Friday, June 13, 2008

Clinging to Jesus

Wow, if you would have asked me last night how tommorrow would go, I would have told you, without a hitch. Its like taking tonsils out at this place. They do this all the time. As many of you know my last request was a begging, and Ali and I are still on our knees. Cate's surgery, which was supposed to last about 4 hours total, from pre-op to post-op, ended up being 12hrs. Dr. Salazar said in all the surgeries he has done which is about 250 per year, he has never seen anything like this. He said that when they did the echocardiogram this morning they had a much clearer picture of what was going on in Cate's heart, then they had ever had before. And it wasn't a simple procedure he thought he was facing. I will not go into all the details because of lack of sleep and pure shock, but Dr. Salazar had to work on Cate's Pulmonary Veins, Pulmonary Artery, the two holes in her heart, work on the pulmonary valve and carve, literally carve out her right ventricle because it was almost completely shut because the muscle in was so thick. By the time he got finished doing all of this, Cate's little heart was absoluted in shock. He put her on a machine called and Echmo machine, which is the same as life support. He does not want her heart to have to work at all, because of how much it went through today. His hope is that she will only have to be on this machine for the next few days. They left her incesion open instead of stitching it up because they will have to go back in there to remove all of the tubes and to reconnect her sternum. He said he is confident in the surgical part of day, he said the rest is up to how Cate's heart will respond. There are some very serious fears, of which I will not metion, but believe me when I say they are serious, she is no where near out of the woods. We need your prayers for her now more than ever, this will be a marathon, and not the sprint we were expecting. Your emails, text messages, comments on the blog are so appreciated and your prayers are felt, and I mean that. Ali and I are holding up, as I said, I truly believe we are just in shock right now and we need our spiritual family shaking the gates of heaven on Cate's behalf, our behalf, and our other two beautiful children at home. I want you all to know that Ali and I will be remembering all of you and offering up this time of trail for you, our family and friends. As I went to laid down last night, I prayed for every person the uttered a word of petition to our loving Father on our behalf. We love you all more than we can put into words and our gratitude for you is placed at the feet of Jesus. I will keep continue to keep this blog updated so please keep up with Cate's progress. We remain clinging to Jesus in sweet surrender.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

we continue to cling with you guys and Cate...like you said, now more than ever. the Cantrells remain in our prayers. we love you and remain trustworthy in His mercy and the fullness of His grace.
jeremy & courtney

Anonymous said...

in every moment of our lives, we pray that we can totally surrender our lives to him and allow him to carry us. our god will never forsake us or abandon us. he carries us when we feel that we can't carry ourselves. my prayer for you this night is that you allow him to carry you...trust...i pray for faith..for peace..and for rest. that the light of a new day will shine HIS LIGHT into your hearts and that his most sacred heart will beat strongly with precious cates...we love you...we pray...we trust...we have faith...

ben, maria, hannah, michaela, helena and gemma

Anonymous said...

pleading to the Great Physician

love to all,
the bermans

Anonymous said...

We are clinging to Him with you.

"In hope against hope, he believed..." Romans 4:18

Phil and Aimee Landreneau

Anonymous said...

Our prayers from Atlanta through the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary. Blessings and prayers...nothing more! Nathan & Sara Boster and family

Anonymous said...

put a short note in the adoration sign-in book at st. laurence's chapel along w/ link to cate's blog...cate and the family will be taken to directly to the presence of Jesus Himself every hour here in sugar land

love you,
the bermans

Jan said...

These words from Blessed Seelos may offer you some comfort. "Be relaxed and resigned. Let the storm rage until it is raged out, even if the waves break over your head. You will merely be washed, not drowned. To be sure, you must accept it graciously, if you have to swallow a few mouths full of bitter sea water. Afterwards, God will again give you sugar." P.Fr. X Seelos, C.Ss.R. Still praying
Ms. Jan

Unknown said...

Praying that the good Lord above will pull baby Cate and her family through this difficult time. The Lord be with you all.

Anonymous said...

We love you We love you We are praying in every second that passes....We are clinging to Jesus right there along with you guys....

Eric, Kristi, Madison, Matthew, and Mallory

Anonymous said...

We've never met, but baby Cate has been in our prayers and each night we've asked Jesus to cradle her in His hands and to send His peace and healing to Cate and each of you as He watches over you. May God's loving care and faithfulness get you through these unexpected hard times, and know that prayers are going up for Cate from all over. God bless your beautiful daughter and heal her completely as only He can!

Chrissy said...

Praying and lifting our day for you, ali, and Cate. May the divine Physician heal and protect Cate!
Brian and Chrissy McCarthy(and family)

Anonymous said...

We will continue to lift all of you up in our prayers and believe and stand on Jeremiah 33:6 "Behold, I will bring you health and cure, and I will cure you, and will reveal unto you the abundance of peace and truth. We pray and believe with you that Cate receives a full recovery.

Nathan, Christina, and Rachel

Anonymous said...

we love you guys dearly, and are in constant prayer for you, Ali, your babies and espically Cate. We are fighting with you, clinging to the cross in hope and in faith.

Love You,

Will and Natalie Griffin

Anonymous said...

Charlie & Ali...Our prayers continue today for that sweet baby girl. Lean on one another for strength and God will take care of the rest. We love you so much.

marsha, brent, addie & hunter

Anonymous said...

Our thoughts and prayers continue with you all today. May the Lord give you all strength and comfort. We will continue to place our trust in Him.
Love, Marin, Kyle and Kaylin

Anonymous said...

charlie & ali, We are praying for Cate's healing, for your little family & for all of her physicians. Be at peace.
Jay & Maria Menard

Anonymous said...

Charlie & Ali-
Our prayers are with you, your family and Baby Cate. Your faith is amazing and will give you the strength you need to get through this. May God Bless all of you and surround his loving arms around you. We will continue to pray for Cate's healing.
Mike & Martha Marse

Team Pisano said...

We continue to pray for Baby Cate and your family and have asked all of our friends and family to do the same. Flooding heaven with many prayers for all of you.

Gob bless and heal Baby cate.

The Pisano's

Anonymous said...

Cate has not left our thoughts and prayers for one second...We love all of you so much. Marsha and I will take good care of the kids today!
With love and prayers...Wendi, Michael, and Kami

Darcy said...

I went to bed last night praying for Cate and the rest of the family and will continue to do so daily. May God bless you all with much peace and strength.
Darcy and Morgan

Unknown said...

We are praying with you guys and are most honored to do so. You guys are models to us and we love you so much. You will be in our constant prayers and thoughts through this whole thing, May Mary our Mother wrap you and Cate in her Mantle and keep you close We love you
christine and chris

Unknown said...

We are praying with you guys and are most honored to do so. You guys are models to us and we love you so much. You will be in our constant prayers and thoughts through this whole thing, May Mary our Mother wrap you and Cate in her Mantle and keep you close We love you
christine and chris

Anonymous said...

If love for you and Ali and your lambs could make Cate well, she would be up and walking right now.

We are with you - clinging to the hem of His garment right now on your behalf. So, try to stay away from anxious thoughts and be at peace in His love and His plan. It is perfect.

Ms. Laura

Anonymous said...

praying for your Cate and for your family ...

Anonymous said...

Praying...

Anonymous said...

We are praying for baby Cate and your family! Trust in God! Have Faith! All to Jesus through Mary! ~Praying for you from Ohio~

Megan Perkins said...

Continuing to send prayers and thinking of you this morning.

Megan, Jason, Hayes, Mary Elizabeth and Samuel Perkins

Anonymous said...

Charlie and Ali,
We are all praying for baby Cate, you, and your family to pull through this. Your faith is astonishing! Your children are very lucky to have. Baby Cate knows this, and she will pull through. We will continue to pray and keep up with the progress.
We love you,
Nellie, E.J., and family from New Iberia

Anonymous said...

The Body of Christ is beating strongly all around you, within you, and so strongly within little Cate. We are all with you in the Heart of Christ. We LOVE YOU.

aaron, kate, kolbe & mercy

Anna said...

Be assured of our prayers for your whole family and especially for little baby Cate! Stay strong Cate! May He hold you all in the palm of His hand.
Much love and prayers,
Mike and Anna Mosher

Anonymous said...

Ours prayers are with you today and always. Please let the Lord heal baby Cate as fast as possible and let His gentle touch calm your fears during this time. We love you and are praying right now.
Shelley & Boo

Anonymous said...

My thoughts and prayers are w/ you and your sweet Baby Cate. May our Lord give you strength and comfort.
Sarah (Pregent) Napier

Anonymous said...

Charlie,

This is Tony from B.R.(John Ray's friend,Steubenville prayer minister) Our hearts and our prayers are with you and your family. Stay strong and know that if He brings us to it, He'll bring us through it. If we acn do anything for ya'll, John ray can get a hold of me.

God Bless,

Tony and Jeannine Cockerham

Anonymous said...

Please keep your faith and remember you can also pray to St Jude