Cath update.

Thank you for all the prayers, texts, calls, e-mails, and social media love today! We've read every single message that's come our way and we've been carried by your prayers and encouragement.

This will be another quick update tonight, as we have a very early morning and a very long day ahead of us tomorrow.  The cath today went wonderfully! It started much later than we hoped -- Ethan didn't go back into the cath lab until 1:00 -- but it was relatively quick and Ethan recovered well! He didn't complain a single time about being hungry while we waited and was in great spirits even as he fell asleep on the table.  Praise the Lord!

Dr. F was able to get some great images of Ethan's heart, which gave Dr. J (Ethan's new cardiac surgeon) a lot of good information for tomorrow's surgery.  Today's cath was even further confirmation that it's time to do this, and we're ready.  We also learned that Ethan's right and left pulmonary arteries have grown substantially over the past few years and are now considered "normal" for his age/size!

So, tomorrow.  Ethan will head into the operating room sometime around 8:00 in the morning.  It's going to be difficult to put him through that again, so we ask that you would pray for peace and calmness as we send him into the O.R.  The surgery will last most of the morning and will hopefully be over by early afternoon.  We learned today that Dr. J will not be replacing the conduit in its entirety, but will be "splicing it" and adding a bovine pericardium patch to increase its size, along with a whoppin' 23 mm valve.  This will set Ethan up beautifully for future procedures and give his team much more flexibility with how to treat future valve issues (even avoiding the OR altogether). 

How to pray:

-REST -- Jeramie is bunking with Ethan at the hospital tonight and I'm staying at a nearby hotel.  We all need really good sleep tonight and, as of 10:40, Ethan still wasn't asleep.  If you're still up and reading this, please pray specifically that we would wake up tomorrow well-rested!

-Dr. J and his team -- We are thoroughly impressed with the care Ethan is receiving and ask that you would pray for the hands that will be working on his heart tomorrow.  We pray for wisdom, clarity, and skillfulness for everyone who will be involved with Ethan's case.

-No complications -- The consent forms we signed today would make just about anyone queasy, and Dr. J was very honest about all the things that could go wrong.  We know the risks, but we also know that Ethan needs this.  It's a tough place to be as a parent, so we're fervently praying that all will go smoothly and without complication, and that Ethan will walk out of Duke healthier than he was when he walked in.

Thank you for loving us well and carrying this burden with us through your prayers! We love y'all!