I'm home - safe and sound. :-) SO GLAD to be home and sleep in my own bed. Good news, her O2 stats are up a little - low to mid 80's most of the time. I wasn't able to leave until 3:30. I thought for sure since she arrived with out even a fever that I would be able to leave fairly early today. But things don't go quite like you would think when she is watched closely by 3 different specialists at Doernbecher: ENT, Cardiology, and Endochronology. She has to be "cleared" by all of them and the communication between departments to residents to nurses to me often times is like the old game "telephone". How it starts out isn't exactly what it ends up by time it trickles down to me. First I was told I would be a possible discharge on Monday - I was completely floored being that she arrived perfectly fine. Then I was told that I was indeed going home. The issue was the fact that since the Cath was only 1 1/2 weeks ago, they wanted to make sure that the cause of the fever was not an infection that had gotten in the blood stream during the procedure. They took a blood sample at our hospital here, but we won't know the results until tomorrow. I'm just grateful her fever didn't last long, and I'm sure it was just a little bug that had been going through my family. Everyone but me had been sick through out the week at least for a few hours, so I really wasn't surprised. It's amazing the steps they took just for a fever - I pray she stays healthy and we don't have to go through that again!
Thanks to all of you who "stay in touch" through our blog, and pray for us. Sometimes it's easy to fall into the thought "do my prayers really matter". THEY DO! If I have learned anything through this experience, it is that there really are a lot of people who care about us, who pray for us, and those prayers, I believe, are carrying Kahlia through these months of preparation for her eventual open heart surgery. With all the precautions they take for such seemingly "minor" setbacks, it really scares me at how fragile her little body really is. Fear sneaks in sometimes - wondering how she will do when the time comes for her surgery. Will she be strong enough to withstand the surgery? I/we love her more and more with each day God has given her to us. She is such a huge blessing to us - but there is an underlying fear even in the kids. When I told them yesterday I was taking Kahlia to the Emergency Room, Brendon said, "she's gonna die, isn't she?" Deep down they're all scared, and truthfully, I can't honestly say an adament "no". All we can do is trust the Lord to carry us through this time. He's in charge of her future, and I truly believe He has great plans for her. This is where true trust and faith have to be shown through action. These are very real emotions and tough times for our kids to watch us go through this with Kahlia. But I truly believe that God will be glorified through this process, and they will be stronger spiritually because of this - even at their young ages. They are watching us and how we react, and I want to learn and grow from this whole experience as well.
On the flip side, we have to make sure that ALL our kids' needs are being met - not just Kahlia's. They all need to feel loved and cared for - that's where the balancing act of life comes in. They have to learn to be flexible and unselfish (which are tough lessons to learn sometimes when you're a kid who wants everything your way!), and Scott and I have to learn to be sensitive to their needs so they don't feel left out or not loved as much as Kahlia. I think we're doing an ok job, we just need to keep those communication lines open!! They still ALL adore Kahlia, fight over her, and touch and hold her probably too much. It's good to see their love for her - it makes it easier for them to make sacrifices for her since their love for her is also getting stronger and stronger. God is good. And with that - Good night! :-)

We so feel everyone's prayers, and Kahlia is doing just fine. :-) They were worried about her at the hospital, because she was SO lathargic - like a rag doll. She was just burning. I had never seen her so completely out of it. After calling Doernbecher to talk with the Cardiology dept. up here, they knew she should be watched overnight. Doernbecher felt comfortable having her observed at Bay Area Hospital, but the ER doctor did not. He said that if she got worse, they don't have the necessary equipment to take care of her, so he wanted her to go up to Doernbecher....so I drove home, grabbed a change of clothes (Scott was still at the fair for his campaign), and took off with Kahlia to Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Scott's mom and sister were watching the other kiddos thank goodness! :-) By time we got here, her fever was completely gone -wouldn't you know it. After driving all that way, I kind of wanted her to have a fever just so it made it worth the trip! I really am joking - I am very grateful that her fever is gone, just a little frustrated I drove 4 hours for nothing! But, even the doctors and nurses said here that we did the right thing. It's always better to error on the side of caution then to regret not coming in. So here we are - spending another night. She didn't get to bed until about 10:30. Hoping she sleeps through the night - last night she didn't do so well....
The other discouraging thing is that her oxygen sats are back down in the mid 70's - which is what they were before her Cardiac Cath a week in a half ago. So much for added energy! Not sure what the next step now is. Probably won't actually speak to her Cardiologist until sometime early next week.
We also plan to take her into ESD next week for a full evaluation - hearing test - and start her on physical, occupational, and speech therapy - as needed.
As I always say - thanks for all your encouraging words, prayers, and support. This is a difficult time for our family as we have so much on our plate right now! God is faithful, and I KNOW He's carrying us through this time - because we sure couldn't do it on our own!

I'm going to take Kahlia into the ER as soon as Scott's mom gets here to watch the other kids...she has a high fever, and it could be related to her procedure last week. We are praying that this is a precaution and that everything is ok. Scott's at the county fair until 10:00 tonight with his campaign - will keep everyone posted - please pray!

The 100% is her oxygen level at that point. It didn't stay there, but it was so nice to see that number!!! :-)

Kahlia at Grandma Brown's house after she came home from the hospital - she looks so good with her PINK finger and toe nails! :-)

Dr. Armsby on the left was the main Cardiac Surgeon performing the procedure. Dr. Bailly was also assisting. We are so grateful for them - they did a GREAT job!

This is a picture of Brendon on his bunk at camp.

It's been a week since Kahlia's "procedure". She is doing FABULOUS!! She is getting stronger every day, and we see more of who she really is - it is wonderful! Her first night at home she escaped from her bed, I didn't know it, and she fell asleep in the middle of her floor. Poor girl! The next night, she "escaped" head first out of her bed, and I caught her and put her back in bed. We went through this about 10 times before she decided she didn't want to fight it any more... It's actually good to see her act like a normal almost 2 year old finally! She is also able to get into a sitting position from laying down now. She had only done it once or twice before her procedure, now she does it all day long - it's wonderful to see her get stronger! She no longer stays in the living room when I put her down. If we all leave the room - she follows us now! She is still "scooting" across the floor - but she's going farther and faster then she did before. Hoping to see her crawl soon.

Brendon had a great week of his first overnight camp. I just have to get over the fact that he had "gray" teeth since he only brushed them once all week and dirt had literally begun to stick to the plaque on his teeth, and the fact that he came back with almost all clean clothes - including underwear! I asked him if he liked his counselor, and he told me he is a lot like me. I asked him what he meant by that and he said, " he disciplined a lot and he cares about my feelings". I thought that was hilarious!!

Over all - it's been a great day! We arrived at OHSU at 6:30 this morning, but they didn't take her back to surgery until 12:00 noon. That wasn't supposed to be the case, but because of the shortage of rooms from the equipment failure yesterday, it put everyone back several hours. Kahlia wasn't quite so good today - she had a pretty fussy morning.
They didn't bring her back from surgery until around 3:45. It was long, but they were VERY pleased with the results. They ended up not even needing to put in the stent at this time - wow!! I'm not really good with details, but they went in the a cath on both sides, and put 3 different balloons in stretching and dialating her little arteries to allow more blood flow. They should stay open more now, and her oxygen saturation rates are looking GREAT!! She went in for her surgery with 69% saturation rate - and she is now ranging between 81 and 90%!!!!! It's 90% this very moment!! :-) She hasn't even woken up yet - so I can't wait to see how she feels with her new found energy level!! She usually wakes up from anesthesia tired, groggy, and grumpy, but after that she should feel great! I am so grateful for her great care at OHSU. The whole Cardiac team has been absolutely WONDERFUL!
The other good news is that this is a very temporary fix. They are now thinking her full repair could be in 3-6 months instead of the original thought of 6-12 months - yea!! From an insurance stand point - we're really pulling for her surgery to be before the end of the year! :-)
I'm feeling good - relaxed - and relieved. So grateful we don't have to have open heart surgery on Thursday. Grateful she will most likely get discharged tomorrow, and we can go on to have a normal rest of our summer.
Thanks to all of you who are praying for both our little Kahlia and our family as a whole. As the summer winds down, Scott's campaign begins to wind up!! Knowing our luck - they will schedule her full repair surgery right around election time in November - what are the chances of that? Hopefully none, but God tends to have a sense of humor with us -trying to find the busiest times for us to be even busier!
Anyway - that's all for now.

Once again...flexibility, flexibility, flexibility!!! Kahlia's Cath surgery was cancelled due to equipment failure. After spending 3 hours at the hospital this morning, we were sent "home" until tomorrow morning where she will be admitted AGAIN at 6:30 in the morning. She had to go until 1:15 today with out food - all for nothing. The poor thing did GREAT though - you would have never known - she was happy as a clam waiting at the hospital - she was absolutely wonderful - a charmer for everyone. So - we will try again tomorrow!! :-)

Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility!!! Things are always changing - never count on anything!! Kahlia's Cardiologist called yesterday with some good news. They have had many discussions about her up there, and they have changed the course that Kahlia is now on. They want to avoid an actual open heart surgery at this time, so they are going to try a less invasive approach on Monday (her surgery is scheduled for Thursday). It is just going through a Cath and putting in a stent - almost like a balloon they can expand to allow more blood flow - there's a lot more to it - it's just too complicated to really "get it" enough to actually write it down!! They are hoping for an immediate oxygen saturation increase - mid 80's at least - still in the cath lab. They will watch her over night. If her heart responds like they hope it will, then the surgery is cancelled, and we wait 6 months to a year for her full heart repair after she is a lot stronger and healthier. If she does not respond the way they were hoping, they are leaving her surgery date open so they will be able to move forward with their original plan. I like this plan MUCH better. No open heart surgery - at least yet. Please pray she responds to the cath surgery, and we can be out in a day! :-)
Brendon goes to his first over night camp on Sunday - I am really excited for him! Boys Camp (grades 4-6) up at Twin Rocks Friends Camp - where my sister and her husband work. He's going to have a GREAT week! :-)