I am doing a 5K !!!!

I am doing so great since my surgery. My dad and I are going to do a 5K walk! The Atlanta Heart Walk will be on November 7th. Please go to their web site and make a donation in my name. I will get a t-shirt if we get a hundred dollars, and the money goes to help other kids like me who need an operation on their heart. Thank you for praying for me!
www.atlantaheartwalk.org

Spending the night at Granny's house.

I am spending the night at Granny's tonight. We are waiting for Poppy to get home so I can ride the tractor. I also would like to ride a horse but i forgot my boots. I want to play the wii games with Granny. The next game I want to play with Poppy Greg.

Gotta Get Rid of That Fluid!!!

Shelby went to see the surgeon today. She still has a pocket of fluid in her lung. They have increased her lasix again in hopes of drying up the fluid. The stitches came out and she says "I didn't even cry!" She is such a brave and strong girl. She will go back to the Dr next Friday for another check. Pray that it will be cleared up so she can her her saturation level where it needs to be.

Took a trip today...got a good report!

Shelby went to the cardiologist for a check up today. He says the heart looks good , that the surgery looks good and everything is working as it should. However, her saturation levels are still not up to where they would like for them to be, due in part to fluid still in her lung. They changed her meds around some to help move the fluid out and feel like with that, and increased activity, it should take care of it. Continue to pray that the lungs clear and her oxygen levels come up. Praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy, we are so thankful for His healing power.

Kickin' back with Dad

Shelby is doing better each day, gaining strength a little at a time. The family is enjoying all the great meals being brought by church friends and family. Shelby still has some congestion and at times runs a low grade fever. The doctors say that is normal considering all that she has had done. We are looking forward to a great Mother's Day weekend.

Slow and Steady

Shelby is doing well, she had a fair night. She woke up once with tummy pain. Today she is running a low grade fever and still feeling very weak. The slightest activity just makes her feel exhausted. Pray for her continued healing and recovery of her strength. We want to see a smile back on that face!

HOME...there is no place like home!

Shelby is resting at home. It has been a busy morning and she is tired, but very happy to be at home. We have a long road to recovery. It will take time to gain back strength and energy. She lost 8lbs while in the hospital so she needs to put on a few pounds.....not a problem I have ever encountered. Anyway, she is doing great. God is faithful. Andrea will sing a song this weekend that says..."All of my life, in every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship." Amen and Amen.

Free at last...free at last !!!!

Shelby Grace is on her way home!!! Stay tuned for more updates.

Making Progress

Shelby is doing very well. She has had no more fever since yesterday, praise the Lord. She got to go outside into the garden for some fresh air. Today we were awakened at 6am for another chest x-ray to check the fluid that was hanging around her right lung. Hopefully today, with all the back beating, that will be moved out. The Dr. says if we behave ....maybe...just maybe...we can go home...today or tomorrow!!!! I know, amazing right? What a wonderful savior we serve. Shelby Grace is going to have a story to tell one day............

Shelby has a fever. Please pray for no more complications.

Hallelujah!

They took the chest tubes out....YEAH! Shelby is still sleeping from the meds they gave her to remove the chest tubes. Her oxygen is turned off and her saturation is 87%...that is awesome. They are awaiting a chest x-ray to check the fluid in her lungs........God is so good!

Taking a walk with Dad

Shelby had a good day. She was off of her oxygen all day but went back on it this evening around 8. She still needs to move some more fluid out of her lungs and chest cavity in order to get her oxygen saturation where it needs to be. Chest tubes are still draining well. and as long as they are she will have to stay in the hospital. She is getting stronger everyday as you can see in the photo......Praise God!

Shelby had a pretty good night. Respiratory treatments increased to every 4 hours. The nurse says she sounds a little better. They will do another chest x-ray today

I got out of bed by myself!

Shelby has continued to improve over the last 24 hours. The diuretics they are giving her are helping to pull off fluids which helps her to breath a little easier. The chest tubes are still draining as well, and the fluid coming from those, is mostly pink and clear (that is a good thing). She got out of bed a couple of times today, walked down to the game room and back. She is talking more and is much more like herself. She still needs to clear her lungs so continue to pray as God does a great work in her.

With much protest.....

After 2 pretty rough days, this evening ended on a much better note. With much protesting from Shelby, we got up out of the bed and with a large caravan of followers made it down the hall for a walk and stopped to play a game and work a puzzle in the playroom. Carly enjoyed the games a little better than Shelby, I think. Shelby is doing better tonight and we are hoping for another restful night. The Doctor says she is progressing and it will take time for her body to find its new levels. Her numbers are still not where we would like but we are only 4 days out from surgery.

A Restful Night

Shelby, had a restful night. She seems to be more comfortable this morning. They took more blood this morning to check the levels, pray that is is good. Her respirations are slower this morning and the chest tubes were draining well. Will update after the blood work is in.

Please pray. Shelby is having a hard time this afternoon. She is in a lot of pain and having a hard time breathing.

Respirations are too high :(

Shelby's respirations are too high this afternoon. They have almost doubled from this morning. They are going to come in and check the chest tubes to make sure they are draining properly and that fluid is not compressing her lungs. It has been a rough day.

Lunch Time !

Getting Some Blood

The lab work says the count is low so they are going to give Shelby some blood today and give her something to pull off some fluid which will leave more red cells in the blood. They gave her something for the nausea and pain. 2 steps forward and 1 step back....

Poked and Poked Again!

Started off the day with the lady from the lab at 5:30 am ....ouch! At 8:45 need to throw up...not feeling so good today.....:(

Up and about

Here is our girl, up and about! Wow! can you believe it?

Moving Along

We had a pretty good night last night. This morning Shelby walked to the bathroom! Her strength is returning at such a fast pace. All the nurses are amazed at her tolerance for pain. They keep asking her if she is hurting and she says no! She is still sleeping off and on a good bit and trying to cough up some junk which hurts as you can imagine. Keep praying, God is Awesome!

My Own Room !

Today Shelby moved into the cardiac step down unit. Everyone is so pleased with her progress. Carly was VERY happy to get to go in and see her sister. Carly read her a story and gave her a card she had made for her. Shelby sat up for a while and looked at a story on the computer. She is running a little fever tonight and still pretty uncomfortable, but we are making strides in leaps and bounds. God is doing a mighty work in Shelby Grace.

Moved to step-down...rm 2133!!! Yea!

More tubes out today...I hope.

Today, they are weaning Shelby off some of the meds, so she is pretty uncomfortable. She had some soup for lunch and some more gator aid. She is still progressing in an amazing way. Thank the Lord.

Shelby had a good night. They had to wake her once because she was sleeping too deep and her stats were too low. After they woke her everything went back to normal. They will try to remove the tube from her neck today.

I WANT WATER!

Shelby is doing great! She is in serious need of water and will finally be allowed to have some at 10pm. She still drifts in and out of sleep and is in some pain. The nurse taking care of her compliments her on how well she is doing. She has a beautiful rosy color that she has not had since she was born. No more purple fingers and toes! Please continue to pray as we still have a rough few days ahead. God is an amazing God.

Doing good, just came off the ventilator and all stats are good,

Shelby is doing well. She is fighting the tubes and in some pain, but her color is amazing!

Shelby

Shelby has been moved to ccu. Mom and Dad have gone back to see her for the first time.

Surgery is done...waiting on the dr to come out.

Just got an update from the o.r. Everything is going as scheduled.

We are on the heart, lung bypass and doing the procedure.

Chest cracked open at 8:20...we are under way.

The surgery has begun. Updates to follow.

All Packed and Ready to go!

I want to say thank you to Pastor Murray and all my friends and family who gathered around to help pray for me this morning at church. I told daddy, that I am a little bit nervous about the surgery. But I know that Jesus will take care of me. I have to go to sleep really early tonight because we have to be at the hospital so early tomorrow. Keep praying for me. Granny will let you know how I am doing here on the blog and post some pictures when she can.
Love you all,
Shelby Grace

I had a great day today. It was so nice outside, I went driving with some of my cousins. Tomorrow, I go to church at Avalon Church and will have prayer with everyone.

Testing Day!

Well, here I am at the hospital, looking beautiful. I will come back to the hospital on Monday morning at 6am...way to stinking early. They will take me to the O.R. at 7:15am. So, everyone should get a good nights sleep on Sunday!

Shelby's pre-op tomorrow

I am posting to this blog page for Shelby Grace, to keep friends and loved ones updated on Shelby's progress. Tomorrow Shelby will go to Children's hospital in Atlanta, for a big pre-op visit. All sorts of tests and pictures and forms to fill out. They will give us the scheduled surgery time and then it is home for the weekend. On Sunday, after the 10:00 service we will have prayer with Pastor Murray at chruch.