Pre-Op Appt.

We told her Monday night, that she needed to go back to the hospital to have her heart fixed again. Her first response was, "Oh, my heart is broken. That's sad." We talked a little bit about staying overnight at the hospital and what she wants to pack in her bag. She asked all her important questions, like, "do they have stuffed animals there?" And then after a minute or so she said, "let's play this game." And that was the end of the conversation. We wanted to prepare her for her pre-op visit & tour the next day.
Yesterday, Alexis went for her pre-op appointment at the hospital. It was a very thorough check up to make sure she is healthy enough to undergo surgery on Monday. It began with lots of paperwork at the Admissions desk and then onto meet with an anesthesiologist to explain their process and a little bit about the ventilator and heart-lung bypass machine that she will be on during surgery. We also met the surgery nurse, Kristen, who will be very involved in Lexi's care during the entire process (pre-op, during surgery, and post-op). They did some lab work, a chest x-ray, an EKG. Towards the end of the appointment we met with the Child Life Specialist who works in the CVICU and she gave us a tour of the new unit. All tests and reports came back good, so she is set to have her open-heart surgery Monday, November 28th at 8 am. We will arrive at Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH) on Monday at 6 am and we will check in and hang out in the surgery pre-op area and meet with Dr. Nigro (Lexi's surgeon) one more time and probably a few other people. The surgery is expected to last around 4 hours.
This week has been busy with dr. appts. and other things and it's been a good distraction. I have to say as scared and nervous as we are as parents, I think after our pre-op appt. I kind of had a little bit of a feeling of peace. I feel that we have asked all the questions that we want ask, we've met quite a few of the people who will be on her surgery team (and we really like them and feel comfortable & confident with them), and now the rest is up Lexi, her heart, and the Lord. Thank you to all of you who are praying for Lexi!
We are excited to see Gramma Cindy & Papa Tom who will arrive tomorrow night to spend a few days with Lexi before she goes to the hospital and help care for Madison while Lexi is in the hospital.
We wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving! And we will post as soon as we have an update on Monday. Thanks again for all your love, support and most importantly prayers! Keep them coming.