He's Done Already!

We are all smiles!! The surgeon came out sooner than expected and said that everything went very smoothly. They fixed the hole in is heart, stopped the valve leakage (as much as they could - there will still be a little bit) and they were actually able to cut out a piece of abnormal muscle that was coincidentally found in this right ventricle. This is great because 20-30% of these growths require surgery at some point in life and he just took care of that now! Next comes the hard part when we see him for the first time - in about 30 minutes or so.

He's In!!

We just met with the surgeon and he's heading in now; Briggs has been quietly asleep in the OR while they prep him for the last hour or so....pray for the diligent fingers. Daddy and Briggs Before Surgery

Briggs Dancing in The Hallway

Briggs after taking some "make me feel groovy" meds :)

What is Open Heart Surgery?

Some people have asked, so here is the best description that I could find of what will happen tomorrow.
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/heart-encyclopedia/treat/surg/open.htm

Pre-Op Complete

Briggs was such so good today during his pre-op visit - a little nervous around the EKG, more so with the x-rays and screaming with the blood draw. But he is still so smily and sweet. We are just anxious to get to Thursday!

Dr. Briggs

I just had to post this picture - it's very cute and appropriate that Briggs likes to walk around with a stethoscope around his neck. Maybe this whole situation was presented so that he would grow up to be a pediatric cardiologist, which is always what I said I wanted to be as a young girl. I could barely pronounce it, but thought it sounded cool. My mom can attest to this :)

Giving Thanks for Blood

Since no one in Dr. Hanley's office ever told us he required at least 4 units of blood in Briggs' surgery, and I just found out late last week, I had to scramble to find friends with Type O blood to donate within three days. I was very angry because Billy and I could have been donating every week for the last two months, but many friends pulled through and we very thankfully have the blood we need. Here is our friend Rebecca with her "Giving is Groovy" token t-shirt. It's very special to me that a part of these people will be a part of Briggs.

Escaping to Carmel

Miller ended up being sick all week with a very high fever and both the girls have barely left Gigi's house (grandma), so they have been like caged animals. So Sonia and I decided to take them to Carmel for a weekend adventure. It was very fun and they were CRAZY! This has been very hard on them to be sick and away from home for so long. But they are troopers and getting a lot of guilt presents out of the deal! We have decided to keep them away until surgery Thursday, just be safe, so it will be a long few weeks to come for them.