Chloe's One Year Anniversary of Open Heart Surgery

Deuteronomy 10:21
He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.

One year ago today we watched, you waited for news, as little Chloe, only 13 weeks old was wheeled away into surgery to mend her broken little heart. If you remember, the months that had passed were grueling, as doctors could not decide exactly what action to take to help Chloe breathe. The ventilator, her life support, was hard at work, but her heart rate would soar to nearly 200 on a constant basis and she struggled every day to remain here with us. Pulmonologists waited for heart specialists to make moves, heart specialists waited on pulmonary! Each time I wrote this update asking for prayers, we were in dire need of encouragement and prayed that God would find mercy and give Chloe's medical team the answers to the puzzling little baby in the neonatal intensive care at Children's Hospital in Denver. Chloe's life was jeopardized so much of the time. Parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and friends-all were frazzled as days upon days stacked up, new problems arose and were dealt with one by one as we sat in shifts every day and every long night...never wanting to leave Chloe alone. God blessed us with nurses who fell in love with her and prayed along side of us, doctors who never gave up fighting for her, and thousands of people from all over the world came here to pray for her and for us.

The day the decision was made to fix her heart was a banner day, believe me! Something HAD to be done and Chloe was in need of a miracle. Knowing that it had to be done did not make it any easier to give kisses and well wishes as she disappeared into the closed walls in the surgery wing that early July morning. Not one of us acknowledged our fears, we only spoke of the miracle baby who fought like no other, who surprised doctors at each and every turn by doing exactly the opposite of whatever they expected of her. Chloe amazed us EVERY day and this day we prayed that the heart surgeon had been blessed and given special instructions to do his best with this very special child of God. So many unknowns plagued doctors all along, as so many of Chloe's organs were underdeveloped. So many things could have gone wrong. But they DID NOT! God was well represented that day in the operating room and each day following. Angels disguised as doctors and nurses repaired two holes in her open heart surgery and after hours of waiting and wondering, we we allowed to see our beloved Chloe.

Imagine! Three months old and open heart surgery! My mother had the procedure done at 78 and it was almost tortuous to watch the healing afterward with her! Chloe was medicated heavily when we were called to check in, the sight was not a pretty one, but Chloe lying there... breathing... heart rate STABLE, was a VERY beautiful thing! She had not one single complication and ahead of schedule was given less and less pain medication and released back to the NICU much earlier than planned! The surgery was a GIGANTIC success and from that day forward, Chloe was a new baby! We all watched that monitor that we had feared with awe, as numbers remained in the normal range hour after hour, day after day! Chloe had been given a new lease on life and I KNOW we ALL, you and each one of us, breathed a COLLECTIVE sigh of relief! So, today is the one year anniversary of the Warrior Princess getting a new lease on life! We all know that many problems arose afterward, that weeks turned into months and it was still six months before she was released to the love filled home where she now resides. But THAT day, those weeks following that surgery, gave us all a renewed sense of God's goodness and his promise that we all have purpose. Chloe is like no child I have ever seen. She has brought to date, 4,190 of us to share, encourage and love one another through faith and thanksgiving and I feel certain that with continued prayer and growing numbers, God hears the multitude of prayers and smiles down on us each every day. This child, this Warrior, has just begun whatever she has been sent here to do. Just look what she has done in 18 months! Given 18 years...WOW! If you scan through my pictures here, you can revisit that surgery day with us. My scripture for the day is very fitting! We are praising the Lord for Chloe and all things she has brought to us! Thank you God!