Alicia Jewel made it through her surgery in just shy of 12 hours. She did GREAT. This girl had her sick lungs removed from her healthy body and a healthy pair of lungs placed in her chest. This girl WILL BREATHE!

Nurses took Alicia back for prep at about 8:30am and surgery started at 9:30am as they began to start anesthesia and place IVs. Alicia was placed on ECMO throughout the procedure – that is a bypass machine that oxygenates her blood and circulates it for her while surgeons worked their skillful hands.  Her doctors had her lungs removed and prepared for the new lungs by 3:00pm. Each lung took an hour to an hour and a half to place in Alicia and then they began to close her chest cavity by 7:15pm. These doctors and nurses worked TIRELESSLY for 11 plus hours to give Ali new lungs. They left the OR to take Alicia upstairs at 8:03pm.

Once Alicia finished in the OR, she needed to spend some time being monitored for bleeding, pain management, etc. The surgeon reported being extremely pleased with how things went in surgery and said that Ali’s old lungs were just TERRIBLE. That’s no news to us, though! All of you that prayed during surgery today, THANK YOU. I hope you’ll continue to join us in covering this girl and her family in prayer. The surgeon is optimistic that Alicia will even get to come off of her ventilator Friday or Saturday. All of her stats look better than they typically do at this stage. That’s AMAZING news and worth praying for!

Alicia will be in recovery at the hospital for 2-4 weeks before she is released to her St. Louis apartment. During this time, please be praying for her body to continue to thrive and receive this gift of new lungs. Also, pray for strength and perseverance as Crissie and Joe learn how to take care of Alicia through this process. And, be praying for all of Ali’s siblings, too. They are apart from her and their parents right now and that is hard for them. They are so thankful to know surgery went well – AND this is just the beginning for them, too.

As Alicia was being wheeled into the OR this morning, she told doctors that she couldn’t wait to be on the other side of this because she wanted to RUN! Did you run today? Did you see your child run today? What a simple thing and yet a HUGE accomplishment for Alicia. We will watch that girl run. Its just a matter of time. Join us in praying for that day!