Surgery Update

We received a call from the OR- Everything is going as anticipated; he has been on the bypass machine for a little over an hour.

Jodi's brother, Joel; sister, Juliane; close friend, Michelle Hockema & Michelle's Pastor are here with us.

Surgery in Progress

We received a call about 12:15 p.m. that Mitchell's surgery had begun. No complications with the anesthesia- he went to sleep without any difficulty. We anticipate hourly calls with an update from the nurse in the OR & will try to notify you of his progress.
Thank you again for praying for Mitchell today!

Streams in the Desert

"There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise. There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come?"

He Worketh- Ps. 37:5
"Commit they way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."
We need to truly commit out of our hands into His, our burden or anxiety. He worketh, even now; and praise Him that it is so.

Praise God that He is in control.

More Pictures

Your Support is a Blessing

I'm sorry we have been a little delayed with our blogging; thanks to Ted's mom, we knew you had been informed of Mitchell's arrival and upcoming surgery.
We are thankful that he has remained stable since his delivery and are anxiously awaiting his surgery tomorrow. He is going to be the 2nd case of the day- we don't have a definite time, but we can anticipate him leaving the CICU by 11 a.m. EST to be prepped for surgery. The surgery is expected to take 6-7 hrs. as it is quite complicated. His 1st procedure is called the Norwood procedure- http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=4131 for more information.

We have many things to be thankful for:
Mitchell waited until full term for his arrival with a good birth weight;
We knew about his heart before his arrival so that all necessary measures were taken immediately.
We are in a good place experienced with Mitchell's complicated heart.
Most importantly, His little body is in the hands of our Great Physician who has a plan for Mitchell and for us.

We could not begin to list those who are supporting and praying for us- We are so thankful for your prayers & your messages of support.
Thank you to all of our family- You all are such a blessing! Ted's family is taking care of things for us that we can't do right now, and they are praying along with their church family; Jodi's mom has been in Atlanta with us since last week; Jodi's sister's family has been here since Friday and made arrangements to stay thru this week; Jodi's brother, Joel will be here for Mitchell's surgery tomorrow- he wants to be here to pray with us (this means alot as Jodi feels he will be here to fill her dad's shoes.); and Jon would have already come, but his school year is still in session, and he is waiting until next weekend.
Thank you to our Pastor & his wife for driving up from Pensacola and visiting us the day of Mitchell's arrival- they actually got to see him before Jodi did- we greatly appreciated the visit & prayer for our little boy. We also appreciate all of the prayers from our church family at Burgess Road Baptist Church.
Thank you to Bob & Carolyn Humphreys for coming back to Atlanta again to see us- to be of support to mom during Mitchell's delivery, visiting us at the hospital & again praying for Mitchell & our family.
Our close friends, the Hockemas live in Athens, GA; We attended their church Grace Baptist in Dacula, and their pastor has been praying for us as well.
Thank you to the Reid family, our neighbors who are taking care of our cat & dog as well as our mail & house.
Thanks to Landrum for being supportive in Ted's extended absence from work- I don't know what I would do without Ted!
We are overwhelmed & blessed to know that people all over the country are praying for us. Thank you! It's wonderful to know at any point during the day that people are praying for Mitchell.
To pray specifically:
Dr. Kanter is Mitchell's Cardio-thoracic surgeon- that his surgery will go well without complications.
That he will not experience any excessive bleeding or signs of infection.
That the staff will be prepared to receive him after surgery & care for his needs.
And for our family as we wait during this lengthy surgery.

Sorry to be so lengthy; we'll try to update you as soon as possible; Ted's mom will likely help us with this. As we get updates throughout the surgery, we will try to relay for a post.

Thank you for praying for Jodi's recovery as well- 5th day post op today & getting around quite well; just a little tired. Thankful for the strength to get to and from the hospital to visit Mitchell.

Wrapped in Blanket Grandma Holz made

Surgery on Tuesday

At this time, Mitchell is scheduled for surgery sometime on Tuesday. He remains in stable condition at the Children's Hospital. Unless his doctors decide that he would benefit from an earlier surgery or possibly a catheterization, Tuesday will be the day. Jodi is doing well, still somewhat tired, but much better than yesterday. She could be discharged from the hospital this evening but may stay until tomorrow morning. Of course, she's ready to get back to their hotel and be with her family as soon as possible.

If there are any changes in the next few days, we will be sure to inform you. We appreciate your continued prayers and wish everyone a nice, and safe, Memorial Day weekend.