Surgery Complete!

Hi all. Thanks for all the prayers today...please don't stop! Avery's surgery was completed today at about 5:30. She was moved to the PICU at about 6:30 PM. We saw her briefly before the 7:00 pm shift change (during which visitors are not allowed). We can get back in a 8 PM, which is only 15 minutes away! The surgery was uneventful. Dr. Jallo said that she did well, was stable the entire time. He did not see anything that concerned him while in there. She did end up needing at least 2 units of blood. The surgery involved removing the temporal lobe as we expected and some parts of the frontal lobe, then the rest was purely disconnection of the remaining tissue. So, it was a functional hemispherectomy...not needing to be anatomical. That is a good thing, hopefully allowing recovery to be speedier and less likely to result in any complications. Please continue to say prayers towards those ends...speedy recovery and no complications! She looks well considering all that she went through today, but it was hard to see her. She was a trooper and the nurses think she is an absolute doll! I would agree. She is one tough cookie I tell you. I will try to post pics from here, if possible, in a couple of days. Keep the prayers coming please. They have been working! Also, keep a little boy named Gibson at UCLA in your thoughts and prayers too. He had his surgery yesterday and his Mom reported he is doing great. I'll ppost more tomorrow. We expect her to be a little grunpy for the nexct couple of days (I'd say!). Much love and many blessings. Thanks be to God! He got us through today and held Avery in his hands. Holly