*** SURGERY #3 SUMMER 2013 ***

Dear family, friends, readers:

We thought we had another year, but symptoms/doctors have dictated that the time for Scarlett's third open heart surgery (OHS) is upon us; it will happen the second week of July 2013 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).  For those of you not familiar with her background, you may read previous blog posts, but the summary is: she was born 27 July 2011 with a congenital heart defect (CHD) called Double Inlet Left Ventricle (DILV), has been through 2 OHSs, and is now due for the third and final stage (Fontan procedure).  While this is a highly stressful time for Mommy and Daddy, we are striving to release all our fears, anxieties, and stress to the Lord because we know He is in control.  We love Scarlett more than words can describe and we will place Scarlett in His hands the day of her surgery as we do each and every day.  PLEASE pray for our family regarding this upcoming surgery, surrounding events, and the trip from Indiana to Philly. 

If anyone reading this post is going through a similar situation and has questions, concerns, or needs someone to talk to, feel free to contact us.  We want others to know that there are great cardiology programs out there, wonderful support infrastructure, and that our daughter Scarlett is a precious gift and the most important thing to us on this earth.

Ways to support us:

    -Share this blog, use it to get the prayer chain going!

    -Financial support:  This year we are running a fundraiser to support travel and medical expenses.  However, note that HALF of all proceeds will be donated to the Children's Heart Foundation for CHD research.  If you have questions, concerns, or wish to specify a donation distribution percentage other than 50/50, email us. 

***REMEMBER: If you want updates on Scarlett and how we're doing, you only have to read the blog!  We will often post multiple times daily beginning early July.  You may also contact us for anything if desired.  We would love hospital visits and any kind of support you'd like to offer; we know we will need it.

Thanks for reading.

-Scarlett's Daddy.

Some pictures of our beautiful girl!

Again, sorry there has not been a post in a while.  I have been thinking about it often, but didn't want to update the blog until I had all the information.  Well, it seems I will be waiting a while longer for everything that I wanted, so I thought I would just give everyone a quick update along with some pictures until I get the rest of the information...  So, in April we saw Scarlett's cardiologist.  Scarlett's echoes have been good, but the last couple months I have noticed Scarlett's O2 saturations dropping and of course wanted to see what the cardiologist thought/ how concerned Aaron and I should be about it.  She informed us that we will need to move Scarlett's surgery up.  Now up until this point we were waiting for Scarlett to gain enough weight, as we were told she needed to weigh at least 30 pounds, to be ready for her third heart surgery (the Fontan).  So of course Aaron and I had put the surgery out of our heads (as much as you can anyway) because we knew our 20 pound child would never reach 30 pounds by the summer (since this surgery isn't as urgent as the past they do it in the summer to avoid the "sick" months/ flu season).  Of course in true Scarlett fashion, she had other plans, and I guess just wants to get it over with!  So we will be traveling to Philly sometime this summer so she can have the surgery.  We have not been given a date yet, but I will update everyone as soon as I can.  Otherwise we would really appreciate any prayers anyone has to offer!

Now for some fun stuff, here are some of Scarlett's pictures!  :o)

Scarlett 20 months/ Easter 2012

Bubbles!!!

Easter bunny Glasses!

Scarlett 21 Months Old

Pretty Girl!

This is Scarlett's "Snorty" face!