Joel's heart

Many of you know, but to those who don't...our Joel is in the hospital. He's been sick all of February, transferred to Children's on the 4th; mitral stenosis=Congestive Heart Failure.  He had surgery to replace his artificial valve with a larger one on the 10th. The surgeon also found clotting around the valve, and said it was a miracle that Joel hadn't had a stroke! This is scary and makes us feel so completely dependent on the Lord who holds our hands and hearts, because after all we could do...even with giving Joel Coumadin regularly...this clotting still happened...but Joel was kept safe until he could have surgery and the doctor so carefully, piece by piece plucked that material from his valve and replaced it with a new larger one. Joel's heart function with the new valve is now good, but his lungs are "still pretty beat up". He's still "sleeping", on vent and pacemaker. He hears us, but we have to not let him get too agitated. Your prayers for Joel's recovery are much appreciated!!! A short picture history below...

 Papa waiting during surgery. Joel went to Operating Room at 8:00 AM and we finally got to see him again at 7:15 PM.