A Sobering, Yet Blessed Evening

Dear all,

Believe it or not, we just got back from the hospital (at around 12: 15 am). We arrived an hour earlier tonight to spend time with Isaac from 6 to 7 pm before we met with the doctors. We then met with the doctors from 7 to almost 9 pm, and then grabbed a quick bite while waiting for the surgeon to prepare some consent forms (he took a bit of time because he very kindly tried to come up with an English translation for us). We ended up finshing up at the hospital a little past 11 pm.

In any case, we learned quite a few things about Isaac that we didn't know before:

-his PDA is very big for his size (2.5 mm)
-his PDA has created a lot of pressure in both of his left heart chambers and both chambers are enlarged
-there is a small hole (Patent Foramen Ovale) between one of the right heart chamber and one of the left heart chamber (sorry I don't remember which chambers)

Because of Isaac's size, prematurity and the large size of his PDA, this will be a much more complicated and riskier surgery than we originally thought based on what we have read and been told about PDA surgeries in the U.S. (I think in the U.S. it is usually a laparoscopy type surgery where a very small incision is made and the PDA is quickly closed with a metal clip). They will actually need to go in through Isaac's side/chest and suture his PDA up with silk thread. Once his PDA is ligated with the silk thread, the pressure in his left heart chambers should decrease and hopefully the small hole between his left and right heart chambers will close naturally because of the decrease in pressure and blood flow going from the right heart chamber to the left heart chamber. They couldn't tell us how long the actual surgery will take but they mentioned at least 2 hours.

There are a multitude of possible complications and I won't mention them here. I think both Jong and I were both a bit shocked coming out of the 2 hour meeting and having a hard time thinking that our tiny little boy will have to go through such a difficult surgery at such a premature age. But we very quickly realized that we have started getting a little too cocky about being in control again. I think we both thought PDA surgery would be simple and something that we can handle. God quickly reminded us that we really do not have control over anything, especially when it comes to Isaac and that we absolutely cannot handle things on our own without surrendering the whole situation to Him. At the end of it, we felt very blessed because God has given us such a special boy. It seemed like God allowed us to see Isaac very strong and active last night to give us comfort that Isaac is a very strong and determined boy. Yesterday, Isaac really seemed determined to climb to the front of his incubator and it seemed to me he really wanted to get out and go home.

Next week will be a very tough week between our move and Isaac's surgery. We therefore humbly ask all of you to pray for us, especially Isaac and the surgeon, anethesiologist, doctors and nurses. We are praying that the surgery will be successful with no complications and that Isaac's condition will really improve after the surgery. Please also pray for healing for me as I really want to recover from this really bad cough that I have and for Jong to regain some energy as he has been working himself ragged these days.

Unless there are changes in Isaac's condition, his surgery is scheduled to begin at 9 am Tokyo time next Thursday June 22. That is 8 pm Wed June 21 EST and 8 am Thur June 22 Hong Kong time.

Thanks for all your prayers for our precious little Isaac,

Sonia