St. John's Group Email Prayer Request

From Sandy Robine:
 

Please add this precious little girl to the prayers first thing on Tuesday.  This email from her grandma telling me of little Anna's condition and why the need for the surgery.

I've also added a picture of Anna.  In the attached picture, she is in the "pink" slacks.  

 

  Anna had blood tests and chest x-ray today.  She didn't even cry with the blood test, because Gracie told her that she didn't cry when she had hers a few months ago.  ;-)  Thank you, God and Gracie.  Anna said that she got to pick the smell of "strawberries" for the mask when they put her to sleep for surgery.  The doctors and nurses were very nice.  She is scheduled at 12:30PM.  They are replacing a man-made pulmonary valve that is no longer working and are replacing it with an adult cadaver's pulmonary valve.  The was born with Tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve; ventricular septal defect or VSD.  They thought she would be Down Syndrome, too.  Regardless, it was discovered when she was 19 weeks old in the womb.  Thankfully, with finding all this out before birth, they were prepared and had a helicopter waiting to take her immediately to St. Louis Children's Hospital.  God gave us a live, healthy baby, and allowed 5 weeks of growth before the first surgery.  At that time, she was on the heart / lung machine, with her heart out of her body.  Chances of survival weren't promised, but our miracle baby recovered well.  I have photos of her in the ICU.  Doesn't look real.  Anyway, she'll need more surgery when she's in her 20's or 30's, but it's a true miracle that they saved her at birth and that she's done this well without having the first pulmonary valve working for some time now.  Her right side of the heart is enlarged, but they hope this will disappear or improve once she has healed and circulation, blood flow, etc., mimics a more normal circumstance. So, that's it.  Today went well.  I have faith that surgery will, too, but I am just praying that she is not in a lot of pain or experiences fear.  They said they will give her something to "calm" her once she arrives.  Thank you, God.  She's NPO after midnight.  They will have her at Children's by 10:30am.  We will be there around 11am.  I will give you an update when I get one.  Thanks, Sandy.  Your love, concern and prayers mean the world to us.  Love, Ann and all