"I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)

On Monday we headed to Gracie's cardiologists office to get both her and my son their heart check-ups.  First I would like to shout our praise reports!!!  Our son Landry was born with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) and a heart murmur.  Basically he had 3 holes in his heart that failed to close.  He is almost 5, and has been monitored yearly to see if the holes will close.  (I would like to add that we were very blessed with his condition because sometimes it can require medicine or surgery...Landry has needed neither.  Other then the monitoring, its been like he's had nothing wrong at all).  Monday we learned that the last hole has finally closed!!!!  Yes, no more monitoring, no more VSD, and his murmur is so light you can only hear it at rest!!!  Since it seems like every post has been a downer, I want to really take a moment and enjoy this huge answer to lots of prayer we've been receiving over 4+ years.  It doesn't really change anything for Landry, because he was not on any restrictions, but it sure is nice to know its closed and we don't have to bring him back anymore!

Gracie had 2 holes in her heart that should have closed after birth and didn't.  One was a PFO, and the other a PDA.  We found out Monday that the PFO hole has closed, which is great....but the PDA has not.  At 2 years old the treatment for this is closure of the hole.  Our amazing cardiologist was going to give Gracie a little longer and see if it would close on its own (although he was doubtful), until he found out about Gracie's problems with her infections during the external fixator, and that she has more surgery in the near future.  Any infection that gets into Gracie's blood stream has the potential for infecting her heart because this hole serves as a portal.  After hearing that Gracie had staph, and 63 days of antibiotics and pain meds, he went back and looked at her echo again to double check for signs of infection in her heart.  Thank God there are none.  It did however change his opinion on the timeline for closure, and he has recommended that we close it immediately....like before we move.  It is a simple procedure where they go in thru her groin, and as I understand it, is fairly similar to a stint placement.  She will have to be put under again, which is always hard for me, but it shouldn't be too bad for her, and recovery is quick.  The biggest positive of this, is that once this is closed, we don't have to worry about her heart anymore either!

So, I got the call from Phoenix Children's Hospital today, Gracie will undergo the catheter surgery on August 2nd, at 7:30am.  They are not sure if they will keep us overnight or not, but told me to come with an overnight bag just in case. If they keep us overnight it will most likely be because of her age to observe/monitor her.  Gracie also has another surgery planned for October.  We will be going back to Baltimore again to have the 8 plate put into her knee to correct it from growing in.  (Valgus knee).  This was not what anyone expected....but it will be nice to have these things done, and then truly have some surgery free time for a while.  I'm REALLY looking forward to that.

We are going to start packing up this week, and getting ready for our move.  I can't believe how fast the time is going.  Its been very challenging to go thru everything we've faced this year, but I really do feel like God has carried us thru.  And when we needed just a little more, I feel like our family, our friends, our church family and complete strangers have helped carry us too.  We are so grateful for you all!  Even with our support system, I couldn't imagine surviving this year without God.  Today's verse gives me hope and makes me smile.  We all need to be rescued sometimes, and God is the most perfect rescuer. 

Please be praying for Gracie's surgeries to go smoothly and with as little pain as possible, and for her recovery to be the same.  Also for our finances and future fundraising ideas, along with our move.  We appreciate your prayers so much, and pray for all you.

God Bless!