Early bird registration for the Shamu & You Family Walk ends today! 
Join our team Heart Hero!!! 
Go to our family page then click on "My Team Page" then "Join Our Team"http://shamuandyouwalk.org/stephenrussell

If you can't make the event you can always register as a "virtual walker" or make a donation. All money raised under team Heart Hero will directly go to the Heart Institute at Rady Children's Hospital.
You can still sign up after today...it will just cost $5 more =0)
Hope you can join us in our fundraising efforts!  

Well it is almost here... in 18 days Stephen will go in for his second heart surgery.  Last Friday morning we had his last cardiology appointment before the big day.  Everything is looking great and the doctor thinks we are timing it just right.  On one hand we dread August 17th and on the other hand we can't wait to get it over with.  When people ask how I feel about it I simply say "I don't think about it".  I can't...it is too painful.  The day will be here before I know it and we will live through it and pray through it just as we did before...but thinking does this mama no good.
Stephen will be in a less fragile state once it is over and will soon be able to be around more people...I will even get to go to church!  He won't go into the nursery, and we will do our best to avoid people who are sick, but it sounds like life will be getting a lot more "normal" soon.  This summer has been a little hard on me.  I usually tag along to youth events with our kiddos, go to the beach, visit family, etc., but this summer we have mainly stayed in.  I have felt like we missed out on so much but thankfully it is only for a little longer.
Please continue to pray for Stephen.
Pray that he remains healthy before the surgery
Pray for the surgery- that it would go well and "uneventfully"
Pray for his recovery- that it would be quick and as painless as possible.  There is a chance of bad headaches and we have been told they sometimes come back a completely different child until they go away.  Please pray that Stephen is spared from these and his body quickly adjusts to the new system of flow.
Pray for our family- that God would continue to give us his peace and strength through it all.

We sure do love this little guy!!!

Serving Others

Today was such an awesome day!!!  We took a group of high schoolers and some awesome adult helpers down to the Ronald McDonald house to serve dinner to 150 people.  It was so special =0)  We delivered 27 blankets that some girls from the group and I made a few weeks ago, and brought down 57 awesome candy leis for the kids staying at the house made by a sweet group of 3rd-5th grade girls at our church (Girls of Grace).  They truly brightened up the families days and brought the cutest smiles to their faces.  We also had crafts and crayons for all the kiddos and had some families bake some amazing desserts for the Staff over in the NICU.   It felt so good to serve in such simple ways.  Joe and I remember how much it meant to us to have groups like this come in...especially ones who reached out to our other children.  Seeing our kids smile when our hearts were broken meant the world to us and it was amazing to be on the other side and get to be a part of making those smiles =0)
I want to thank all of the families and students who helped with blankets, goodies, leis, and serving...it meant so much to our family to be able to do this with you.
One of the highlights of the night for me was meeting an amazing Christian family from Nevada.  Their foster child (who they are trying to adopt) has leukemia and just received a bone marrow transplant on Monday.  No hospital in Vegas does this so their family of 7 has been temporary uprooted and is living at the Ronald McDonald House.  They will have to stay out here for at least another 3 months!  We are hoping to be able to help support them in any way we can.  I would love to see if we can get any extra tickets to the zoo, legoland, seaworld, movie ect.  If you have any that you would like to donate please email me at kdrussell04@aol.com.  I am also thinking about putting together a fun care package for the kids =0)
And this is why I love that place.  It is a house full of people going through a rough time.   They come from different places, backgrounds, races, religions, etc but they all have one thing in common...a child in the hospital.  The people you meet and the stories you hear will warm your hearts.  I look forward to doing more work their soon!

Our kids helped pass out the leis to the other kids...I loved watching them do it and was impressed that they never asked for one.  I truly think they understood what they were for =0)

Stephen's Video

Shamu and You Walk

Come walk with us!  Joe and I would love you to join Team Heart Hero and walk with us at The Shamu & You Family Walk Saturday October 6th at Sea World.  It is a great way to help the life-saving efforts at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego – and enjoy a fun morning at Mission Bay with your family and friends.  We will be walking the 1-mile course and then will join the celebration at the finish line.  There will be games and food and we would love to have you be a part of this special day.

All funding raised by Team Heart Hero will directly benefit The Heart Institute at Rady Children's Hospital.   Please consider joining our team or making a donation to help us make a difference in the lives of all the heart heroes like Stephen!

Just go to our families fundraising page and click on "My Team Page" then "Join our Team"  If you sign up by the end of July registration is $5 off!

If you can’t make it you can always make a donation and help us reach our fundraising goal.

We would love to see you there!

http://shamuandyouwalk.org/stephenrussell 

Surgery Date

Please pray for Stephen as his next surgery will be a month from now on August 17th at 11:30 am.  It is crazy how emotional it was to receive the date.  Old scars were ripped back open.  I tried to call my family to tell them but had to revert to emails instead.  It breaks my heart that he will have to go through so much again.  He doesn't deserve this.  He is so innocent and sweet and I don't want him do have to endure so much again.  I know it will break our hearts looking at him in that condition, especially when he looks up at us with his big blue eyes and I again won't be able to hold him or even explain to him why he has to go through all of this.  It seems like such a huge step backwards yet the reality is that this surgery is another necessary step forward for him to live what we pray is a long life.
During the first surgery they reconstructed his heart to function on only 2 chambers and created a shunt to take blood to his lungs since his only functioning ventricle was pumping blood to his body.  He will soon outgrow the temporary shunt that directs the blood to his lungs so they will be creating a new route by connecting the superior vena cava (which carries the blood returning from the upper body) to part of his pulmonary artery.    In the third and final surgery (when he is 3-5 years old) the lower body venous blood will also be diverted to the lungs  which will then allow all of the oxygen poor blood from the upper and lower body to flow through the lungs without being pumped; it will solely be driven only by the pressure that builds up in the veins.  Crazy I know.  I am always amazed that they came up with such a series of surgeries that will allow our son to live with half a heart.
All surgeries carry great risk so please pray that it all go well and that Stephen powers through this one just like the first.  Please pray that his body again can tolerate being put on bypass and that his heart would not have the same complications as it did during the cath lab.  Also pray that he remains healthy as the date approaches.  Even the slightest illness could postpone the surgery.
Sometimes the only words I have are "this sucks".  I know God has worked great things through Stephen's heart, and he will continue to do so, but the pain is real.  I put off writing this post because of it.  We knew the surgery was coming but having an official date made it so much more real.
We continue to put our trust in God knowing Stephen still is, and will forever be, in His hands.

Thank you for your prayers

Stephen had his holter monitor put on him yesterday at 3pm and wore it for the past 24 hours.  The little guy handled being hooked up to 7 leads pretty well.  It is basically a portable EKG that monitored his heart to see if there are any irregular heartbeats and such.  Today we were able to take it off and put in in a FedEx box to be shipped back to his cardiologist.  I am assuming that if nothing is wrong we won't hear anything until our appointment on July 27th.  He sure is cute though!!!!

He also surprised the nurse with how much he has grown in 5 days...he is now 13 lbs 13 ozs!!! 

Just check out those thighs =0)

Please continue to pray for his heart and that God would continue to strengthen him.

We appreciate you all so very much!

Much Love

The Russells