They have just taken Haven back to the operating room.  They were able to get her in sooner than expecdted.  So they will procede with the exploratory thoracotomy where they will search for the source of the leaking chest fluid.  If they can find the specific source, they’ll hopefully be able to stop it.  If not, they will perform a pleurodesis which will eliminate the space in her chest cavity so that the fluid has to remain in the tissues instead of leaking out.   

To our surprise, they told us this morning that if she handles those two procedures well, then they plan on doing a couple of other things while she’s back in the O.R. already.  They would like to place a G-tube directly into her stomach (she currently has a G-tube that goes to her stomach from her nose).  This would allow her to have her stomach continuously suctioned but also free up a nostril (which she needs in order to get off the ventilator).  They would also like to perform a procedure known as a Nissen.  This operation involves taking the top of the stomach and wrapping it around the bottom of the esophagus where it connects to the stomach.  This creates a one-way valve so food can go down, but acid can not come back up.  This will also bring us one step closer to coming off of the breathing machine because there will be less chance of her aspirating stomach fluids into her lungs once she is off the machine. 

We are really hoping that they will be able to do everything they would like to get done this afternoon.  When we told one nurse what all they wanted to do today, she said that Haven was getting the Blue Plate Special.  It certainly will put us many steps forward and closer to home if Haven allows them to do what they want to do.  If they do all of the procedures, she’ll be back in the O.R. for quite awhile.  We’ll try to get another update to you later this evening after Haven has returned from the operating room.  As always, thank you for your prayers.  We are so thankful for the many blessings God has given to us.