcome. Her blood pressure is much better as well as her oxygen saturation. Thanks for all the prayer support. We really felt covered. Tomorrow she will already be sitting up and a handfull!
On The Mend
2/9/08 , 8:00 pm
Etta has been doing good. She ate some food today and sat up. She was in a pretty good mood this morning but in the afternoon she got a little crabby. She got a bath and her dressings changed. There has been some concern with a part of her lung being collapsed due to pressure from a pocket of fluid. We’re not sure when this will be resolved and it may just be a matter of time while it resolves itself. There have been talks about placing a drainage tube, but we’re waiting for images from an ultrasonud to know for sure what we’re dealing with. None the less they are saying we will be out by Tuesday so that sounds good to us!! Love to all.
Jesse & Juana
Almost Ready To Go
2/11/08 , 7:00 pm
Well, we thought we would be out by now, but Etta has had trouble keeping food down. Her tummy has been grouchy from medication and we have been working on keeping fluids in her today. Not so easy a task at times, but she is slowly coming around. Tomorrow should be better and we will likely get to leave mid day. Please direct your prayers to the Morales family here at the cardiac wing. 17 month old Gerardo has undergone all surgical attempts possible to fix his little heart. He will be on bypass machine for a couple days and then they will see if he can make it on is own. He almost died today. His family is VERY sad. We hope and pray that he will not be the second baby we have seen die here this week.
Jesse
Happy Birthday!!
3/19/08
It’s the big day!! You’ve come a long way baby. So much to pack into one little year! You are the star and everyone loves you! We have so many to thank for prayer and support over this last year!
We thank God for our beautiful little girl!
Love,
Jesse & Juana
