Thursday, June 13, 2024

Here we go!

Bodie was wheeled down to the OR 10 minutes ago. 
They'll place all of lines, and get him ready for surgery.
We should get our next update around 9pm, once the procurement team has laid eyes on the donor heart and confirmed that it's a good heart for Bodie.

So please pray fiercely:
1. Pray that this heart is indeed the perfect heart for Bodie.

2. Pray for Bodie's heart, brain and all of his organs - this will be a very long complicated surgery, and we need a hedge of protection around his entire body. He will be on bypass for a considerable amount of time, with all of its attendant risks of clots, brain bleeds and strokes.

3. Pray for wisdom for all parties involved, particularly the surgeon. Going from a Fontan to a biventricular heart is an incredibly complex surgery. By the time someone has gone through the Fontan, their entire cardiac physiology has been rerouted and things are connected totally different places. So a fair amount of reconstruction of pulmonary arteries and veins has to take place just for a Fontan patient to accept a new heart. Pray for steady hands for everyone involved.

4. Pray for Bodie's body to accept the new heart, and the heart to accept Bodie's body. Bodie's body is used to a very different circulation, and the new heart, particularly the right ventricle, is going to be asked to do something different than it did in the donor's body. So it's going to take both time for both Bodie's body and the heart to get used to one another. Please pray they get along quickly!

5. Pray for Dusk, Sierra and I as we sit through the hours of surgery (he isn't likely to be back in the ICU before tomorrow morning at 8 or 9am). We have a LONG night ahead of us, and it's easy to let the fears and anxieties control us. Please pray for peace for all of us. 

6. Finally, please please pray for the donor family. As we wait with anticipation and hope, another family somewhere is experiencing their worst fears, and facing leaving the hospital without their dearly loved one. And they have made the most selfless decision. We are profoundly grateful, but recognizing the sadness and agony they are going through. Please wrap them in your prayers as you pray for Bodie tonight.

We'll update as the night progresses.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of how we dealt with the stress of this very precarious position we find ourselves in.

Dusk and his brother Paul prayed over Bodie this morning before Paul headed back to Denver (we actually got the call when Dusk was driving Paul to the airport) - we are so so grateful Paul was able to spend time with us the past few days!!!
Sierra made the cutest sign ever and we decorated his room in honor of his special heart day.
(Please note this is directed at the nurses and medical professionals doing things to Bodie that he won't like, not to the remaining single ventricle patients on the unit!) 

 Photobucket

12 comments:

  1. Prayers answered! God is so, so good in all things!

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  2. Amazing to be this far! Praying for all of you!💕 Sierra, you’re quite the poet!😁

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  3. May G-d keep you all in his embrace. We are praying and sending our love and support to you all.

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  4. Prayers being sent to the Bennett Four ♥️🙏🏼 and the donors family ♥️

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  5. I am so incredibly overjoyed for you all. I could only dream of what life would be like if Lucas had 4 whole chambers. I grieve for and with the family who have experienced the loss that I personally beg God every day to not experience. We are lifting them up in prayer tonight. Their tremendous generosity during the absolute worst time is so incredibly humbling. I pray God will bless them abundantly and bring healing to their pain. We pray for the 3 of you to remain steadfast in faith and hope. We pray for sweet Bodie. His road won’t be over after this, and he too will have reconcile the mental, physical and emotional toll this experience has brought. I pray the resounding feeling for him is joy in knowing how many of us care for him deeply and are praying for him. I thank our Father during this time for all good things come from Him and I KNOW He will be using this to bring glory to Him. This is part of the Bennet family testimony. It has and will reach so many. I pray others see the Lords glory through this moment in your lives.- Michelle Bartell

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  6. Praying for you on the east coast❤️🙏❤️

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  7. Been praying all day for Bodie and you guys too! Hugs!!! ❤

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  8. My family is praying for Brodie!

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  9. Will be praying for bodie and all of you tonight. God bless !!!

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  10. Praying for you all tonight. May Gods peace and strength be so evident in holding you up and carrying you through. All praise and glory to Him

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  11. I’ve been praying for everyone especially Bodie, best of luck to him, I know God will do what’s best for Bodie and whatever happens is Gods will

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  12. So I'm pretty much staying up with ur family. Praying for Bodie and all of you. You are not alone tonite. Angels surround you. God's plan is positive and I pray the Donor Family is feeling all the love from Bodie's family & friends in their hour of heart break while their generosity is giving Bodie this precious heart. Also praying for all of the people who love and support the Bennett family.

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