Update

The Master of Surprises. That's Dylan for you.

We are back home for the night. It's been an extremely long couple of days. Here's a quick run down of what happened.

Dylan's surgery began at about 8:30a.m yesterday. At around 11a.m, the Physician's Assistant came to update us as to how the surgery was progressing. She told us that the surgery was going to be a bit more complicated than they had anticipated. They had found an additional defect called an A.P Window which they did not know about until the surgery had begun. We later found out that they had never before seen an A.P window with an AV canal defect before. Never ever. Ever.

We were updated again at around 2pm and were told that the A.P Window had been closed and they were now going to begin the AV canal defect repair. She told us that because Dylan had been on the heart/lung bypass machine for so long, as well as having to be put on cardiac arrest, they were concerned that his recovery was going to be quite difficult. We were told that he was going to be sick for longer than they had originally anticipated.

At around 3:45pm we were told that the AV canal had been repaired and that he was now off the heart/lung bypass machine. She said that there was still a bit that needed to be done before we would be able to see him.

The surgeon, a genius to be sure, but yet a man of few words, came out to talk to us a couple of hours later and told us that Dylan was doing "Ok" but that his lungs were "not good".

We sat with that information for a couple more hours until the cardiologist came to talk to us. She was much more optimisitc. She was exactly what we needed. We were then able to see Dylan. It was amazing...he is amazing.

Dylan remained stable last night and continues doing well today. He is having surgery done this evening to close his chest. They told us that this may set him back a bit as he will have to readjust. But he's expected to do well with it.

We left the hospital this afternoon so that we could come home to see Cassidy. By the time we left, the the doctors and nurses were just amazed by Dylan's progress. They had originally planned on closing his chest on Friday, but are doing it today because he's doing so well. They have already begun cutting back on his 3 heart medications and believe that there is every reason to be hopeful that Dylan will be taken off the ventilator by Friday.

My head definitely hurts, but I am telling you, my heart is so full of love for this kid. He has absolutely, positively, 100% blown me away. He is so courageous and so strong. As I was leaving today, the Physician's Assistant said, "Don't worry about Dylan. He's leading the way and I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what he's doing".

I took this picture of him today because I find comfort in it. Throughout this whole ordeal, I was faced with the fact that I may not see my baby again. It's funny...before the surgery I thought that I would be afraid to see him in this condition, but it was not scary. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful.

Dylan is truly a miracle.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. We'd love it if you could keep them coming...for a few more days if you can : )