Appologies for not updating anymore yesterday. I spent the rest of the day in her room except when we went to dinner. A little more details on the results of her surgery: Once they got in there, not only did they not need to replace her valve, her tricuspid was not in nearly as bad shape as they thought! They did have to make some corrections on placement to get it working properly, but they did not have to "create" the third leaflet like they thought (most Epstein patients have at least one leaflet that didn't form properly and they have to fold and reform it). She did have one small hole that they didn't know about until they got inside, but it was an easy fix. They were also able to successfully remove part of her heart that had become enlarged so that it would be the proper size again. The surgery ended up taking only around 2-1/2 hours instead of the 4 they thought it would, so that was much easier and quicker than her procedure the other day.

They were able to take her off the sedatives around 3:30 yesterday afternoon and she woke up several minutes later. She really didn't like the cpap tube and fought to wake up enough to get it out. She was very drowsy though.  It took several hours before she was breathing on her own enough to take it out. They were hoping she would be sitting on the side of the bed late last night, but she was in a lot of pain and started getting nauseated after we left for dinner.

This morning at 6:45 she texted us this picture of herself sitting in a chair. She said she was in the chair for several hours and it was the most painful thing she has ever done (and that's saying a lot for miss clumsy who is constantly injuring herself). :)

Dad went over there early this morning to see her while the rest of us got some much-needed sleep. Even though yesterday was not nearly as long as Friday and Saturday, we are starting to run on fumes. Hopefully now that the big stressers are out of the way the rest of the trip will be a little easier. I know my parents are both much more relaxed since the surgery.

The last thing we heard is that they were taking her for an echocardiogram to make sure her blood flow through the heart has been corrected. We will be heading over there in a few minutes. As always, will keep you posted! Thanks again for the love and support. Nicole Garissi is heading into town this week to visit. You have all been so supportive, and I know both Candace and my parents have really felt and appreciated all the love.