BREA IS GETTING A NEW HEART!!!!!
It has been a long day for Brea. The morning started out fine but during physical therapy Brea started to cry and I was not able to console her. The nurse thought maybe she was still sleepy since there had been lots of medical students coming through to see the Berlin Heart during her nap and it woke her up off and on. She gave her some Morphine thinking maybe she was in pain from the physical therapy but shortly after the medicine her blood pressure dropped to 55/20 and her heart rate shot up. They did a chest x-ray and an echocardiogram and the chest x-ray showed fluid around her lung. Usually this is a sign of heart failure but the echo was fine so they decided to put a chest tube in her. Once the tube was in they discovered that it was blood and lots of it. The chest tube has already drained 180 ccs of blood and they had already prepped the OR to do surgery to try to stop the bleeding.
I was in the room with Brea and the phone rang and the nurse handed it to me and it was the transplant coordinator. She asked me if I could see her face and I didn't know who it was. Earlier in the week she had told me that when she knew of a donor heart for Brea that she wouldn't be able to hide it and she said she was SMILING! I could barely talk because I was crying so hard.
We don't know what time the surgery will begin. We only know that the heart is coming from out of state. I will post again when I have specifics.
On a final note...please be in prayer for the donor's family. We know what price had to be paid in order for Brea to receive this beautiful gift and our hearts are breaking for the parents that have lost their little one. I pray that God will give them a sense of peace and the thought of another child's life being saved will bring them great comfort in their darkest hours. We may never know them but I can honestly say that I love them. I feel the same about them as I do about Brea's birthmother...they have given her a chance to live.
Goodnight from the mom of a broken hearted little girl who will soon be on the mend!
