Hi everyone this is Lance, Lon's brother, I am the guest blogger today. I am in Denver with Lon, Heidi and Kambry.
First of all I would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and support. Please keep the prayers coming they are working!
This hospital is truly amazing! I feel very blessed and grateful for their decision to come here for Kambry's care. Words cannot describe it.
On to the hurdle...
Kambry was ready for her surgical repair this morning. The Doctors felt she was in the best spot possible and didn't want to wait any longer. The surgery options were to use a muscle flap (imagine sewing your shirt sleeve together) or a Gortex patch (like the material in a winter jacket). The hole was in the left diaphragm and they used the Gortex patch because the hole was rather substantial. Being Kambry was on heparin to keep her blood thin for the ecmo pump there was/is concern for bleeding from the surgery. So during surgery it was pins and needles around here! For about four hours we waited, and waited, and waited and waited some more for the surgeon to come to the waiting room.
Finally he arrived. The repair went well but, the hole was larger than anticipated. Her right diaphragm is in good shape and left diaphragm is now Gortex tough!
The lead doctor felt very good about the surgery and was super encouraging. The next step was to wait a couple hours and then take an X-ray to check the progression of the left lung. The X-Ray came back with very nice progress. See the picture below. The black spot on the right is her left lung and on previous X-rays it wasn't visible!
Two hurdles in one day! She is now stable and resting. The next goal is to get off of the ecmo pump. It could happen as early as tomorrow or as long as it takes.
In my opinion Kambry is like David from "David and Goliath" and this is a bible verse from Samuel that rings true with her.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
She is selfless, young, defiant, and a fighter! She can and will conquer this.
The quote from Bear Bryant below sums up Kambry's daily experience.
Thanks for the prayers!