The Petra Zone

Most will recall that my baby daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart disease that required corrective open-heart surgery when she was just 5-days old. Presently, Ashley is 9 months old.

The surgery was very successful, and their thinking at the time was that if we were lucky, another surgery later on might not be needed.

But the doctors have been monitoring her pulmonary artery for several months now and the re-narrowing of pulmonary that has continued to worsen. They now feel another surgery is necessary to remove the scar-tissue that is causing the restricted blood flow. In addition, due to the pressure created in the artery because of the restricted blood flow, blood has been seeping back into her heart through her pulmonary valve, which wasn't completely normal to begin with, so they aren't sure yet whether they will replace it with natural tissue or with an artificial valve. If they replace the valve she was born with, she will certainly need 2 more surgeries to replace the artificial valve with a larger one as she grows.

So... this Monday, she will be back at the Children's Hospital of Cincinnati for an EKG and other tests. On Tuesday, they will perform a heart cath and then decide what to do about her pulmonary valve. On Wednesday, they will perform open-heart surgery to make the corrections.

We have every assurance that all will turn out well, and that Ashley will quickly recover as babies heal rapidly. We know God is in control, and that He blessed us with Ashley when we thought we could not have a baby on our own, and we know He will take care of her.

My wife Alison and I would greatly appreciate your prayers.

It's hard when babies have problems and need surgery, it's scary and difficult to deal with. I'll pray for her.

meagan and I will be praying for you and your family, if you need anythign we are close so don't hesitate to ask.

I will be praying and I also sent a request to my prayer group. Let us know how things go.

I`m so but so sorry to hear this David... Yeah, we will pray and she is gonna be fine David, God has a purpose for her no matter what circumnstances are telling you right now.

I Hope this situation goes away soon.

Thanks to all!! I know God will take care of His own and that she will be fine. It's so hard to think about what she'll actually go through... there's so much she won't understand, but at least she won't remember any of it. I'll let everyone know how she does next week.

Thanks to Petrapraise for showing me how to post photos, I thought I'd include this one.

Hey Dave

I will lift your daughter and the rest of your family in prayer. Take care and Godbless to you and yours

In Christ

Rich

that baby is so pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I gotta send you a pic of my nephew

Wow, I just now read this post. What a precious little girl she is. My former Cowboy Church Pastor down in Clovis, NM, his little baby girl had heart problems too after she was born and they had to do surgery on her also - and she's one healthy 2 year old!!!

Lord Jesus, thank You precious Savior for Your everlasting patient love for us and for blessing us with the gift of precious children. Lord, You are ever so aware of little Ashley's condition and the worry her parents David and Alison must feel. You are also with her and them as doctors were able to find and diagnose her condition. So I pray, that as she has to face surgery once more, that You first of all would calm the child and assure her of your loving presence, assure her parents that You are in control and that nothing escapes Your notice and that they can lean on Your strong arms who will bear them up. Lord let them feel You more than they have ever before and fill their hearts with faith and trust in You. They can't do it without You. Then Lord, give wisdom unto the doctors as they will need to know how to treat Ashley in the surgery. Give them steady hands and help them with the skill that You have given them as a gift from above so that they may bring the gift of healing unto this child guided by You. May the nurses be kind and comforting and give them wisdom as well as the anesthesiologist. Fill the surgery room with Your presence and may it be felt by all and thank You so much Jesus for Your watchcare over this child.
Thank You Lord for doctors and thank You Jesus for her recovery. Help her body to heal quickly and hold her firmly in Your hands.
Thank You Lord for her parents who love her and help her through this time. Thank You Jesus for answering the prayers that are going up to You on behalf of this child.
In Jesus Name, Father, we humbly lay this request before You and we thank You for Your provision. AMEN

We will be praying for your family and remember God is in control.




Nothing in the heavens or earth can stand against a fervant prayer of a righteous man.

Quick update... Ashley had her surgery on Thursday last week, a day later than expected. She was taken into the OR at 2:30pm, and the procedure lasted about 4 hours. There was a lot of prep work which took the greatest amount of time - she had IVs stuck in each foot, her shoulder , two drainage tubes inserted into her chest below her incision, and two pacer wires entering her abdomen leading to her heart in case they had to "pace" her heart. The actual procedure took about an hour.

Ashley's surgeon was very pleased with the results. Ashley was stable during the entire procedure. Without going into a lot of technical details, the scar tissue and the remains of her original valve that was causing the obstructed blood flow are now gone. A new patch sewn into her pulmonary artery is now in place with a donated natural valve which appears to be functioning properly. The doctors are optimistic that Ashley will not have to have additional surgeries, and they feel that although there is always a risk for developing scar tissue, it isn't likely to form.

My wife remains in Cincinnati with Ashley, and I will re-join them tomorrow evening. Ashley is progressing and healing on schedule, and each day more medication, tubes and IVs are taken away. Ashley is expected to be released on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

Up to this point, it's been hard for us to see the sadness in Ashley's eyes and in her expression. Although she doesn't cry or show any visible signs of pain, she seems despondent. We're hoping that when she moves out of ICU tomorrow, the less clinical environment will help her regain her happy spirit.

We are deeply greatful to everyone on the Zone for your prayers and moral support during this trying time. Please continue to remember Ashley in your prayers as she has a long way to go to fully recover - physically and emotionally.

And Sam, thank you for the prayer you posted in this thread. You have a wonderful gift of knowing exactly what to pray for.

David, I am so glad to here the good news. Keep us up to date on how ya'll are doing and don't forget to let us know if you need anything.

I'm glad everything went well. It is hard to see them hurting. Any surgery is potentially serious, and it's especially rough when a little one has to go through it, but it is amazing how far medicine has come as far as surgery.

THAT PIC IS CUTE TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!