Eight years ago today at this moment I was sitting in a waiting room with Phil, my parents, Phil's mom and sister. Jack and Katie were at preschool. While we waited Madelynn was put under anesthesia, her rib cage was broken, her heart was stopped, holes in her heart were closed, part of her damaged aorta was removed, her remaining aorta spliced back together, her heart was restated, her rib caged wired back together and we waited.
We waited to see if her body could withstand all the trauma. We waited to see if she would awaken. We waited to see if we would get our little girl back.
It was not without breathtaking anxiety, sleepless nights and lows I could have never fathomed. Her heart had difficulty keeping up at first, her lung collapsed, her diaphragm became partial paralyzed and she was very sick. I had found rock bottom.
Thankfully her medical staff did not know the definition of that phase. They smiled and encouraged and helped pick us up. They reminded us they had not given up. We had family and friends who helped along the way and each day the sun shined a little brighter. Eventually Madelynn smiled again.
We are grateful to Dr Alfred Kendrick for finding her heart defect when he wasn't looking for it, to Dr. Christopher Baird for completing the open heart surgery that saved her life, to Dr. Nicholas Sliz for reminding us this was not our fault she was born this way, to Dr. Alan Harsch for encouraging Madelynn to live life with no limitations, to Dr. Douglas Chen for helping monitor her day to day care. For the nurses who never gave up, started each day with a smile and making us feel like we were the only patient that day.
Today we will breath the air a little deeper. Today we savor the sunshine a little brighter. Today Madelynn's smile will fill my heart a little fuller. Today we move on and enjoy another year that at one point we never thought possible.
Happy Heartaversary Madelynn!! We love you to infinity and beyond.
TTFN~
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