Hello all,
I just wanted to give people an update as to how Ella is doing.
This past Friday Ella was having issues keeping food down and her color was changing slightly. Out of concern, my brother and his wife brought her to the local hospital where she had low O2 levels and was unable to eat. On Saturday, she was transported to Brighams Childrens Hospital for further observation and testing.
On Saturday evening, while getting a routine echo test of her heart, Ella went into cardiac arrest. She received cpr for 30-40 minutes before she was able to be breathe on her own again. She had emergency surgery on her heart and it was determined that her aorta was narrowed and was not allowing the blood to move through her heart. She received a stint to keep the aorta open and was hooked up to an ECMO machine (a device that pumps the blood out of her body, oxygenates it, then redistributes it through her body), in hopes that her heart could rest and heal any damage from the arrest.
I just heard from my brother that they began to ween her off the ECMO machine and her heart is looking good and began working on its own. It's just a waiting game now and their hope is that her heart can heal enough and become strong enough to have the second (of three) surgery for her HLHS.
I was in Milwaukee from Wednesday until last night. I've never felt so helpless in my life. I just prayed and prayed and prayed and asked for Gods strength for everyone. Even though I am home now, I still feel helpless, but the prayers and Gods light are where I find my solace. She is a strong girl and has proved that already, but any and all prayers and thoughts are welcomed right now. Thank you all...
-Adam