Clay the Super Star!

After arriving to Children's at 5:30 this morning, Luke and I placed Clay and all of our faith into the hand's of the surgery team at 7 am.  We were updated about every half an hour on his progress and at 11 am heard the wonderful news that everything had gone according to plan and we would get to see him within the hour.

The surgeons used a synthetic material (Gore-Tex) to create an artificial valve and used his own heart tissue to repair the hole in the wall.  We were very pleased to hear that the valve is functioning perfectly and his heart is now performing just like it should!  Clay was moved from the operating room up to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and is now quite comfy on his own, full-size hospital bed with enough cords and machines to power half of Omaha.  They were able to take him off the ventilator this evening which is much sooner than anticipated and is a clear indicator of well he is doing.  We are hoping to get to hold, feed, and smother him with kisses tomorrow.

Luke and I are so grateful for all of our family and friend's continued support during this time.  Clay is fighting strong because he knows he has such a great life to fight for! XOXO

Please excuse any grammatical errors in this post.  I am running on very little sleep and energy right now!