Trust God's timing. Always. While Sunley was having her cath, our peaceful little Cul de sac in Oklahoma had an active shooter situation. No one except the shooter was hurt. He shot at a neighbor, shot up a car and shot at police before being shot in the leg and taken into custody. That's a lot more action than our little suburban neighborhood needs! Thank goodness we weren't there, as much as we play with kiddos in the front yard! Hadelyn saw it on the news and recognized our home of course, so I called to try and comfort her. It was unnecessary, because she had already determined that the man must have just locked his keys in the car and was trying to shoot a hole to get them out. It seems to have been caused by some mental health issues, so please take a moment and pray for him — pray that he is given the right balance of consequence and forgiveness; a balance that allows him to heal from it all. The world is broken, as if we needed a reminder.

Back to Houston! We arrived to the hospital at 8 am and Sunley went back for her procedure at 9:50. She was so brave, and we met a new NP named Riley who we absolutely loved! She's one of those people that just instantly gives you comforting vibes and I knew she would take care of Sunley if she got scared on the way back there.

The whole thing was about 4 hours long, and we got hourly calls. Dr Qureshi had to make access at the groin, and on both sides of her neck, so she has lots of boo boos to watch and keep clean. He was finally able to coil off one large collateral vessel. It seems to be the same one by her left svc that we first saw at OU Children's on my 30th birthday two years ago! So it has been growing since then, and was positioned so that we could not see it on her latest echo.

After Qureshi coiled that vessel, Sunley's sats stayed between 85-90 for the rest of the day! Of course, she was still groggy and resting, but the team was very confident that we will not see low numbers again for a while. I can't wait to watch her play and hopefully prove them right!

Derek and I were both surprised by how calm Sunley was in recovery. We expected a lot of resisting rest, but she was so content! When she woke up, she just barely opened her eyes and said “ice cream.” And she got it. Lots of it!

We made tshirts for our family to wear back when we thought we'd be doing the fontan this week. The phrase at the top of the shirt, “Silenzio Bruno!” is from the Disney movie Luca. Luca has a voice in his head, named Bruno, who makes him scared to try new or scary things. So every time Luca is afraid, he makes the voice quiet by saying “Silenzio Bruno!” Sunley has been saying it every time she has to put on oxygen at home, and every time she has to get a shot, or worst of all, take off medical tape/stickers.

She did so great, but taking off all the tape at the end was BRUTAL. She was begging us to stop, and we tried hard to let her give us permission, but it just didn't happen. Those are the traumatic parts for a 3 year old, and I often wonder if it's better or worse for me to be the one holding her down. We got back to the hotel some time after 9pm I think.

This morning, Sunley had her consultation with the surgery team. As long as this coiled vessel continues to hold up her saturations, we don't expect to need surgery before next spring!! This is a wonderful answered prayer! I am especially grateful because the hospital is having to make very tight restrictions again for parents and visitors, after finally allowing 2 visitors just a couple weeks ago. I have to reiterate, the people refusing to mask or get vaccinated are really putting these hospitals in impossible positions. We, the high risk families, are paying the price for the choices of others. I will gladly discuss my feelings about the vaccine in private, but AT LEAST masking should be a no brainer. No one debated the efficacy of masks before 2020. And we had virtually no flu or RSV season last winter because of all the masking and precautions. Oh, how I want to rant, but I'll stop here. Please wear a mask if you are choosing to forego or wait on the vaccine. I know it feels like it doesn't matter, but I can introduce you to hundreds of families who are directly impacted by your choice. I say that with no hatred — it's just a fact. Ok, NOW I'm stopping.

One of the things I'm most grateful for on this trip was that we actually did get to see SO many of our favorite doctors and nurses from over the years! I wasn't sure we'd see anyone, and we saw (almost) everyone! I am just so impressed by the compassion from the team at TCH. If you ever feel like you can't trust the medical world, well then I think you need to spend a little more time in this place. The medically complex world is an alternate reality full of heartache, and deep deep joy, where commitment and compassion is unparalleled.

We are home tonight. We walked in to a clean house with completed laundry and fresh flowers on the counter, and dinner in the fridge. All thanks to my sister and her mother-in-law. I could list about 100 other people who have helped us this week, in ways that probably felt small to them but made a lasting impact for us. God surrounds us with his mercy all the time. He is so so good.