{Caardvarks} 8 Is Enough

Cautiously optimistic.

Those are the words we heard from the surgeon yesterday after Muriel's surgery. Wow. 100% pure relief. You could visibly see my FIL and husband's bodies buckle in relief when they heard the surgeon's words.

The good news? The infection inside the chest cavity was not as invasive as they had been anticipating. They did NOT have to remove her sternum. They did open the heart wound fully (from the initial surgery), and cleaned everything out. They considered the damage very superficial in nature (which to the Dr. meant an inch or so deep, yikes). They only had to remove a little bit of bone that looked suspicious in nature. The wound now stays open, packed with gauze in order to heal.

She is in ICU. She is still intubated. They are somewhat assured that the infection is no longer in the blood, although 100% confirmation of that will not happen until she has at least 4 good blood tests in a row. The road to recovery is VERY long. We are not out of the woods. We know her body fights recovery slowly. But for now, we've got hope. She will never be the same, but we'll take what we can get.

Thank you for your prayers. I FELT them! God did answer our prayers. One for certain? Her surgery was moved yesterday from 530pm to 11a!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another? A successful surgery. He is so good.

After blogging early yesterday morning, I really wanted to make a card for the {Caardvarks} 10 Day 10K Challenge before I left for the hospital. The challenge (it was Day 8) was to make a card with 2 designer papers, 2 ribbon, 2 circles, and 2 stamps. Knowing it was going to be a stressful day for all of us, mostly my FIL, I made him a card that expressed how I was feeling. The card just flowed. There was no starting and stopping. No wondering what the heck I was going to make. It just came. And because it happened this way, I knew I wasn't supposed to give up on the {Caardvarks} challenge!

The papers are by We Are Memory Keepers. One of the stamps I used was from Penny Black (the sentiment), the other stamp was from Carte Postale. The two circles are front and center, and it's obvious where the ribbon is. The striped ribbon is from May Arts, I'm not sure where the other ribbon is from. I really like both the layout and the colors for the card. It's such a break from all the other cards I've created for this challenge, isn't it? But change is good. The colors I used obviously conveyed how I was feeling. I certainly wasn't feeling cheerful, so the brights I had been using this week wouldn't have been appropriate. See how much heart goes into my creations? This is precisely why I named my blog and my card business "Heartfelt Greetings". Everything I make I make with my heart.

It's as simple as that. This is who I am. And I'm proud of it.

Thanks again for all your loving prayers. I am so glad I had good news to share with you this morning!