As most of you know, MJ had her routine checkup last week with her cardiologist, Dr. Joshi. She had another Echo, which she did so well through, and so far everything looks "ok". There is some tissue growth around her stent, which is to be expected over time and the right side of her heart is actually a bit smaller than it has been. However, it is time to go ahead and have another heart catheterization to look at everything and dilate her pulmonary arteries now that they will be able to reach them. The heart cath will be during the month of September, we do not have a specific date set up yet. The other part of the story is that it is time for her to have her third open heart surgery. During the heart cath, they will take some measurements to see how big of a valve that they can put in her heart. Hopefully, she has grown enough that they can put in a valve that will last her until her early teen years. This is the same surgery that she was supposed to have last year but was able to avoid due to opening up her conduit. A lot of people ask me how I am doing and if this is a good thing or a bad thing. First off, this will hopefully be a good thing for MJ in the long run. I know her anatomy is confusing to people that are non-medical and to be honest with you it is confusing for medical people too, including myself. Right now, she does not have a pulmonary valve and without the valve there is higher pressure in the right heart which long story short the right side has to work harder and is under more stress which makes it big and dilated. The amazing thing about the right side of the heart is that it can remain like this and still go back to a more normal size and function once the problem is corrected. However, there is a point where its gone too far and won't return back to normal or close to it. The tricky part is knowing when that point is. In Macy Jane's case, we have had an extra year for her to grow which has bought us 2-3 years (an estimate her doc gave us) on the other side of the valve. That means when she gets the valve, it could last til her teen years instead of 9-10 years of age. So waiting a year was a good thing for her. The doctor said if everything goes well, we can expect her to be in the hospital at the most a week. So, hopefully everything will go well!I am doing okay with all of this. When Dr. Joshi told us that she needed a cath I was fine with that since I know she will have to have those forever, and when he told us about the surgery, I was not shocked at all. Again I can't explain the peaceful feeling that God has given me. I am going in to this with the attitude that I just want to get this surgery over with so that we don't have the black cloud of surgery hanging over our heads for several years. Dr. Joshi has had almost a year to evaluate the new surgeon at LeBonheur and he said he has been blown away by him and his abilities. Thankfully I trust Dr. Joshi and feel that he knows what is best for MJ. We really couldn't ask for a better cardiologist. I'm also eager to get the surgery over with before the holidays hit and definitely before MJ starts preschool when she turns 3. I pray that her recovery will be a fast and complication free one. I am anxious though because she is so much bigger now and knows what she wants etc. One advantage that I have though is that I know my little girl inside and out now and know how to comfort her. For her other surgeries, I had never held her for long periods of time and didn't really "know" her. Of course I have cried, I am female, human, and a mom. I cried because I know that she will be in pain and will be scared and there is always the life threatening aspect that I do not focus on. Like I said before though, God comforts me and I know he will give me strength on the day of surgery and the weeks after. Thankfully, kids heal so much faster than adults and she will be back to her old self hopefully before Christmas! If ya'lll would add her to your prayer lists now, I would appreciate it. On a positive and cheery note: I think we can officially say that Macy Jane is walking now! At my sister's house, she has walked everywhere!! I'm so excited. We all clap and scream Yay Macy when she does it. It's so funny, when someone is in the room and she does it, she will stop and smile and clap with you, lol. I've been waiting a year for this (yes I know she is 2 but most kids don't walk til their 1 ;) and it is the sweetest thing to me to watch. One thing that I am happy about is that by the time she has her surgery she will have this walking thing down and I won't have to worry so much about not being able to pick her up under her arms for 6 weeks. I suppose that is all for now. It's a lot I know. I don't think I mentioned when the surgery will be. We are not for sure yet, but I am going to ask that it be done as soon as possible. We know it will be during or after September, but I want it done before the middle of October so that she can be "normal" by December. She also just had another molar break through yesterday....yay! Only 2 more of these pesky darn teeth! She was sick Saturday and half of Sunday pretty bad with her tummy, more than she has been in months. Hopefully this was the last time ever!! Wouldn't that be nice? I could stand not ever being thrown up on again ; ) I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying your summer! Once again, please continue to pray for my sweet miracle baby : ) (Yes, while I do realize that she is not a baby, she will ALWAYS be my baby!) Love, BJW