Tyler's Story Finale: Emmy Recovers
Even though it didn’t look good on the surface, I knew in my heart that Emmy was going to be okay. I never once doubted that truth.
“Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not {visibly} seen.”
His footprints were all over CICU room #27. He was there. He made a way. He’s a waymaker. He’s a miracle worker. He’s a promise keeper. That’s just who He is. There really aren’t words to describe the feeling of seeing a code meds chart posted at your child’s bedside. It hits you at your core. It’s a reminder that your child is in critical condition. That thing can get dicey fast. If you know, you know. But God is a faithful God. He’s Healer. He’s Alpha and Omega. He’s the beginning and the end. He is good. Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all.
After this blip on the radar, Emmy continued to recover well. She was intubated and fully sedated for seven days postoperatively. She was in the CICU for 12 days and on the floor for another two days, for a grand total of 14 days in the hospital. Emmy has done so well! You would never know what she has been through just by looking at her. She does all of the normal kid things and has continued to hit all of her milestones. At this point, we don’t know if she’ll need any other surgeries. Our hope is that she doesn’t, but if she does, we have an amazing team at BCH that will get her taken care of.
Almost two years ago, we walked through the doors of Boston Children’s Hospital for the first time. We didn’t know how long we would be there. We didn’t know which surgery Emmy would be having. But we trusted. We trusted Dr. Emani and his incredible team. We trusted Dr. Beroukhim and Dr. Harrison, our two incredible BCH cardiologists.
We trusted that everyone had Emmy’s best interest in mind, and they did. We rested in the fact that God had already gone before us and made a way. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we knew that we were exactly where we were supposed to be. We felt so much peace and comfort as we walked into the hospital that first day. Our hearts were filled with so much hope. With so much joy.
“Joy? You were joyful as you prepared to hand your child over for open-heart surgery?”
Yes, we were. Our hearts were filled with joyful expectations of how we would see God move during our time in Boston. And boy did He move. He allowed us to physically witness miraculous healing two different times. He made a way when there was no way. And we chose to believe that we would see Him do it again. And again. And again. And again. And we did.
Don’t hear what I’m not saying...in no way was it easy for us to hand Emmy over to someone we barely knew, knowing that he was about to open her chest and lay hands on her heart for hours. Knowing that they were about to stop her heart. Knowing that she would be on the heart and lung bypass machine for hours. Physically handing her over to the anesthesiology team was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I had zero control.
All we could do was trust that God would heal and protect her. And He did. The hope of Jesus is incredible. It’s indescribable. There’s nothing like it. We prayed and prayed that God would miraculously heal Emmy’s heart, but we weren’t naive to the fact that the greatest miracle of all might have been the miracle that God wanted to do in us instead of the miracle that we were asking God to do for us. We learned how to surrender. We learned what it truly means to trust in the Lord and to rest in His great power. We don’t know “why” we have this heart journey as part of our testimony. And to be honest, the exact “why” doesn’t matter to us.
Do people feel like they’re in the presence of Jesus when we talk to them about our story? Do they feel His warm embrace and love? That’s all we care about. God didn’t call us to this in order to save us. He saved us so that He could call us to do what He needs us to do.
Thank you to Tyler for sharing her amazing story about Emmy, I am so glad she is home, happy and thriving!!
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