Monday, December 1, 2008

Whitney is doing GREAT!!!!!

Yeah! Whitney made it! We are so grateful to Dr. Brown and all of the staff that helped with the miracle of fixing Whitney's heart today!!! Dr. Brown met with us around 3:15 p.m. while Whitney was in the recovery room. He explained what he saw when he was doing her surgery. The mitral valve normally has two "flaps" or the word he used was "leaflets" (not sure of the technical term) that allow the blood to flow correctly, he said in this repair he has seen three "flaps" but Whitney had SIX "flaps". He said it was "intriguing" to see how her mitral valve was working and was put together and that it was like putting together a puzzle to make the repair of her mitral valve given the added difficulty of the way her mitral valve was structured. He also talked about the patches for the ASD and the VSD. She had two fairly large holes in the VSD, one the size of an oblong quarter and one about the size of a dime and one in the ASD that was also about the size of an oblong quarter. He commented that these were pretty big for someone so little.
Dr. Brown also mentioned that she had about 4 times the blood volume of a normal person flowing from her heart to her lungs. This explains her difficulty breathing. Her lungs were basically being flooded by the excessive blood flow.
Whitney is now in the ICU unit and hooked up to many machines that are monitoring all of her vitals. She has one nurse that is assigned only to her and will keep a close eye on her because Whitney will be her only patient. We feel really good after getting the chance to go in and see Whitney. We are so proud of her and so HAPPY she will be feeling like a whole new person very soon! THANK YOU DR. BROWN and everyone at Riley that is caring for our little angel!!!

I have taken pictures and will try to post them later tonight.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has been praying for Whitney and keeping her (and us) in your thoughts today. It means the world to us!

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really good news!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to update us. Prayers have been answered. Love to all,
Jeremy & Jenny

mama T said...

AMEN!! Thank you for keeping us with you. I'm so glad to know right away how Whitney is. LOVE to all. Your cuz Therese

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear things went well.Been thinking about you guys all day. Way to go Whitney!

Erin Sendelweck Temple said...

Jon and I are so happy that Whitney is doing so great! We have been keeping your family in our thoughts and prayers. Please let us know if there is anything you need.

RDKLEIN said...

What great news! Thank God for prayers answered. We will be sending more prayers to the ICU. Thanks for the update.

Laurie said...

That is such wonderful news!! Whitney is amazing! I will continue thinking of you all.
((Hugs))

Ellen said...

It was great to hear from Mike, but equally good to read your words. I've been thinking about her all day long. Hope you all will rest a little easier tonight.

PS. Grace says Woo-hoo, Whitney!

The As said...

Terrific news!

Libbie said...

We are thankful that Whitney did well in her surgery and we will continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers as she recovers. With love for all the Byrons, Libbie and Gil

The Jordan Family said...

You continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. What wonderful news to read this post. Big hugs from the Jordan Family in Macon, GA!

Anonymous said...

You all have been on my mind all day. Was so thrilled to come home and see your update. So glad things went well. Will continue to think about Whitney and hope for a smooth recovery. My love to you all, Jen

Anonymous said...

Wonderful news! We will keep you in our prayers....
Andy Hammond Family

Anonymous said...

We have been praying for Whitney all day and are so happy things went well. You will continue to be in our thoughts. Happy Healing Whitney, we love you.
The Rohans

Anonymous said...

Thought about all of you all day long. Was so glad when Lynne called me with good news. Love to you all, Mary Ann

Anonymous said...

We can only echo everyone else's comments. Its great that she came through it so well and we can only begin to share the tremendous relief you all must feel at this point. We continue to pray for her recovery.

Peace, Manny and Sally

Anonymous said...

All of our prayers have been working!! We are so thankful to hear the terrific news...you guys have been in our thoughts all day and will continue to be. Your both so strong and Whitney can feel that! We love you guys!
Angie, Andrew, Claire and Drew

Anonymous said...

Excellent news. I'll keep you in my thoughts. (Now go get some sleep)

Anonymous said...

Ryan and I are so happy to hear this wonderful news!

Mandy Beall

Anonymous said...

Way to go Whitney! She sounds like an amazing little girl. :) We are sending our prayers from Houston.
With Love,
Nikki Dillard

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad to hear the good news! What a little trooper! I'm sure you all have to be exhausted and so incredibly relieved! Thanks for the posts . . . it was great to be able to follow her progress throughout the day. Hang in there over the next couple of days as she recovers. You all are awesome!

Anonymous said...

Sorry - the previous comment was from me . . . .forgot to leave a name.

Susan K.

The Ditto Family said...

This is such wonderful news! We are thinking of you and praying for you. Yeah for Whitney!!!

Murphy Family said...

That is such great news. We have been thinking about you guys and sending prayers your way all day. Can't wait to see the "new" Whitney, soon! :) Pat, Pucci and Connor

Our Family said...

What great news. I am so happy to hear everything went well. Take care !

Heather Marini

Jeff Marshall said...

So glad to hear the good news. Thank you for sharing. Jennie and I will have you guys in our prayers.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for keeping us all informed. We've been thinking about you guys and especially Whitney all day. We'll continue to pray that she makes a full recovery. What a champ...she's a strong one!!

Sarah, Andy, Murdoch, and Deucey said...

That is great news! We have been thinking about you all day. Thank you for the updates.

Christian and Katrina said...

Praise the Lord. I'm so grateful to hear your news and know your relief.

Trina Elslager
Jim's old secretary :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Laura,
I'm Melissa's roomie in Chicago...Katie. I just wanted to let you know that little Whitney is in my prayers as is your whole family. I was happy to hear that the surgery went well. I will continue to pray and think of you and Whitney during the holiday season.
Love, Katie Z.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking the time to update all of us! Great news! We are glad that Whitney is doing so well. We will continue to keep Whitney and the whole Byron family in our prayers!
Brad, Gina, Ella and Emerson Yarnall

Anonymous said...

Michael and Laura,
Thank you for the pictures of Whitney.
So glad she made it through the surgery so well and will continue
to pray that all goes well.
So very proud of Whitney and of you all.
Yeah! And God bless all.
Love Always, Aunt Kathy

Doug Bergren said...

Awesome news! We were glad to hear things went well.

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear Whitney is doing well. A truly amazing feat! She is a strong one!! We wish her a rapid recovery. All the best to her and Laura, Mike & Anne.

Our thoughts are with all!

Love, Annette & family

Anonymous said...

We are so happy to hear the surgery went well. We will continue to pray for Whitney and your family. Thanks for keeping us posted on her progress. Whitney is proving to be a strong little girl just like her mommy and daddy.
The Ormes

Pro Ecclesia said...

Great news! Still praying for Whitney and for the rest of your family, as well.

Anonymous said...

Hooray! This is GREAT news! We've been keeping you all in our prayers and thinking about you lots!

Love, Bis and Derrick