This morning we took Abby to see some friends who were visiting from the west coast and got to play and eat lunch with her.  So we only got to the hospital around 4pm.  Maddie‘s chest had been left open after coming off the bypass machine yesterday as a precaution but the surgeon closed it up this morning.  She still has the breathing tubes in and the machine does the majority of the work for her but her lungs seem to be handling the load fine.  They are going to slowly step down the machine so that we can see how she handles breathing on her own.  Her cardiac arrest last Weds seemed to stem from respiratory issues and the doctors here are not taking any chances.

After dinner we talked to her again and she actually opened her eyes and tried to focus but quickly fell asleep again.  They are giving her painkillers to make sure she’s comfortable, but it’s also keeping her asleep the whole time.  We hope to see her wake up more over the course of the night.

We are so grateful for all these answered prayers and all this progress but her recovery is just starting and we are back to where she was medically last Mon afternoon right after surgery.  Please continue to pray that she remains stable after closure, for her to wake up without any neurological damage, and for her to come off the respiratory machine without any problems.  These are the next few milestones in her recovery.

Jen and I are grateful for all the support and offers to help.  We really couldn’t do this without God’s mercy and His provisioning us with our family and extended family.