Thursday, 02 September: Today, we met with Dr. Lamberti, the surgeon who will repair Gabriella’s heart. He was in Hawaii this week performing heart operations on children from underprivileged families, something he does approximately five times each year.
He was everything we had hoped and expected him to be: calm, compassionate and professional. He was very straight forward in describing the operation, including the risks and various complications which may present themselves during and after the surgery. He answered all of our questions, including Cousin Shelley’s (it will be a transverse incision) and we feel very comfortable with him.
After our hour-long meeting he took us up to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where two of his patients were recovering. He took each of us, individually, in to see his patients. Although it was a heart wrenching experience, seeing an infant in the trauma that follows open-heart surgery, we realize we needed to be “prepared” for when we see little Gabriella in the ICU. We are still digesting all that we saw and heard today.
Thank you for your prayers.