9 out of 10

After a very long day of waiting, Cory finally made it out of surgery. The surgeon came to talk to Lee & I at about 3:00 this afternoon and told us that Cory had done amazingly well. There were no complications during surgery and he said that Cory was expected to make a full and speedy recovery.

We had to wait another hour before we were able to see Cory. The nurses and doctors had to transfer him from the OR into the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and hook up all his monitors and medications. When we finally saw him, we were so happy and so relieved that he looked so good.

A PICU doctor came to update us on Cory's progress and she also said that he was doing quite well after his surgery. His blood pressure is good, his vitals are good, and he is on less medication than he was before. I asked her to rate him on a scale of 1 to 10... with 1 being not so great and 10 being very very good. She gave him a 9 out of 10. I can't tell you how proud I was of my little fellow for coming out of surgery with such flying colours!

The doctors have informed us that the next 24 hours are critical... but they are confident that everything will go smoothly for Cory. Cory is still hooked up to his breathing tube and is still paralyzed, but he will be weaned off of the ventilator over the coming week. The doctors have the skin on his chest sewn up, but his sternum is still open. This allows for swelling to occur, which is normal after open heart surgery. They hope to close his chest on Sunday or Monday.

So as you can imagine, Lee & I are very proud and very relieved parents. And once again... I have to thank everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and well wishes. They certainly have helped our little guy pull through his surgery!

And a big thank you to my playgroup girls in St. Adolphe for the special necklace! It is so nice to know that you are thinking about us! Thank you!

Until next time...