Latest on Elysha

I had a news letter almost ready and was waiting for the outcome of Richard and Katherine's visit to the Cardiologist. Guess none of us were quite prepared for how quickly things would change following this visit. Hence - my letter is not quite ready - but wanted to put up this note.
2 weeks ago, when they went for their appointment, expecting to be told the outcome of the Cardiologist's meeting with the rest of the surgical team- they found that he had not been able to attend that meeting and so were told to come back in 2 weeks. They were, however,given permission to attend the Brooks early Christmas dinner - (they had earlier been told - "no crowds, no kids, no family gatherings etc). So they were excited about this and were so thankful to get there - photos taken there can be seen on Rachel's blog as well as in other places.Wed 19th was the date for the next appointment where they had been told, the possibility of a heart transplant might be discussed Her oxygen levels had been down both at the paediatricians appointment and at this check at the Cardiologist - however, at yesterdays appointment,they had dropped even further, and so they were not permitted to take Elysha home -she was immediately admitted and put on the monitor etc. and they were told that they would do open heart surgery to insert a shunt between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, to increase the oxygen flow- and to buy time for her to hopefully be able to reach 6 months before they had to do thebig surgery. At this time they also said that the heart transplant would only be a last resort proceedure. When Richard quickly went into work to finalize things and collect some items from home - Elysha had a crisis where her O2 levels dropped to 49 and her heart rate went to 200 - the whole medical team rushed to her assistance and when Katherine called to inform Richard, she had returned to 89%. I am sure that was not a pleasant experience for Katherine to go thru -( not alone - as the Lord is always with her!!). The time of the surgery was not known when I was talking to Richard and it will be hard for them to access the internet for a bit We will update as we are able and in the meantime continue to pray for the surgeons, for Elysha and for her parents. We pray that they might be very conscious of His Everlasting Arms underneath them. Thank you for praying with us.