Ready or Not

The beginning of Emma Kate's Fontan journey is finally here. For those of you catching up, we are here in Atlanta for EK's third, and hopefully final, open-heart surgery, called the Fontan. Her heart defect, HLHS, is treated with a staged series of three open-heart surgeries. The first two she had within the first six months of her life. The last time she was admitted to this hospital was over four years ago. It is so hard to believe we are at the door of this final step.

I am ready for this to be a distant memory. There is a small part of me that is dreading all of this and wants to keep putting it off. But mostly, I just want her to have the normal life she is used to. This surgery has been in the back of our minds for the last 5 years. Always looming. But it is time and it's real. Tomorrow we begin with pre-op.

Emma Kate really has no idea what is going on. However, we are really honest with her in an age appropriate way. We have told her why we are here, but it isn't really anything she can understand. She remembers coming up for her cath, and she has told me that she remembers taking yucky medicine that made her sleepy, playing in the hospital and eating pancakes. For her they are good memories. I'm so thankful for that. She's never had any issues being afraid of doctors, nurses, the hospital or even things like shots and getting blood drawn.

Tomorrow we will have a full day of  x-rays, echos, blood draws, meeting the doctors and such. Her backpack is loaded with things to do and all kind of goodies she has gotten over the past few days. She's been spoiled, really. We have such wonderful friends and family who have sent her gifts, cards and lots of love. And I'm not even kidding when I say she's been spoiled. She asked Brooks if it was her birthday!

Thank you! All of your love, prayers, messages and texts, they really mean so much to us! We feel so much love from our friends and family and we are grateful to all of you who love our daughter.

Many of you have asked what time surgery will be on Tuesday. We will find out details during pre-op, and I will update tomorrow with that info. Brooks will also be updating his blog, and he's a much better writer than I am. So, if you are ok getting a little bit teary-eyed reading about how much he loves our little girl, you can hop over and see if he has updated!