Our Heart Hero Continued

Abby has been through A LOT in her short 16 years on this earth. I am so amazed and inspired by her and her strength daily. I want to share with you an old post but I felt like I couldnt change it. This is a post I did a few years ago during CHD Awareness Week about my feeling when Abby went through her second open heart surgery. I hope you enjoy learning about our sweet heart hero.

            "The Second Part of my story is fast forwarded to Abby's 2nd open heart surgery which took place last summer (2010). Before the actual surgery Abby and her mom Nikki found out that Abby's leaky valve needed to be replaced a lot sooner than they had anticipated. they were hoping to make it into Abby's teens. But after some testing they decided to move it to early 2010. Abby and Nikki attended surgery prep classes to find out as much as they could about what Abby was going to be going through. After a few times of her surgery being pushed back due to other cases. The dreaded and much anticipated day came. James and I arrived at the Wardell house around 9:30 to help watch the boys. in all honesty I thought I was going to see a side of Abby I thought i would never see. A frightened little girl quiet with dread. But I was proved wrong. Abby was happy to see us and after giving each of us hugs she showed us a few things she was excited for. Including her new piano book The Nightmare Before Christmas. (A much beloved movie in our home.) After everything that was needed was gathered instructions on food, diapers, etc. was given and many hugs and kisses all around. Abby, Justin, Nikki, and Nona (my mother in law) were off to Primary Children's Medical Center. Abby was the second surgery of the day. James, Dad A. and I tried to settle in after they left but it was difficult. We were tending the two youngest boys Ethan and Gavin. Nate (the oldest boy) was over at a friends house. On our end was just a lot of waiting and trying to distract ourselves by playing with the boys. But the flip side I am going to again give the readers digest version of her mothers story which you can find HERE to read it directly from her. After they got to the hospital at first it was just routine stuff medical history, allergy history, weight, etc. then Abby had to change into her medical pajamas...which she thought looked like old man jammies. She walked around acting like an old man making everyone laugh. Abby's surgery was scheduled for 12:30PM. So they sat and waited. Around 12:30 a nurse came in and apologized for the wait and told them that the baby who was having the same surgery wasn't doing well and Abby's surgery was going to be moved back to 3:30PM. After waiting for so long and having not a lot to do Abby's fear turned into impatience. Nikki described it as a blessing from the Lord to have all the fear and anxiety turn into impatience to help Abby through this. the waiting continued and they were able to go to a waiting room where there were other kids waiting for their different surgeries. The played games, read books, and even found a Wii in the corner and played Mario Party to help pass the time. Around 3:15 Abby's surgeon came in. He was a blessing as well. Abby was suppose to have a different surgeon but because of a change she was able to get him. Dr. Kaza is a graduate of Harvard and came to Primary Children's Hospital from Children's Hospital Boston. He told them that he could perform this surgery without stopping Abby's heart. A huge relief for all. He explained everything that would take place with this surgery. After that he looked at Nikki and told her that he was going to take good care of Abby and treat her like his own. I can only imagine the gratitude and relief Nikki felt when he said this to her. After the surgeon left the anesthesiologist came in shortly after to talk to them as well. He came in and explained all the technical stuff that goes along with is and joked around with Abby for awhile. Then the time came. I am going to take this next part out of Nikki's story again that you can read HERE.

"With that, it was time. I have walked the hall once before. Once before with a baby in my arms, who had no understanding of what was going on. I could cry a little without worrying about scaring her. I could act nervous and anxious as we walked the hall without adding more stress upon her. This time, I think this picture says it all:

I choke back tears every time I look at it. I look at little Abby in the picture….and I see the determination and the courage in the way she holds her head high and set, in the swing in her arms, in the way she has her bear, “squeezer” clutched under her arm like she is heading for a touchdown, and in the length of her stride and the confidence in every inch of her tiny body! I don’t know many adults that would walk down this hallway and into open heart surgery like this, but Abby did! She never faltered. She showed me that their was no place for fear, only courage in the face of that fear. At the end of the hallway, we stopped at the “see you later line” and I kissed her, and told her I would see her when she woke up. She then walked over the line that separates me from her, and she marched down the hallway with her anesthesiologist and Rachelle and didn’t look back. No tears, no long “see you laters”, just pure courage."

I can remember Dad (A.) and I was sitting on Nikki and Justin's back porch watching the two little boys play in the backyard, (James was at school) when we got the call from Mom A. that she just went in. I can remember saying little prayers in my heart for the next...I cant even remember how long. Dad and I had been lightly chatting and then after that call we were both silent for a long time. Just thinking and praying.

Nikki goes on talking about how after they said their see you laters. :) they got a quick bite to eat and settled in the waiting room to wait. they got updates from Rachelle who said that Abby hopped on the table and talked and talked till the anesthesiologist put the mask on and went to sleep. Commenting on her wonderful personality. Then about an hour later a nurse came in to give another update. Abby was being prepared for the bypass machine. We all were sure just how long this surgery would take since the last time it was only suppose to be 4 to 5 hours and turned out being longer. But 4 hours later Dr. Kaza came in to tell everyone that the surgery went great. "textbook". He replaced Abby's valve with a 21" bovine and as long as the valve lasts she wont have to get a replacement, because of it's size. they waited the allotted time to be able to go see her and started heading towards the CICU. When they got there Abby was surrounded by medical staff Dr. Kaza told them that they were trying to extubate (take a tube out) her and to come back later. they waited and after being told once more to come back they waited a little longer. When they finally got to see her they found out that when they were taking the tube out it caused her lung to collapse. Other than that everything was looking great.

James, Dad (A.) and I got the call that she was out and everything was ok. We heard about her lung and that she was now in CICU. We were happy and relieved to hear that the surgery went well. But I was nervous about her lung collapsing. I didn't really know what that meant or if/how it was going to effect Abby. We were anxious to go see her, but it was going to be awhile.
Abby had a hard night, she was reacting to the morphine and because of the high flow of oxygen she kept complaining that she couldn't breath. She did get some sleep.

The second day Abby continued to battle nausea and was in a lot of pain. She was also getting horrible anxiety attacks because of it. this day was full of goods and bads. I wont tell all of them, I will leave that for when you read the story. Abby was in a lot of pain, and her back was starting to get horrible knots in them cause her even more pain. She was able to hold her SAT's in the low 90's so they were able to take out the high flow oxygen and just have her on a low flow nasal tube. They also took out her catheter and a arterial line out. the morphine continued to make her sick and caused her a lot of anxiety, and with any surgery depression was starting to set in. they had Abby move from her bed to a rocking chair that was close by to try and get her moving. Because moving helps recovery. It took her 15 min. but when she finally was able to sit down and rest the pain in her back did ease up a bit and we saw a small tiny glance to a smile.
Poor little Abby was having a hard time recovering. As an aunt there's not a whole lot that you can do. James and I helped watched the boys. I knew that was helping but I felt like it wasn't enough. I wanted to somehow ease the burden's that Nikki and Justin were feeling I wanted to wrap my arms around Abby and Nikki and try and comfort them both and help them feel better.
Day 3:
My mother in law stayed with Abby that night so Nikki was able to get some rest. When Nikki got back to the hospital they had moved Abby to a new room in the CICU and she heard that slowly the Abby we know was coming back. There was talk of moving Abby out of the CICU. But before that could happen there were a few things that needed to happen first. She needed to have an echo and have her drainage tubes removed. Just touching the tubes hurt for Abby so the thought of removing them was terrifying. Again to hear about this please read the story HERE. After the tubes were removed Abby was moved to a different room and was starting to feel better; she could also now have visitors. She got a lot of visitors and she tried to seem happy and upbeat but she was so tired and having the visitors wore her out even more.
Justin's mom Barb had the boys this day so I went to work and James went to school. I got to leave work early so we could head up to the hospital to see Abby. When we got there she was sleeping. Mom said she would want to see us so gently woke her up. She seemed so small and fragile, it was weird seeing her just lying there in a bed. cause usually shes bouncy and well...not so still and quiet. She didn't talk a whole lot and when she did it was very soft we had to strain to hear. We didn't get to stay long cause I needed to get James to work and Uncle Gordy and Kim came to say hi and there cant be more than 3 people in the room at once. So we gently kissed Abby and told her we'd come back to see her soon.

Day 4:

For the surgery Mom (A.) had made Abby her own jammies and scrubs. Abby got to change into those. There was also talk about sending Abby home. But before they could do that, Abby needed to build up a little more strength and get her lung open. They took walks down the halls which helped build Abby's strength and helped open her lung but it also wore her out. There was a telethon going on and they asked Abby if she wanted to be on the telethon. this would mean she'd get a chance to be on TV. But Abby didn't

want to... a good sign that she was really not feeling well. visitors continued to come and say hi, but Abby was just exhausted.

After work I went up to the hospital to see Abby and to see if I could help with anything. The boys were up at the hospital in the playroom. Because there was on one to watch the boys Nikki felt torn between being with Abby and watching the boys. So Dad (A.) and I decided to entertain the boys so that Nikki could get back to Abby. We found out that Hogle Zoo was hosting an after hours family day for all Primary Children s hospital patients and their families. So after we found the right people to talk to we got the tickets and Dad and I loaded up the boys and went to the zoo. It was a fun time. After we left the zoo we took the boys back to say goodnight to Nikki. Nate slept over at our house that night. But before we went back to our house we had a good idea that Abby was going to be coming home the next day and Nikki had a big surprise for Abby's home coming...the only problem was it wasn't all the way done. Because of the difficulty of moving around without exhausting herself. Nikki wanted to surprise Abby with a new room to come home to. The room was painted all it needed was to be decorated and furnished. So we spent the night moving her old room from downstairs to upstairs. We had already finished the painting the previous day and was ready to get it mostly done and set for her tomorrow. Mom (A.) was going to come by before Abby got there and finish by adding more decor.
Day 5:
Abby seemed more like herself on this day. She was smiling and joking and talking a lot more. Her lung was doing better and her SAT's were stable and doing great. She wasn't in to much pain and she was able to stand and had more energy. not as much as normal but more. So talk of discharge started. After all the precautions and paper work Abby was on her way home. She was greeted by multiple posters of welcome from friends and family and a brand new room that was covered in hearts with get well messages from her primary class members. She was excited and happy to be home. We were thrilled to have our Abby back.

I went and saw her, I think either it was the day she came home or the day after. She was just the friendly sunny Abby that we know. I gave her a welcome home gift and she sat on her bed while I sat in the rocking chair and we talked for awhile. It was so good to be with her again and see her as chattery and happy as she always is. I love my wonderful Abby and I couldn't imagine my life as an Armstrong without her. She was one of the first to lovingly welcome me into the family and was my instant friend when I first met her."