Surgery Day for Nathan

We have been totally blessed by all the prayers, calls, emails, notes, and concern on our behalf. Thank you to so many of you who are praying! And we are grateful . . . .

Nathan went into the surgery section this morning at 7:45. We were able to be there in the ICU around 7 am so had some time with him and Santi prayed for him before the nurses told us to move out of the way! Our friends Dan & Cyndi Maloy graciously came and spent the morning with us waiting. THANK YOU DAN & CYNDI!

We had been told the surgery would be around 1 to 1 1/2 hours. So Santi went and checked things out a couple of times around 9:30. At 10:10, I told him I'd go with him to see if maybe Nathan was back in the ICU yet. We got there in time to see them move him back into his incubator and and all the docs were peering over his x-rays, and other tests.

They quickly called us in and we met with the surgeon, our pediatrician (who has been truly wonderful through all this), the pediatric cardiologist (and later we saw the anesthesiologist as well). They gave us very GOOD NEWS - that Nathan did wonderfully through the surgery - no issues with oxygen, with his heart, or any other issues for that matter . . . that he did very well.

They were able to make all the necessary corrections - including moving the intestines into their place in the abdomen, removing his appendix (because it was in a spot different than normal, so I guess we won't have to worry about appendicitis in the future!), and closing the hole in his diaphragm. His right lung is functioning well and they believe that his left lung may be functioning some, but it's too early to tell for sure. And his heart is now in the correct location (it was pushed over to the right due to the hernia).

We know that all this good news it the result of so many of you praying and God's hand on our little boy!!! THANK YOU!!!

We were told that the next 48 hours are critical as they watch his lungs to see how they react. Continue to pray that Nathan's lungs will do well and continue to develop.

We are very pleased with all the care that he has had. All the nurses and doctors in the ICU are excellent and Ruth is receiving good care as well as she recovers from the c-section.

Again, thank you for your prayers - we are very grateful!
Love from Quito - Ruth & Santi & Nathan (ps - I couldn't resist putting another photo of our little guy even though it looks pretty much like yesterday's photos).