January 28th, the day that changed our lives forever. Lizzy was scheduled for an open heart procedure to correct a birth defect. The procedure was recommended by her doctors as this defect was starting to affect her daily life. She was getting more and more tired every day and becoming exhausted after doing regular activities. We all knew the surgery would have some risks, but we never could have imagined being where we are now. The surgery was more complicated than her doctor had anticipated due to her anatomy and rare syndrome, and we were sent down a road we wish no one would ever have to travel. She was in critical condition afterwards, and we did not know if she was going to make it. During the surgery, they had to stop her heart multiple times, and the blood supply to all her main organs was affected. The right side of her heart took some damage, so they implanted a device through an artery in her groin that was supposed to help. That device failed, and she was placed on ECMO life support February 1st and transferred to UTMB in Galveston. She continued to be intubated and on this machine for about two weeks before they had to take her off of it to see if her heart would recover on its own. The machine was focusing on keeping her heart going, but her other organs began to suffer. She was in such a fragile and unstable condition that her body began to worsen inside and out. Due to complications from the numerous surgeries and procedures she underwent, she had to have both legs amputated above the knee, and she was on 24/7 dialysis, a ventilator and had a feeding tube in place. It was hour by hour and then day by day, with much support and because Lizzy is a fighter and has such a strong will and love for life, her heart slowly recovered and is almost back to normal without any support. She is a miracle. However, her chest is still open, and she has a wound vac in place that gets washed out multiple times a week. The doctor is slowly going in and closing her chest up a little bit at a time. Her lungs recovered after a while, and she is on regular oxygen now, and she is back to talking a few words and giving us sass, which we are SO grateful for. She was only able to sign a few words before, like I love you, and stop whenever the nurses mess with her. She has her good days and bad but we are so grateful that she is still here with us, and that she continues to get better. We are still struggling with fluid buildup, so she is still doing daily dialysis. We are hoping and praying her liver and kidneys will eventually recover, but only time will tell. She has several pressure sores from being sedated and not moving for so long, as well as having to have tissue removed from her right breast near her chest wound. She has been fighting off infection after infection, but the wounds are slowly getting better. We remain hopeful and are looking forward to closing her chest up completely and switching to conventional dialysis 3 times a week. The feeding tube has been removed and she is slowly starting to eat soft foods as well as physical and occupational therapy so she can rebuild her strength. However, there is still a long road ahead for Lizzy. We are so thankful for family members who have taken time off work and from their personal lives to be here to support us. It will be a full-time job caring for her. In addition to medical bills, we have a long list of things that she will need once she gets sprung from the hospital to help transition into her new life, for which the funds will be used. She will need a wheelchair, (maybe prosthetics down the line), medical devices to help make her life easier and move her around the house, and we will have to remodel parts of our home and add a ramp to accommodate her, as well as a wheelchair accessible vehicle. We appreciate you taking the time to read our story. Any amount contributed is greatly appreciated and we can't thank everyone enough for the continued prayers and good thoughts sent for our precious Lizzy; it means the world to us. If you aren't able to contribute at this time, we kindly ask that you share with friends and family.