Hope's HAPPY HEART DAY! May 17th

3 years ago (May 17th, 2007) Scott and I handed off our precious 5 month old baby girl to the cardiology team at Childrens Hospital at OU Medical Center in OKC. It nearly broke my heart handing her to strangers while she cried and held out her arms for me. I will never forget the feeling of complete helplessness, the understanding that possibly she might not make it through this surgery. We were surrounded with the love and support of our families while in the waiting room. The wait was for updates came very slowly. Around 9 that evening we got the phone call that they were closing her up and everything looked good so far, but the next 24 hours were critical. About an hour later Hope's surgeon Dr. Peter came into the waiting room to let us know everything went well and she looked good. Her bypass machine had malfunctioned but luckily not at a critical point during the surgery. Finally sometime after midnight she was moved to the PICU and we were able to see her. The image I saw will be forever burned in my memory. She looked like a pale lifeless doll. I stayed in the room with her until she woke up the next morning from the anesthesia around 8 am. She was extrememly fussy at first but once the groggyness seemed to wear off she recognized me and seemed excited to see me and her daddy. We spent 7 days in the PICU because of a few minor setbacks. By the end of our stay Hope was her happy active little self. It was unbelievable to me that after a major open heart surgery, (other than the healing wounds) 7 days later it was as if nothing had ever happened to her.



Hope is an amazing little girl. Her strength, tenacity, and love of life astound me everyday. She is truly my hero and I cannot imagine life without her in it! HAPPY HEART DAY HOPE!!!