Surgery for Meladee

So today I got a call from Children's Hospital Cardiology and it was the surgery scheduler.  We have scheduled Meladee's surgery for March 12th.  Pre-Op will be done on March 9th. 

Many people still have questions about her heart condtion and what it is and what they are going to do.  Basically this surgery is a repair surgery.  They are going to patch two holes in her heart and open up a narrow artery and trim her heart muscle because it is a little bigger than it should be.

What she has is a Complete AV Canal Defect and Tetralogy of the Fallot.  Here is descriptions of both"

Complete AV Canal defect (CAVC)

What is it?
A large hole in center of the heart affecting all four chambers where they would normally be divided. When a heart is properly divided, the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs does not mix with the oxygen-poor blood from the body. A CAVC allows blood to mix and the chambers and valves to not properly route the blood to each station of circulation.

Tetralogy of Fallot

What is it?

A heart defect that features four problems.
They are: 

• a hole between the lower chambers of the heart
• an obstruction from the heart to the lungs
• The aorta (blood vessel) lies over over the hole in the lower chambers
• The muscle surrounding the lower right chamber becomes overly thickened 

If you would like to read more about both of these, more information is avaible at www.heart.org, is the American Heart Assocation website.

We love you all and thank you all for all the support we have gotten.  I will keep you updated as time goes on.

Snow

So we got home Monday just before that snow storm came in, so the next few days we were stuck at home.  My mom and I decide to take Meladee out in the snow to see what she thought.  She wasn't to sure about it because it was different for her.  But from the pictures you can tell that she liked it.

Meladee's First Trip on a Plane to Montana

Meladee and I went to Montana to see her Auntie Deb, and cousins Grace, Ashley and Thomas.  She feel in love in with Thomas and thought he was great and would follow him around any time she saw him.  She also meet Aaron and Lil who is Deb's dad and step-mom and also met Carolyn who is her Uncle Scott's mom.

We also went to Missoula to meet my mom's friend Diane from grade school and Meladee really liked her as well.  She smiled and laughed and talked to Diane.

As for the trip on the plane she slept on both flights both ways and no one knew she was there.  She did really well even with the delay in leaving Seattle and the very short layover on Salt Lake City on the way to Montana and when we came home she played on the floor in Salt Lake City until we got back on the plane on the way home.

                                                     Thomas and Meladee

                                                    Lil and Meladee

                                                    Aaron and Meladee

                                                    Meladee and Auntie Deb

Meladee and Carolyn