Waiting....

McKinley yesterday in her hospital bed, happy no matter what the circumstance...

So the day has finally come. We said goodbye to McKinley around 8:30 this morning, and at this point (4pm) we are hoping the surgery is more than halfway over.  I've been able to speak with her nurse 3 times now and each time she has told me how great McKinley is doing.  They have taken down her colostomy and are now working on building her rectum. One big question they had was whether her muscles would function well enough to be able to create a working rectum. Dr Healey said he would test the muscles with an electronic pulse before starting the surgery and at last update he thought the muscles worked great!  This is such an answer to prayer!!
We've been prepared that McKinley's recovery could be very difficult. They are hoping that she won't have to go to the ICU tonight but it will all depend on how well she comes out of her anesthesia, and whether she'll require her breathing tube for longer term or not. The longer the surgery, the harder her recovery will be.  So far, we're going on 6 hours.
I will do my very best to keep you updated after she gets out of surgery, but I'm sure it will depend on how she's doing and whether or not I'll be able to leave her side.  I miss her beautiful, smiling face so much and hope that I will see it again very soon.
I am overwhelmed at the amount of people that are praying for McKinley.  People that we know, and people that we don't know.  She is one lucky girl.  And we are some very blessed parents.