Surgery went well

Today, Fiona's surgery went really well. She is recovering. We have made it through the Post-op recovery time wonderfully. It's the toughest time for Yetta because Fiona is usually angry, frustrated and crazy. Today she just slept through almost all of it.
Grandma Karen is sleeping at the hospital with her tonight so Tom and I can get some much needed rest. Grandmas are the best.
We were able to encourage our post-op nurse today. She claims to be a believer and was wanting good materials to encourage her in her walk. Pray for Cherry that we will have further ministry in her life. She shared with us her burdens for patients and how she prays and fasts for them. We gave her a copy of a small booklet by JC Ryle called Sickness which has been very encouraging to us. We also gave her a copy of the Two Ways to Live track to help her in her witness to patients. She told how she shared with a patient and kept up with him after his Cancer treatments and how he later became a believer and was baptized. To God be the glory!
We are also sharing our room with another family. Please pray for many opportunities to share the gospel with them and to encourage them as their 2 month old baby is in the hospital!
Thank you for your prayers!
The Garwoods

We will trust the Lord

Fiona had her pre-op today. Tommorow, May 30th at 9 am Fiona will have surgery. Please pray for her as she will have three procedures done. They will try laproscopic but if they are unsuccessful they will have to follow a much more invasive method. Please pray for people we come in contact with that they may know of the love and grace of God in our lives and for us to take opportunities to share gospel. Pray for Fiona's surgery and recovery. Pray for mommy and daddy to trust God all the more tommorow. Pray for Abby while she hangs out with Grandma and Pa Garwood this week.
We are leaning much on the Lord. This past week Yetta took the girls to the zoo and one of the animals they saw were the eagles. She shared with them words from the prophet Isaiah who said, "...but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings like eagles;they shall run and not be weary;they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31 ESV) Please pray for us as we wait for the Lord.

Sweet Fiona Fairy

Our sweet Fiona is returning to the surgical room Wednesday, May 30Th. Although she is just three years old, over the past eight months she has had pneumonia five times. Two cases required hospital stays. In our efforts to discover the cause Fiona recently underwent a procedure to test for reflux (GERD). A new technology was used called the Bravo™ pH Monitoring System. A capsule, about the size of a gel cap, was temporarily attached to the wall of Fiona's esophagus. It measured pH levels in her esophagus and transmited readings via radio telemetry to a Receiver Fiona wore on her waistband.(pictured below on her back) The capsule collected data for 48 hours. After we turned in the receiver they uploaded the data to a computer for analysis.

Bravo pH Capsule $800
Bravo pH Receiver $10,000
Co-pay for the procedure $10
Diagnosis and treatment plan....Priceless


Diagnosis: GERD. The results of the 48 hour study revealed 58 episodes of reflux and for about 2.6% of the day she had acid sitting in her esophagus. Acid enters her lungs causing infection that leads to Pneumonia.

Treatment Plan: Surgical. We met with Dr. Applebaum to schedule a Fundoplication. This is where they take the top of your stomach and wrap it around your esophagus so that you can't reflux. We also know from previous studies she has slow gastric emptying, which means just that, her stomach empties into her intestines slowly.

When she had her feeding tube put in at 13 months they opened up the pyloric muscle between the stomach and the intestines to give her more room to pass the food through, but they may want to open it up more.

We have a gastric study study scheduled for Wednesday, May 16th. The surgery scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th. We are trusting God for our dear sweet Fiona and know that He is so good to us. We pray that we will be able to be a testiomony to all we come in contact with and that we will be able to tell them about the great hope we have in Christ!