Raising Up An Army

Time just did not allow today for Amy to write an update, so.....it's me again, Hope's Nana.

I have been overwhelmed today by the way that God is raising up an army of people who are getting on their knees and praying for God to bring healing to little Hope.  We are so touched and encouraged by the people who are posting links to this blog and spreading the word that this little girl is in need of some serious intercession!   We believe that God's power is released to move in mighty ways when people bring their petitions to him and pray in faith for Him to intervene and bring glory to His Name.  We also believe that our God is a God of miracles and that He is the same God today that calmed the sea, that made the lame walk and the blind to see.  We are in awe of our great God and the way He is laying Hope on the hearts of so many to pray.  We are forever grateful.

Today was another day of waiting.......we knew that the weekly meeting of the cardiologists and surgeons was taking place where Hope would be presented again to be discussed as a team.  Late in the day, the head of cardiology came to tell us the results of that meeting.  Basically, it is felt that Hope, first of all, needs the hernia repair done.  I won't go into all the details, but they are worried about it making further complications for her if left untreated.  However, the surgery could aggravate her ascites even more and pose a problem with drainage of the fluid in her abdomen (not being able to stop the drainage once it starts), as well as the possible strain on her heart.  However, Dr. Dyck is going to consult with General Surgery and see if they would agree to do the surgery in spite of the risks in order to allow Hope the chance to get her closer to the Glenn.  If the surgery was a success and she tolerated it well, they would then give her some time to see if perhaps the ascites would heal on its own.  This normally could happen over the period of a couple of years, but if her body could repair itself quickly, this would improve the chances of the ascites not returning at a later time and reduce the risks of the Glenn considerably.  They would then, look at doing the Glenn when she was 6 months old or even later, possibly up to 7 or 8 months if her heart function was still adequate.  Yesterday, Amy overhead Hope's surgeon tell Dr. Dyck that he would not operate on Hope and do the Glenn because he didn't think she would make it.   Today, however, Dr. Ross has reconsidered (after the team meeting) and has agreed to do the Glenn if she did well with her hernia repair and was given some time for the ascites to improve.  This was the hope for Hope that we so desperately needed to hear!  They are not giving up on Hope!  Although this was encouraging to hear, Hope still has some major hurdles to overcome over the coming weeks and we are mindful of her great need for prayer.

Things you can pray for:......

- that the general surgery doctor would be willing to operate on Hope's hernia and that it would be done at the best time for Hope's little body in order to tolerate it well

- that there would be no complications with the abdominal fluid or ascites or clotting issues

- that her ascites would miraculously disappear and be healed completely in record time!!

- that she would remain free of infection (her swabs came back negative for any virus or infection and her cough is improving, however, today they moved in a young boy into Hope's room that had a collapsed lung from a respiratory infection - 2 hours later they moved Hope out after realizing that he was highly infectious and needed to be isolated!!)

- that she would not develop any further clots

- that God would protect her body against any further additional issues, complications or medical mishaps

We realize that Hope has a lot of obstacles ahead and that it is going to take a miracle for her to overcome all of these and be able to come through the Glenn with flying colors!  But, we are asking God for the impossible and entrusting Him with her every need.  God IS able to do exceedingly more than we can ever dream or imagine and so that is exactly what we are asking Him for.......more than we can ever dream or imagine!  We hold dear to His promises and continue to ask God to give us HOPE!