Kylee's Next Surgery

Hello Family and Friends,

We are writing to let you know of our daughter, Kylee's, next surgery. She is now 10 and this will be her 10th surgery. She was born with a birth defect called Bladder Exstrophy. This is going to be a major surgery we are praying will be extremely successful. The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, July 1st, at Children's Regional and Medical Center in Seattle near the University of Washington. We aren't sure what time the surgery will start, but it should be in the morning since it's scheduled to be about an 11 hour surgery. Kylee is scheduled to be in the hospital for 7- 10 days.

We are requesting prayers and positive thoughts for Kylee during this time. Right now, we are praying she will stay healthy and infection free. If she gets sick or has an infection or even if she gets exposed to certain diseases... they will not perform the surgery. We are trying to be positive that the surgery will take place and with that frame of mind we are praying the surgery will be successful and ask for your help with that... especially on the day of the surgery. If any of you belong to a church and can put Kylee's name on a prayer roll or something similar, we would appreciate it. Our church is also fasting for Kylee this coming Sunday, if you'd like to participate.

We appreciate all of you and all that you do to support our family in so many ways.

During Kylee's surgery, they will take some of her large colon and graft it on to her small non-functioning bladder... and create a large reservoir, if you will. The plan is to have this large reservoir keep the urine in it for longer periods of time than her current bladder which only holds about 55 c.c.'s. The success will produce considerably less U.T.I.'s and Kidney Infections and will hopefully allow for Kylee to self-cath through her mitrofinoff (stoma in her belly), every 4 hours instead of every 2 hours... helping her to not miss any more school during the day. If she only has to cath every 4 hours, this will really change her life for the better. Of course, we always hope it will help her stay drier too... but, that would be a bonus. The major goals are less infections and less cathing.

We will start sending surgery updates from the hospital in Seattle when we get up there. Let us know if you'd like to receive these updates. Kylee and Rebecca fly out Monday, June 29th and return late on Tuesday, July 21st. Art will fly up June 29th and return late on Sunday, July 12th. We are hoping to get into the Ronald McDonald House.

Thanks again for your time and prayers on our daughter's behalf,

Art & Rebecca (Becky) Hunter