Shine Bright Firefly!

Dear Friends,

I know our family has consumed so many of your prayers lately (and we are forever grateful for that:), but I would really appreciate prayer for a very good friend of mine's daughter who is battling an aggressive cancer.

I taught with my sweet friend, Denise, for 7 years.  She has always been like another mother to me and she got me through those grueling first years of teaching.  Denise is an amazing, Godly woman and I truly think the world of her.  Her daughter, Sarah, is just as amazing.  She has been through SO much these past few months and cancer has really taken a toll on her body.  They have decided to stop chemo right now to allow Sarah to enjoy some time at home.  Sarah is just a few years younger than me.

Sarah has had her blog for quite awhile and at the end of each post, she always says, "Shine Bright Firefly, Shine Bright," as a friend once told her that phrase and it stuck.  Sarah always shines so bright during her video blog posts and she has shown such courage, grace, and strength during her battle.

http://sarahchidgey.blogspot.com/

Thank you for lifting up Sarah, her husband Eric, her mom and dad, and the rest of her family in your prayers.  I know they appreciate it.  :)  And I know you will be encouraged and inspired by her beautiful blog posts.

Sarah...keep shining bright!  We love you!

Post Op - Day 19

When we left Texas Children's after getting the "go ahead" to head home to San Antonio, I yelled out "we did it!" once our feet hit the pavement outside the hospital.  Field busted out laughing as if he totally understood what I meant when I said that aloud.  Therefore, the rest of the trip home we would yell, "we did it!" and he would look at us, smile, and start giggling.  We tried to get video of it the night we arrived home to San Antonio, but we didn't get the hysterics that we were able to get off camera.  This video is just a small glimpse of Field's sweet, precious giggle.  Please excuse my annoying high-pitched voice!

In case you are wondering, Field is in the baby bjorn with his daddy.  He got so used to being held while in Houston that he cries when we put him down.  Uh oh, we are in for it, aren't we?  We got the ok to put him in the baby bjorn and it really helps when our arms are tired from holding him all day!

We continue to do very well at home.  We have settled back into our routine and we are working on getting caught up on sleep.  We are still up at all hours of the night which is pretty exhausting, but compared to what we went through in Houston, this is nothin'!  Field wants to eat every 3 hours (almost like a newborn) - while this is a good thing for his weight, it's not so good for those dark circles under my eyes.  But again, compared to our Houston shenanigans...this is a piece of cake.

Hangin' with Daddy

Daddy looks concerned, he's just watching football, no worries!

Bathtime 

Yes, he always has something in his mouth - can you say teething?!

Each time we are out in public we have many, many people come and say hello and that they have been praying for Field, which is so nice and such a blessing - but many also want the full run-down on how we are doing.  It gets pretty exhausting retelling the story every time so if you see us out and ask questions - we might just tell you to check the blog.  :)  And on that note, don't be surprised if you see us out.  We are back to reality and back to life - so yes, we are doing normal things like going out to eat, running errands, playing golf, and exercising (well, Brad is anyway).  We've gotten a few "deer in the headlights" looks as I suppose people just weren't expecting us to be out and about already.  Have you heard how quickly babies recover from open heart surgery?  I can assure you it's much, much faster than our 80 year old grandparents did. :)  We are so happy and thankful to be back to the normal Johnson family life.

Post Op - Day 12, Home Sweet Home!

Today we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Fraser and his team.  Since it was a holiday, the TCH Heart Center was closed but the sweet nurses for Dr. Fraser came in anyway to do rounds and to see Field so we could go home.  The appointment went very well and we got the thumbs up to head home.  Wahooo!

Field and Brad standing in front of our room on 

the cardiac floor before we were discharged on Saturday, January 15th.

Field and mommy waiting to be discharged.  

We are sitting in the chairs in front of our room on the cardiac floor.  

We called this our "front porch" and sat out there each 

evening to watch the action in the hallway.  Ha!

Discharged, loaded up, and ready to get out of there!

Our time in Houston was blessed for so many reasons, but I have to say we couldn't get out of there fast enough!  I think Field felt the same way as he was cranky until we hit I10 and then he passed out for almost the entire trip home.  All is well with Field and he continues to amaze us at how quickly he has recovered.  What a hero he is!

One last check-up with the wonderful nurses Amy and Jennifer.  LOVE them!

This is the man - Dr. Fraser.  We are so thankful for him.  

Goodbye TCH Heart Center!  See you in a few years!

We are so thrilled to be home and back in our own beds again.  Just 2 weeks ago, we weren't sure what the next few weeks would look like and we surely didn't expect Field to recover so quickly and so well.  But we trusted in Him and we gave our fears to the Lord.  He is good - all the time.

But those who hope in the Lord 

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

                                  Isaiah 40:31

Our wonderful family and friends decorated 

the house and stocked the fridge and pantry 

with snacks, drinks, and a home cooked meal.  Thank you!

Field at dinner tonight.  

Happy to be back in his usual routine again!

Home sweet home feels oh so good!

Post Op - Day 10

Just a quick update on how the Johnsons are doing here at Texas Children's in Houston.  We continue to travel the positive road to recovery.  Feisty Field has chilled out a bit and is much happier.  He is eating SO WELL which is a huge milestone for us, considering we struggled so much before surgery.  In fact, we can't keep up with his eating desires.  He wants to eat every 2-3 hours and so we are going through my milk like crazy.  We met with a dietician and she helped us get started on fortifying bottles again so that we can fatten our little boy up!  Everyone has been wonderful with us and we just continue to praise God for bringing us here for surgery (and the many doctors and friends that encouraged us to seek out treatment here).

Dr. Fraser and his team are all very pleased with Field's recovery.  All of his vitals remain very stable and he looks more "pink" than they suspected.  We are on quite a bit of medications, but we will slowly wean these down as time goes on.  

Field and Amy, Dr. Fraser's Nurse Practitioner.  We LOVE her.  She rode the rollercoaster with us these past 10 days.  She is the one that updated us during surgery (called us into the consultation room 7 times to update us) and she checks on us each day.  She is the one that told me there would be bumps in the road and that she would let me know if/when I needed to worry (which fortunately, I never did.).

We have great and really exciting news...we are being discharged TODAY!!  We are awaiting our discharge papers and then we are outta here!  We will go stay with the Loocke's through the weekend and then we have post-op appointments with Dr. Fraser and his wonderful nurses on Monday morning.  If all checks out ok, then we will get to head home Monday afternoon to San Antonio.  We would SO appreciate your prayers for Field's smooth and positive recovery to continue and that we will get to go home on Monday.  We are certainly ready.  We miss our home!

What mom?  I get to see the sunshine again?  I am so excited!  

We continue to be so very thankful for the love and prayers that have surrounded us these past few weeks.  If you hadn't believed in the power of prayer before this, I hope that our circumstance showed you how great His love is for us and how He is so faithful when we let Him be.

Be joyful always; 

pray continually; 

give thanks in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

                             1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

And one more thing, Happy 7 month Birthday, sweet baby Field.  We love you!  

Feisty Field is on the up and up

Field is doing amazingly well.  We are so, so thankful.  Today we moved to a regular room on the cardiac floor.  The ng feeding tube was removed and all IV's and lines are out except for one last IV in his right arm.  The IV is not being used - just there in case we need it.  He is eating wonderfully and he is back to his happy, smiley self.  Go Field Go!  

Field made a name for himself during his last days in the CVICU.  Yesterday was a day of exhaustion and tears from our sweet boy.  Field hadn't slept much in the last 3 days and he was just at his wits end.  We don't blame him one bit. His feistiness was in full force and he let us know he wasn't happy.  In fact, he let the entire ICU floor know he wasn't happy, hence the nickname "Feisty Field."  He gets ALL the grace in the world for being cranky, but we are so thankful to be on the regular floor now where we can all get some rest.  

Daddy and Field hanging out in between 

Feisty Field's meltdowns yesterday

When we left the CVICU we got an excellent report on Field's progress.  His last echo showed continued improvement in his heart function and his blood pressure has stabilized with good numbers.  His sats are perfect for him and he is the happy, healthy baby that we love.  The doctors are VERY pleased with Field's recovery.  And they also mentioned how happy they are for us, yet how much they will miss him.  They are especially going to miss his smile.  :)

Getting his incision checked by his lovely nurses

We feel so thankful and so very blessed.  I am in awe at how quickly Field is bouncing back.  I keep asking when he will get Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy and from what they see, he doesn't need it yet.  He is just doing so well.  Thank you, God.  We give all the glory to God and we praise Him for allowing us to witness a miracle this past week.  We will continue to keep you posted on our status but it looks like we will be here through the weekend and then possibly be discharged early next week.  Then they would like for us to stick around Houston for a few more days.  We miss home, but we will do whatever we need for Field to have the best recovery possible.  

Field went from this on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

To this (one week later) on January 12th, 2011

God is SO faithful!

Give thanks to the Lord, 

for he is good; 

his love endures forever.

                                1 Chronicles 16:34

Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.  Without you all, we wouldn't be where we are today.  

Praise God 

and 

Go Field Go!

Post Op - Day 5

Whew!  What a day.  It was a great one, but ended with a huge meltdown from you know who.  As I said before, the ICU isn't the best place for a very curious baby boy.  Field slept very little all day so by tonight, he had a complete meltdown.  After a bath, new sheets, politely asking those around us to talk using their "inside" voices, and lots of rubbing of the head, Field is sleeping soundly.

Today, the smile returned fast and furiously.  Praise God!  Thank you BB and Nonnie for helping Brad and I make him happy again.  It was certainly fun during rounds today when Field flashed that awesome smile.  A few have even nicknamed him "Gerber Baby."  So sweet.

The ENT checked out Field's throat and vocal chords today and all checked out great.  He has a little irritation in his throat from the intubation, but that is expected.  We got the go-ahead to feed by bottle, and he drank some tonight.

I love my feisty Field and I am beyond thankful that he is back to his old self.  One minute he is giggling and smiling, the next minute he is a hot mess.  It's been a busy day, so I haven't had my time to praise God yet, but heaven will hear my rejoices soon enough.

There is talk that we will move down to a regular room tomorrow.

Until next time, thanks for checking in and please keep the prayers coming!

Love to all,
The Johnsons

Post Op - Day 4

Today the chest tubes were taken out.  Yahoo!  We believe Field is much more comfortable without the tubes - wouldn't you be?!  They also took out the catheter, so let the diaper changing begin.  We are still giving the belly some more time to rest and recover from surgery so all meds and nutrition are given through the ng tube.  Tomorrow an ENT will visit to assess the throat and vocal chords and if all checks out ok, we will begin feeding by bottle again.  Blood pressure is still a bit elevated but much better than yesterday.  Field was also moved into a crib so we are definitely making progress.  

Sleepy boy

Nurses Josh and Jill getting Field set up in his new crib

The crib, and if you look carefully there is 

a picture of Field's heart attached to the crib

Some have asked if B and I are getting any rest.  We have slept at the hospital for the last 5 nights, and surprisingly we feel somewhat rested.  The CVICU is much like the NICU (I realize not too many people have experienced the NICU but hey, these places are home away from home for us) in that the nurses take care of only 1 or 2 patients at a time.  They are very hands-on and very qualified.  We still don't feel comfortable leaving Field without a parent.  We like to know what meds they are giving, we participate in "rounds," and we want him to see our face when he is awake.  So we have a system and take shifts throughout the night.  We try to take time for naps during the day when the grandparents are here.  I can assure you that BB and Nonnie are happy to watch Field so we can rest. :)

Today I got to hold Field for the first time since Wednesday.  I was starting to get emotional as I hunched over the crib trying to get as close as I could to my child.  Sweet Nurse Jill came over to check on me and within minutes I was in a comfy chair and he was in my arms.  Thank you, Nurse Jill.  I know it was an inconvenience with all of the tubes and wires, but it meant the world to me.  The paparazzi (Brad) snapped a bunch of pictures and I remembered today was the day I decided not to fix my hair - ugh.  :)

Happy mom!

 Us with Nurse Jill

The Johnson Fam

Your prayers are at work.  Thank you for showering us with your love and prayers.

Post Op - Day 3

Be joyful in hope, 

patient in affliction, 

faithful in prayer.  

                          -Romans 12:12

We have had a few little bumps today.

Field still is hypertensive (high blood pressure) so we are trying to control this with meds. The meds are helping a little, but not too much.

Last night B and I took shifts with Field and during my shift we got him to drink 1oz of Pedialite. After shift change between B and I, they tried to feed him breastmilk and he threw up, a little bit of old blood included. I know this was scary for Brad (I was asleep) but nobody else seemed too concerned.  His little system has been through a lot these past few days so we need to be patient and take baby steps.

Today, an ng tube was inserted into Field's nose and straight to his stomach for meds and feedings.  Due to the throwing up, we wanted to give his throat a break and allow the nutrition and important medications to enter his system through a tube to his stomach.  B and I were a little disappointed about this, but after trying to feed him several times and him throwing it up each time, we agreed that this was the best plan for now.  We are praying that Field will begin to tolerate meds and milk by mouth very soon.

Now that Field is waking up more he is pretty distracted by the bells and whistles of the CVICU.  There is a sweet baby around the corner that cries ALL.THE.TIME.  God bless her.  It makes it hard for this 6 month old to sleep through all the commotion going on around him.  He is calm and quiet but intently looks around at every little noise he hears.  Such a curious boy, but in desperate need of some rest.

 Found this pic of Field on my laptop.  

It made me smile.  :)

We continue to praise God for our precious Field and his stability.

We are joyful in hope.  The bumps in the road are expected and we are hopeful in Field's recovery.

We are patient in affliction.  We were warned that this journey would not be easy.

We are faithful in prayer.  We continue to pray for our baby boy.      

Much Love to all of you!
The Johnsons

Post Op - Day 2

Tonight, we are all smiles.  Our sweet Field was extubated at 3:45pm today and did fantastic.  He has been breathing wonderfully on his own.  His sats and heart rate are great.  He has a nasal cannula for the time being just to help him out a little if he needs it.  Brad and I left his bedside when they extubated as the nurse said it can be scary to watch.  She reported that once they pulled the tube out he immediately grabbed for his paci and it's been in his mouth since. :)  He has opened his eyes many times and looked around the room, curiously trying to figure out what in the world happened.  I don't blame him one bit.  His arms are a bit restrained right now (sad) because if they allow him to have full control of his arms he will immediately pull at the IV's.  He is sleeping peacefully now which makes this momma smile even more.  

The sweetest, bravest boy I know

So many people are praying for you, little guy.  Stay strong Field!

Our support system has been so amazing and we are so so thankful.  Our family has surrounded us with love and care all week.  They have waited patiently in the waiting room downstairs for updates and they've each had their time with Field in the ICU.  Team Field is awesome.

Team Field at TCH.  We are missing Nonnie 

who was sitting bedside with Field 

when I took the picture with my phone.

I also have to say how impressed and thankful we are with Texas Children's Hospital.  The CVICU has been absolutely incredible.  In a way, we feel like home here.  

Field and his sweet nurse, Tamara.  

She was so good to us today.  

We ask A LOT of questions.   

I am also fascinated by all of the doctors and nurses that circle through.  We always make sure we are here during "rounds" and we have learned so much by listening in to the conversations about Field.  Tonight's "rounds" went something like this:  "Whitfield Johnson, Double Inlet Left Ventricle, DKS and Glenn surgery, Extubated today, Very stable and progressing along just fine, and mom has out the camera and that's a good sign."

Ha, doctors do have a sense of humor.  :)

Speaking of sense of humor.  

Meet Dr. Hall, the anesthesiologist in the CVICU working with Field.  

He is hilarious and awesome.  

You all have been amazing for praying so fervently for us.  I can honestly say that I have NEVER prayed so much in my life (and several of you have said the same thing) and I have NEVER believed in the power of prayer as much as I do now.  When we hit a bump in the road, my family shoots out texts and people start to pray and things seem to work out.  Thank you so very much, Jesus, for listening to the prayers of our beloved family and friends.  We are so grateful.  

Daddy (yes, he has a beard) with Field

Field's blood pressure is a bit high so we are treating that with medication so we would love prayers for his BP to normalize and of course, continued prayers for great heart function and a continued smooth and successful recovery.  

Tomorrow we might get to feed him a bottle!  I have been stockpiling my milk in the Milk Bank downstairs so we are ready when he is ready.  Due to his severe reflux before surgery, we are waiting until tomorrow so we can get help from the occupational therapist.  

Until later, keep the prayers a comin'.

Much Love,

The Johnsons

Rollercoaster

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
- Walter Elliott

They told us from the beginning that recovery is never easy and there would always be speed bumps and maybe even a few road blocks. This journey will be a rollercoaster. That's just the name of the game.

So today we found out that there was a small blood clot in Field's heart - not a road block but a huge speed bump. It actually can be quite common for these to occur, but not so common to find them inside the heart, which is where they were suspecting it was.

Well, after several hours of waiting (while worrying but also intently praying) the Trans-Esophageal Echo showed that there is NOT a blood clot, but rather tissue that has formed a ridge in his left atrium. This is normal and not harmful and also VERY good news. Praise God!

They are still planning to extubate Field this afternoon. They prolonged it a bit so that they could do the fully sedated TE echo.

We have to wait for sedation to wear off and then we will move forward with extubation. He's starting to stir so hopefully he will wake up enough very soon so we can extubate.


Our sweetest, bravest boy

Keep the prayers coming, please! Will post more later.

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No news is good news

Field continues to stay very stable tonight so not too much to report. We are still hoping he will come off the vent tomorrow. It's almost like when you have a newborn baby, you want to hear them cry. That's what we hope for tomorrow - let the crying begin. We want to hear your vocal chords tomorrow, baby Field.

Prayers are appreciated for a very strong and stable heart and that tomorrow is the day to say bye bye to the vent.

Until then, no news is good news!


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Post Op - Day 1

The phrase "so far, so good" continues.  Field remains very stable in the CVICU and all are pleased with his recovery.  It is amazing how complicated yesterday's surgery was, yet how wonderfully he is recovering.  Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow - that is what runs through my mind today.

The surgeon is ready to have him off the ventilator, but the anesthesiologist wants to give Field a bit more time, for he went through so much yesterday and he needs time to rest and recover.  They are weaning him from the sedatives and also the vent as we speak.  We will see how he tolerates this weaning and if he does ok, then the weaning will continue.  Best case scenario, we will take out the ventilator tomorrow morning.  This really is the next big hurdle, so prayers for this milestone would be much appreciated.

Our sweet boy is amazing.  This might sound strange but he looks beautiful to us.  I expected much worse. Praise God - no mother deserves to see her son like this, but I am so thankful he looked better than expected.

Please oh please keep the prayers a'comin!  Prayers for stable sats, heart rate, blood pressure and very stable breathing so that he can stay par for the course and come off the ventilator very soon.

Sweet baby Field on his 6 month birthday

December 14, 2010

Thanks so much and much love!

PS - Thanks for praying for baby Preston.  He is doing amazingly well!  :)

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
Lamentations 3:22-2





A picture of the beautiful sunset outside our window of the waiting room last night.

We got to see Field around 8pm last night. We stayed for awhile and then were encouraged to get some rest by both the doctors and nurses. We came down to the Ronald McDonald House and then trekked right back up to the ICU for no reason other than the fact that we just wanted to be with our sweet boy. We didn't feel right about leaving him just yet. He was very stable and looked so peaceful and once again, the nurses really encouraged us to go get some rest. We slept a few hours at the Ronald McDonald House.

We are now back in the ICU and just watched the surgical team do "rounds.". This consists of about 20 doctors, surgeons, and nurses that report on the latest for each patient. The report on Field was that he had a long and very difficult surgery yesterday, has been very stable since surgery, had a few episodes of high heart rate overnight but controlled with medication and sedation, overall stable and so far so good. Today they will wean him off of a few medications and he will start to slowly wake back up. In fact, just a few minutes ago he opened his eyes looked over at us and grabbed my hand. Please pray that we would get our same Field back very soon. We don't expect him to be bouncing like usual, but it would be nice to see a smile soon.

The overnight recovery was just what we prayed for. So now we press on towards that goal of getting our Field back and getting him well so we can get back home very soon.

The support has been amazing and we do read every comment and every text but we are just sorry we can't reply to everyone right now.

Until later, have a great day and please keep the prayers a'comin!!


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Update #2

Alrighty, we finally met with Dr. Fraser about 20 minutes ago.  The Glenn went very well and was uneventful, which we like.  Dr. F explained that the reason the DKS didn't go as expected was because there was a very important artery in the way so they had to do a modified DKS.  Field's heart did not like the first DKS, so Dr. F had to take everything apart and start over.  The second try was a success and Field's heart was much happier (per the EKG and Echo).  It was tedious and difficult working around this major artery as it could have been lethal if they were to accidentally cut into it - so it took quite awhile.  Thank you, Dr. Fraser, for your patience and perfection.  Field did very well on the bypass and stayed stable the entire time.  His sats are where they want them.  He bled quite a bit, but they were able to get that under control and close him back up.  

So far, so good.  

The next 48 hours are crucial as we wait to see if the bleeding stays under control, sats stay in the normal range, and that Field's overall blood pressure, heart rate, etc. all stay stable.  We would so covet your prayers for that. 

We have not seen Field yet, but plan to in the next hour.  We are pretty nervous about seeing our sweet boy in this condition.  

For I am the Lord, your God, 

who takes hold of your right hand 

and says to you, 

Do not fear; I will help you.      

Isaiah 41:13

Today was a roller-coaster of emotions.  Up and down, up and down, up and down.  It was also the most terrifying day of our lives.  So many keep telling us how strong we are - but let us make ourselves clear - we are not strong; our strength comes from Him.  He provides the grace we need to get through a day like today - and I believe that what we went through today was probably one of the hardest things any parent can ever go through.  We made it through because of our Lord.  

The next few hours/days are critical so we trust that He is with us and He is with Field.

Field has a new friend named Preston and he is just a few days old.  He will have open heart surgery tomorrow morning, starting at 7am.  Let's shower this sweet boy and his parents with our prayers.  

Much Love to all of you.  Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.  

Brad, Lisa, and Field

  

Quick Update

Here is a quick update as I know so many are waiting, worrying, and praying - which we appreciate so very much!

The first DKS repair did not work.  After being taken off bypass, the EKG was skewed and Dr. Fraser did not like the way the heart looked.  I know this is vague, but basically there was a coronary artery that was "in the way" of the new repair which was causing problems.  The team put Field back on bypass and redid the entire thing. We just got word that they completed the repair for the second time. The team restarted the heart and watched it function for 10min and it looks perfect so far. Praise God for His divine intervention.  Glenn operation is starting right now. Please storm the heavens on our behalf and of course for sweet baby field. We are not out of the woods yet. Dr Fraser and his team have been working on Field for 6 hours - God bless them. Much love to all of you.

We will update again as soon as we can.

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Cath - check, Pre-op - check, check

The catheterization today went very well. There were no surprises and no complications. Dr. Crystal was pleased with the data they collected as was Dr. Fraser. There is a questionable issue with the pulmonary valve possibly being a bit abnormal. If this is the case, the surgery will change and they will not do the DKS, but another procedure (too complicated to explain). If the pulmonary valve is in good working order then they will proceed with the original plan - the Glenn/DKS. We would love it if you would please pray for a good, working pulmonary valve so we can proceed as planned. The other option isn't bad, but not our first choice.

Today was a tough day for us. Seeing Field so groggy and grumpy (rightfully so!) after the cath was hard. And that's just a tiny glumpse of what tomorrow will be like.  We know it will be absolutely terrifying to see Field after surgery tomorrow.

The reality is that Field's heart is so very complex and this surgery is so very serious.  Though we appreciate Dr. Fraser's honesty, it was most definitely hard to hear of all that could go wrong.  It certainly wasn't fun signing consent forms.  But, we know that Field is in the Lord's hands and we trust that His will, will be done.  No matter the outcome, Field ultimately belongs to Him and we are so blessed to be his earthly parents.  We also believe that his vivacious spirit and high energy levels (God help us when Field is in his terrible 2's - is what a nurse told us today!) will get him through this surgery like a champ.  I will wear my "Team Field" t-shirt tonight with much pride - for Field is the strongest boy I know - he is our hero.  I do want to mention that Dr. Fraser was VERY hopeful for Field - he is a good, strong candidate for this surgery and Dr. F. believes that Field will lead a great, long life - we just gotta get through these crummy surgeries without major complications first.  

We have been admitted and are spending the night on the cardiac floor at TCH.  Tomorrow we will be taken to the pre-op surgical wing around 7-7:30.  Surgery starts between 8-9am.  It should last about 6 hours and they will be updating us about every hour or so.  All of our family will be here waiting with us in the waiting room, which by the way, is SOOOO nice.  Thank you, Ronald McDonald for the amazing CVICU waiting room at TCH.  It is stocked with comfy chairs, coffee, tea, lemonade, snacks, etc, and it is CLEAN.  San Antonio Methodist hospital (where we were for surgery #1) looks like a dump compared to TCH.  Sorry to all of you Methodist fans but I am a TCH fan all the way!  This place is amazing and full of heroes everywhere we look.  The doctors and nurses, the parents, and of course the children.

We would SO appreciate your prayers tomorrow morning from 7:30am until about 3 or so.  Of course we don't expect you to pray that entire time (but feel free to if you would like :), but if you think of us during those times, we would love your prayers.  Again, prayers for a functioning pulmonary valve, a successful and smooth surgery, and a very successful and smooth recovery.  Please pray against all complications especially those scary ones that nobody wants to hear about.

Many thanks and much love!
The Johnsons

Playing with daddy's iPhone before the cath - such a tech savvy boy!  Check out those long legs.

 A little groggy post-cath

Back to himself this evening (this is when the nurse told us we'll have our hands full with this baby - all boy and so very active!)

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Just another manic Monday

We have successfully arrived in Houston and checked in to the Loocke Family - "Four Seasons."  We are blown away by the support that the Houstonians have given us already.  For now, let's call them the "Houstonians with Halos," because quite honestly, that is just what they are.  Blair and Bryan have opened their beautiful home to us with meals provided and an entire suite all to ourselves.  It is perfect and no detail was left unnoticed.  Thanks to you, B and B!  And the sweet basket with snacks, drinks. books, magazines and gift cards from an entire group of Houston friends - sorority sisters of mine, friends from mutual friends, friends of Brad's, high school friends, etc.  Thank you all so much.  You really are angels.  

Now to update you on the real reason you are checking our blog - the FIELD-STER.  We had great appointments today at TCH.  A chest x-ray (easy) and EKG (even easier) and an appointment with Dr. Cyrstal, whom we LOVE.  He is young, fun, and so very encouraging.  He will do the catheterization tomorrow.  We will arrive at 6am and the cath should start somewhere between 7-8am.  Field will go under general anesthesia for this.  So please be in prayer that all goes well, they get the information and data they need to prepare for surgery, and that there are no complications or surprises.  Recovery takes about 6 hours so we will be in limbo most of tomorrow.  We will be admitted onto the cardiac wing for the night so that the transition to surgery on Wednesday morning will be that much easier.  So tonight will be our last full night of sleep for awhile.

We have not seen Dr. Fraser yet but plan to see him sometime tomorrow afternoon to discuss the details of surgery.

Our families are all traveling into Houston tomorrow - please pray that they all arrive safely.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support.  Every single one of you - whether we have met you in person or not - is a true blessing to us.  Please keep the prayers a-comin'!

Much Love,
The Johnsons