Heart Cath Complete!

Thank you all SO much for the prayers for Kenzie's heart cath! Everything went REALLY well, and I am thrilled to report that every single one of our prayer requests was answered! Praise the Lord!!! We couldn't have asked for a better experience for this procedure, and we are IMMENSELY grateful for God watching over our precious peanut! It is SUCH a relief to have this done and over with...now if only we could skip her upcoming surgery we'd be gold. ;)

Everything went according to plan, and Dr. Cheatham was able to place her stent without any complications. When they took images from inside, it was obvious that there was definitive narrowing in her pulmonary artery, so the stent was for sure a necessity. It's an adult-sized stent, so it should be able to last her forever, although it might need to be expanded in the future depending on the growth of her artery. That can be accomplished through a cath procedure as well. Thankfully, everything else looked good in there and they didn't come across anything unexpected. Just in case anyone is interested, I put two pics below of what Kenzie's artery looked like before and after the stent was placed (it's on the right side). Pretty neat!

Before

After

As for how Kenzie did with everything, she was a champ, as usual! We call her "Super Kenzie," and for good reason! They allowed us to take her back into the operating room and stand right by her as they put her to sleep, which was a relief to see her smiling as she zonked out (thanks to the medicine they gave her beforehand). After the procedure, she was a little upset as she woke up, but thankfully we were able to hold her right away and she calmed down quickly. By day two, she was back to her usual self--climbing all over everything, walking down the halls waving at everyone, and having a good ol' time. One of our prayer requests was that she would be calm and not afraid of the docs and nurses, and she actually did pretty well with that. Although there was definitely still some screaming and not-so-fun times, overall it was better than usual. She's pretty clingy right now, but that's totally understandable and of course we certainly don't mind some extra holding time with our girl! :)

We came home from the hospital yesterday, and besides being a little sleepy, she's pretty much all recovered! She has some bruising on her neck, on both sides of her groin, and on her wrist where all her entry points were, but they don't seem to bother her. We are so, so very thankful for any prayers said for her over this last week. I will post soon regarding next steps for Kenzie, but for now, it's just so nice to be able to rest and be thankful that God has once again watched over her through yet another circumstance. Below are a few pics from the hospital. Thanks so much for checking in on Kenzie!! <3

Waiting to go in to surgery...

After surgery...

Waiting to be released to go home...

Heart Catheterization Coming Up in One Week

So I'm completely terrible at updating Kenzie's blog! But in this case, no news is always good news, so I guess it's okay that we haven't had to update in practically a year! Kenzie is growing and progressing wonderfully and she is an absolute blast! She recently began speech therapy and has continually been doing occupational therapy for her left hand. Aside from a broken arm a few months ago (stinkin' stairs), we really haven't had any other issues, which is beyond awesome!

In my last post, I spoke of her heart cath being delayed for a time because it wasn't immediately necessary. Well, unfortunately, time is up and she is scheduled to go in next week on June 17th to have her stent inserted and to have some measurements taken via cath before her upcoming surgery. The procedure itself should take a few hours and is supposed to be an overnight stay. There's a possibility we might be able to leave the same day, but that's not very likely. Obviously we are not looking forward to taking her in for this, but it is absolutely necessary in order for her to be safe and to avoid clotting in the future. I'm a little nervous about how she'll handle the situation as she is TERRIFIED of the doctor, and very clingy at this point. If you wouldn't mind praying for her, please pray:

• For Dr. Cheatham who will be performing the procedure--that he would be able to place the stent flawlessly with no issues
• That they would find nothing else amiss while they are checking everything out
• That the process of putting her out and her waking up would be smooth and easy
• That she would be calm and not afraid of the hospital and the docs/nurses

Thank you so much! As always, we have to place her in God's hands and trust that He is ultimately the One in control of everything. We sincerely appreciate any and all prayers said for her beyond what we can say!

As for what she's up to nowadays, one word comes to mind: busy! She's a little ball of energy and we joke and say, "imagine what she'd be like with a whole heart as opposed to a half!" Her condition definitely doesn't keep this little girl down! She's the happiest little thing... she walks around all day tapping her feet in a rhythm we call "happy feet." She's absolutely loving the summer with being able to go outside, go to the pool, and ride around in her little motorized car (a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Phillips). She's obsessed with Play-Doh, still loves Sophia the First (she wears a Sophia necklace and bracelet around all day every day), and dances to anything with some semblance of a beat---the girl's got groove! ;) We are thoroughly enjoying this stage and every new milestone she hits. She still only says a few words (hence the speech therapy), but she understands MUCH more than she speaks! She's still ornery, which always keeps us laughing and entertained!

A few months ago we had the privilege of celebrating her 2nd birthday! Absolutely can't believe she's two already! It was such a blessing and a joy to celebrate two precious years with our precious girl. We also had the opportunity to visit Hilton Head again this year with Grammy and Pops Joyce and my Grandma (known as Grammy Cookie). She of course had the time of her life--still a beach bum! Here are some recent pics of the munchkin. As always, we are so grateful for your concern and prayers for her!