October 2, 2008

Surgery Day

7:30 Sally and Apryl go back to the operating room. Sally gets freaked out in the OR because of all the commotion. She calms down a little and soon passes out.

8:45 Nurse called to say that surgery has begun. It took a while for anesthesia to put in various IVs and get her prepared.

9:30 Our favorite ortho nurse stopped by to let us know that Sally's rib is out and they now have access to her back. She said that she is doing well and they will let us know as progress is made with cleaning out the abscess.

11:20 Doctor just updated us. He's done with the first part of surgery! This is an answer to prayer!! He said the infection was contained and easy to clean out. Once they opened her up, her tissue was healthy and free of infection. They cleaned the infectious mass out and then removed the vertebrae that were affected. The rib that they removed was long enough for him to cut in half and use both pieces for support. He left one piece connected to the blood supply (it will grow) and anchored both pieces to the healthy vertebrae on top and bottom. Her nerve function is great, and the general surgeon is closing her up right now. He will begin the rod implants shortly and expects that to last for three hours.

12:45 The Doctor called the waiting area and said they have started the second half of the surgery (ie. rod implants). We thought we were already on our way with this, but it took a little longer to get her closed up. Now begins the last three hours of waiting.

3:15 Another update...the surgery is still underway and is still going well!

4:00 Rod implant surgery is over! They are closing her up. The doctor will be out with a report soon.

5:30 Doctor is here--Sally is on her way to ICU. She is doing absolutely wonderful!! Praise God, she's got FULL nerve function, and never even had any blips on the monitor. She lost only 400cc of blood and didn't need a transfusion (he said that is well below average blood loss during the surgery, we were expecting transfusions). The rods are placed, he added bone growth 'helper' to her vertebral column (the 'gutters' along the rods). Her ribs stayed perfectly in place during the flip to her back and we are waiting for x-rays to make sure everything is placed perfectly (chest tubes, etc). He didn't replace her cast, but put her into a splint-like shell to keep her stabilized, for fear that she may startle awake at some point and injure herself. The splint will allow her chest to be monitored more safely. On so many levels the surgery went perfectly--even better than perfect. God has answered our prayers today!

She still has a long road ahead. She will be ventilator for a few days, and still needs to wake up and wiggle her toes (hopefully sometime in the night otherwise they'll do it in the morning). Please THANK GOD for his care today and continue to pray for her as she recovers!

32 comments:

Connie said...

Good Morning Sally,
I believe that the Lord bought you over here and to your family so that you could get this treatment to live your life for Him. He will take care of you and bring you and your family through this!
I'm praying for you!
Love and Prayers,
Connie Helm

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord!!

Anonymous said...

Nicole, that is great news! The Lord is so good. Let me know if you need ANYTHING.

-Tara

Anonymous said...

I mean Apryl....I saw Nicole's name and typed Nicole...Oh well maybe it made you laugh

Rebecca Caldwell said...

Glad to hear that everything is going well so far. We will keep praying.

beBOLDjen said...

Wow I have chills just reading the brief summary of all the delicate work they performed on Sally. I am encouraged so thankful that things went well. We are praying that the rest of her surgery runs smoothly and that the Lord would heal her quickly.

Jori said...

Thank you so much for updating and you are covered in prayers!! So glad to hear the she calmed down, the first half went great and now praying thru to the end!! Hang in eveyone, we love you guys!!
with love, jori

Mark & Mel Harpold said...

April:
We are praying for you all!!
Thank you for the updates!

Love,
Mel

the Steiger's said...

Thank you so much for the update. WE are all praying and thinking about you all day.
love, the Steigers

Anonymous said...

Sweet little Sally,
You have become a beautiful part of our family at Hope. I have been praying for you today along with so many others that love you. God is so good to answer our prayers and take such good care of you while you are going through this surgery. You have two incredible parents with big hearts and a love only God can give toward children.
You are truly blessed to be apart of the Harbaugh family. I am praying you will know our wonderful Lord and Savior someday and how he had His hand upon your life. What a blessing to be able to read about how things are going and Praising God for his goodness.
We love you!! The Weis Family

Danica said...

WoooooHooooooo!!!! I was just casually reading others post on the blog and then I clicked back to see the great news! Okay, we can breathe a little... I am so happy it didn't take forever! great job keeping us posted!
love d

Roscoe and Julia Richardson said...

Sally,

I just read you are out of surgery! You are such a strong girl with an even stronger God that loves you sooo much! I enjoyed meeting you this past weekend. You are a blessing!

Julia

Renee' said...

Yeah, Sally!! Yeah God!! Glad this part is over and healing can begin!

Anonymous said...

Sally, we're praising the Lord that HE brought you to your forever family! We're praising God for such a loving, caring family. One day you're gonna look back at these pictures and not believe you went through all this . . . that God loved you so much to send you parents from across the world. I am so grateful that HE did because your beautiful smile is infectious! Soon you'll be running and rough housing with Ella, Eli, Everett, and lil' JoJo!!! We'll be praying sweetheart, that God will continue to protect you and help you to heal up quickly! Mom and Dad, we're praying for you, too, that God will sustain you and give you all you need to walk through the tough road of her recovery! Thank you for obeying God and going . .. thank you for helping to save this little girl's life . . can you imagine ... her temperment is so sweet now, what will she be like when she has Jesus in her heart? WOW!!!
We love you,
The Peace's

Anonymous said...

Dear little Sally,
wow, we are SO glad that things went so smoothly today!! We absolutely love you to peices, and Jade and Laila pray for you every single night:-) We cant wait to have you back in Sunday school with your big smile and sweet heart. Get better soon. We'll be praying for you and your wholoe familly.
Love you very much, the Waltons (Jade, Laila, Ms.Miriam and Mr.Mark):-)

Karen said...

Apryl - this is exactly the news were have been praying for!!! Thanks so much for keeping us all updated. We will continue praying for you and are so relieved to hear of the successful surgery! with love, Karen Wistrom

Susan said...

Thank-you God that part is OVER! I am so happy to hear that it went so well! We will keep you all in our prayers as Sally recovers.

Love you! Susan

Melissa Juvinall said...

Wow, Apryl, I'm in awe of God's grace for your family today! YAY!!!! We'll be praying for you all tonight--hope you can get some well-deserved rest.
Melissa Juvinall

Jori said...

WONDERFUL!!! SO happy to hear ~ Will keep praying and you keep watch on the toes! :):):) Hang in momma - get your self some rest if you can :):)
love ya, jori

Anonymous said...

God is good! Im so happy to hear the surgery went well!

jill coen said...

Thanking God for His goodness and mercy!!!

Anonymous said...

Sally, Seth, Apryl and family
Just wanted to say we are so glad to hear that things went well. We will continue to keep you in our prayers for a quick recovery.
The Foltz's

ethiHOPEia said...

Sally,
We are so happy to hear your Mommy's report about how well you did in surgery today! The Lord watched over you and He will continue to help you heal.
With happy hearts,
Hilary and Jacob Forrest

Anonymous said...

Sally & family
Praise God!! Glad to hear the surgery went better then expected...God is sooooo good!! We will continue to keep you in our prayers for a fast and pain free recovery. How wonderful that God brought you and your family together and that he placed special doctors here that could help you. Keep up those wonderful, beautiful smiles.

May God continue to bless,
Mr & Mrs Rains & Jessica

Anonymous said...

Seth, Apryl, Sally, and the rest of the family....
We have been praying for all of you for weeks. So thankful that today went so well. God is Good!! We will continue to keep you in our prayers as Sally begins her road to recovery.
Love, Hugs, & Prayers,
Tony, Kristi, Malachi, Clay & Drew Eliasen

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord!!! We will continue to lift you all up in prayer as Sally recovers! God has special plans for your little girl!! On a side note, Jack keeps asking me to scroll through the posts every time I check in today, so he can see pictures of his friend (Ella). Sweet, sweet kids!
Kristy

Jason Egly said...

We are praying for sweet little Sally.

Blessings,
The Eglys

E said...

Praise God! My stupid reader didn't tell me you had updates...so I just came over and realized it's because you had edited. I am so happy and thankful to read this news. Praying for happy, wiggly toes and miraculous healing every step of the way!

Erica

Anonymous said...

Hey Harbaugh Family,
We're glad to hear that everything is o.k. Sally you are a sweet little girl with a sweet little smile. I'm always amazed that God knows exactly what we need and how to give it to us. He knew you needed mom and dad, and they needed you. What a blessing! Apryl, you are an encouragement to me. We're praying for you and God Bless You
Love Shelby Rudolph and family
Lamentations 3:21-25

Unknown said...

Our thoughts are with you Sally and all of the Harbaughs.

The Oregon Floyds

Anonymous said...

Praise God the surgery went well.. we serve an awesome God !! We will continue to pray for a speedy recovery.. your a strong little girl! Mrs. Weis

Anonymous said...

Hi apryl,
I was out of town on the day of surgery but have been praying for your sweet angel previously. You and Seth are amazing parents! God has his hand on you to have found this one precious little girl in all of Ethiopia(sp?)and to have led you to just the right doctors.I will continue to pray for her recovery. Love, Angie caupp