Mekdes, with her all-fixed-up heart, leaving the hospital yesterday.
So, we're home. :)
Yes, home!
Open-heart surgery on Friday, and back home on Monday.
Mekdes has been making an amazing recovery.
Kids tend to heal quickly anyhow, but the nurses and doctors have been pretty amazed by just how well she has done.
I have so much I want to share, so much I've been thinking about and so much I'm grateful for.
But that will take awhile--I'm tired and there's just so much I'm still processing through.
For now, I'll simply say that I remain in awe of God's hand on my daughter. She may only be 4 or 5 years old, but she is brave. Strong. Gentle. Kind. Not once did she complain. Not once did she act out in frustration. Even when there were tears, they were short-lived. She cooperated with the nurses and doctors, gave out smiles like it was nobody's business, and said "Thank you Mama" every.single.time. I gave her food or water.
I've honestly been on the brink of the "ugly cry" for days because I've never met anybody quite like Mekdes before. Neither had one of the nurses who'd assisted in the operating room, who came to find us on her lunch break with tears in her eyes to share how sweet Mekdes was as they took her in and put her under.
I also feel like I've witnessed the very heart of God several times this week. In the struggling kids and babies I saw in the Cardiac ICU, and the brave moms and dads sitting by their sides.
No one, myself included, would ever choose for their child to need something like open-heart surgery. Ever. It's terrifying and serious and always, always complicated. And yet I feel like God has given me, and probably those other moms and dads too, a glimpse into life and suffering and hope. For that, I am grateful.
I took this video right as we were about to walk out the hospital doors. Mekdes LOVES saying her siblings' names, and as tired as she was (her red blood cell count is still pretty low because she didn't have any blood transfusions), she repeated every single name. Oh, how she adores her brothers and sisters.
So we rejoice in God's mercy and grace, and are so, so happy to be HOME.
