August 15th- Post Op Post #2

10:15 p.m.
It's been a really good day! My sister and Dad both called with enthusiastic reports tonight that the day ended on a very good note. My Dad couldn't believe that Cordelia's stomach is virtually back to a normal size (for those of you who had seen her before, it was HUGE! So big, they could not button her onesies). Within one day, her color (she was getting more and more yellow/darker pigmentation due to the liver issues...kind of like jaundice, but much, much worse) and her belly are almost back to normal.

All of the leakage from her incisions that we were worried about last night seems to have resolved itself on its own today (Praise God! We know His healing hand was likely at work here!)...While they were having difficulties with her pain medication earlier today, by the end of the day they had her calmed down and quite stable.

Katie said that Dani was up and moving around-- that the nurses came in and helped her move around the room and that she took a little bit of a walk. She even tried to eat a bit...although Katie said at one point they tried to give her beef broth, which she didn't like...can you blame the poor momma?!!! Hospital beef broth after a surgery like that?!!! Ew!!!

We are counting our many blessings today...I am amazed by the many big and little miracles that are taking place daily on Cliff, Dani and Cordelia's journey.

Blessings to you all. Good night.


1 p.m.

Hi Everyone, Starting a second post because the first was getting so long.

Just wanted to say you are all INCREDIBLY generous!!! Cliff and Dani have received close to 150 (maybe more) meal cards in the last couple of hours.

That will hold them over, possibly until they are discharged, so thank you for doing that! Everyone is so compassionate and generous. It is so amazing to see! They are all set in the meal department for now...

Today's challenge is monitoring Cordelia's pain medications...it's tricky business right now. Dani is in some pain, but doing remarkably well all things considered. Send her a card this week!! The easiest thing to do is probably to send it to her attention at the Ronald McDonald House (address on the right side of the blog page).

August 15th-- 1st Day Post-Op

Update from Cliff this morning...

8 a.m.

 "Long night but already improving. Dr. B said that they don't give out tens but Cordelia is a nine with where they expected her to be after the transplant. Dani was by before 6 a.m. this morning to see her. They both look absolutely amazing. Cordelia no longer has a big belly and is already a little lighter in color. God is Good."


10:02

Pictures from Katie:

Cordelia recovering in ICU

Cordelia's current "Tree of Life"

A text from Dani on Monday (before surgery)She sent this picture to me with a note that said "Or liver?"
Don't worry, it took me a minute to get it, but then I was laughing out loud! She makes me smile at the ways she finds humor and laughter in every situation...

Cliff yesterday in the waiting room doing what he does best in crazy situations-- puts a smile on and lifts something heavy!!

As for prayer requests today-- when I talked to Katie at 9:30 she said the biggest challenge right now is that because Cordelia's body is trying to figure out how to use a new liver (which is an adult liver) that her body is processing the pain medication far too fast and every 1/2 hour or so she is in significant pain. Continue praying for her body to accept the liver, and for her and Dani to have good recoveries. 

(NOTE: So many of you responded so quickly that Cliff and Dani are set on meal cards for now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!)
Also, if you'd like to bless Cliff and Dani in a tangible way this week, they are running out of meal cards (Cliff will probably cringe when he reads that I'm even putting this out there, but hey, I'm his sister!!!). Cincinnati Children's hospital offers these cards for $5 a piece...each card buys one meal which is then sent to their hospital room (they call and order from a menu). Dani can't eat just yet (but Cliff can!), but they will be there for at least another 3-5 weeks with Cordelia as she recovers (and then they will move into the Ronald McDonald House more permanently for another month or two). Because they are not "patients" they would otherwise need to pay for their meals (2 people x 2-3 meals a day)

I've called and ordered anywhere from 6-10 at a time to have sent to their room and I know some of their friends from church have sent some too. These are super helpful to them while they are staying in the hospital because it is so convenient (and its a GREAT deal for the amount of food they get). 

You can call guest services at this number 513-636-5009, tell them the patient's name (you can give them Danielle Minter if you do it this week--- she'll be placed in a regular hospital room later today, while Cordelia will remain in ICU), give them a credit card right over the phone and they will deliver directly to the patient's room. 

Many thanks for the SOOOO many ways you have all helped in the last few weeks and months! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

Surgery Day

8:45 a.m.

Good morning everyone. As you know today is surgery day!

For those of you not on Facebook Cliff and Dani posted this this morning...

Thank you to everyone praying. Almost time. God really does have this under control. We really have had His favor through this walk. I truly believe He will be guiding the docs through this

Dani went down at 5:30 this morning to be prepped. Her mom and Cliff were able to go with her while she was in the prep room.  They were expecting the actual surgery to officially begin between 8:30-9:00. Once Dani surgery begins they will get Cordelia and begin prepping her. 

When I talked to Katie (my sister) at 8:45 Cordelia was still in the room with them and they were just waiting for the staff to let them know when she should be taken down to be prepped. 

Here is little Miss Cordelia this morning...

I will try to post updates every couple of hours on this page...Please check back throughout the day. 

10:30 
First Update from Cliff-They got to Dani's liver and liked what they saw as far as bile ducts. They are staring on Cordelia and expect about two hours to get to her liver. They will update us every hour. 

12:30
Text from Cliff: "They have a good look at Dani's liver but haven't cut it yet. They are working on Cordelia's drainage so its ready for her new liver. Both of our beautiful angels are stable and doing well." 


So sorry, for the delay...there was a long period of waiting today where everything was going well, but it just took some time for the Doctor's to secure the section of Dani's liver and then pull it out as carefully as possible. 

That said, the 1/4 of Dani's liver that they needed was successfully removed and is being given to Cordelia as I type this. Praise God! Truly, all of this is such an incredibly blessing and miracle...the doctors, the procedure, everything! 

Here are the updates Cliff sent over the last couple of hours...

4:11
Still working on getting Dani's liver out. Cordelia is waiting patiently. 

4:52
Dani's liver is finally out. A couple more hours for her. She's a beautiful, strong and wonderful mother. Cordelia's hour to start healing is close. Praise God. 

5:21
Stitching up Dani now. Cordelia will have a new liver soon!


More to come...continue your beautiful prayers. Thank you for all of your words of encouragement and thoughts throughout the day!!!

8 p.m.
My Dad called to say that Dani is out of surgery and that Cliff and her mom are with her right now. She  is doing very well considering what her body has been through today. Cordelia still has another hour or so of surgery-- the surgeons are currently tying up and connecting the last of the veins/arteries. 


10 p.m. 
Cordelia's surgery is complete, but it sounds like some things are up in the air. She was in a post operative room and was having some leakage from one of her incisions. According to my dad, they needed to do a few tests on her and were considering the possibility of needing to take her back into surgery. My Dad promised to call as soon as he knew something. 


10:40 p.m.
Cordelia is in her room in ICU for the night. The surgeon's report is that everything with the liver went as well as it possibly could, but that her (Ascites- swelling and accumulation of fluid in the abdomen) was causing some challenges. They did say she may need to go back into surgery, but that it would not be until tomorrow if it is necessary. They're going to watch her through the night, let her rest and re-evaluate in the morning.

Apparently the surgeon also said that Cordelia's liver was so badly damaged that within a few days to a week there may have been little they could have done...Praising God for His timing and for Dani's courage. 


Good night...more updates to come tomorrow. 

Please Pray for Surgery Day-- Tomorrow August 14th

     I just wanted to remind everyone that surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.

     Dani and Cordelia are both undergoing final testing, blood matches, x-rays and scans today to verify their compatibility and get them ready for tomorrow.

     They all seem to be holding up well. Dani's mom and dad are on their way today, as are my parents and sister.

     Pastor Steve and his wife from Faith Fellowship in Clarence (Cliff and Dani's church) are coming in for the surgery as well.

     My parents, sister and Cliff will be sending me frequent updates throughout the day and I will be posting relevant updates on here as I get them, so please check in frequently throughout the day.

     The expected timeline will be:

     5:30 a.m. Dani will be taken into surgery to be prepped...I'm not sure precisely when surgery will start thereafter, but once it formally begins it is expected to be 6-8 hours, so we're hoping they'll be done somewhere between 12-2p.m.

     6:00 a.m. Cordelia will be prepped for surgery in a surgical room right next door. There will be some overlap in the surgeries...as soon as the portion of Dani's liver is available it will be taken next door and given to the surgeon's performing Cordelia's surgery. They are hoping her surgery will be complete late afternoon/early evening (around 5-6 p.m.).


     We will all be praying fervently tomorrow-- for protection for Dani and Cordelia, for wisdom for the doctors, as well as clarity of mind, steady hands and all of the details they need to be present for good surgeries, for peace of mind and heart for all of the family members who will be waiting-- Cliff in particular and both sets of grandparents-- Cliff and Dani's parents (who will all be at the hospital waiting).

     Thank you all. Please pass this on to all of the prayer warriors in your life as well and ask them to be flooding the heavens with prayers for this family tomorrow.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God that passeth all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

August 11th Update

Mommy and Baby hanging out...

Hi Everyone,

Not much in the way of updates today...everyone is in a bit of a holding pattern until next week. 

As you all know, surgery is set for Tuesday, August 14th (one day before Cordelia's 5 month birthday!). Unless something major changes this weekend (like a donated liver coming in, which is still a possibility) Cordelia and Dani will both be prepped for surgery on Tuesday morning-- Dani at 5:30 a.m. and Cordelia shortly after. These are both big surgeries with Dani's being estimated to be from 4-8 hours long and Cordelia's taking approximately 8 hours or more.

There is a relatively simple explanation of the living donor liver transplant process here if you want to read more. And here are is a short explanation taken from a 2010 USA Today Article:

The procedure, in which a segment of the liver is taken from a healthy donor and transplanted into the ailing recipient, is possible because of the liver's ability to regenerate. In weeks, both the old liver and the transplanted liver begin to grow back to a normal size, providing long-term function for both donor and patient. 

The first such successful transplantations, beginning in 1989, involved taking liver grafts from adult donors for transplantation into sick children, a procedure with fewer risks to the donor because only about 25% of the liver is needed. As pediatric living-donor liver transplantation grew more widely accepted, the technique was modified for use in adult patients, with up to 60% of the donor's liver taken

I spoke with Dani last night and she seemed as joyful and positive about everything as she always is...that is one of the things I LOVE most about Danielle, her irrepressible positive attitude. While we all assumed that a liver would have come in by means of organ donation by now,  Dani seems peaceful and grateful that they even have this option of giving part of her own liver to Cordelia...in her words, "if it means that Cordelia has less of a chance of rejecting the liver then that's great!"

Some of you have asked what happens after surgery- Will this surgery "fix" everything that is going on for Cordelia?

Those are complicated questions with most easy answers. One of the biggest concerns after a transplant surgery is organ rejection. Cordelia will be monitored closely in ICU for quite a bit of time, and then slowly moved to a non-ICU floor. The reason Dani said she may have less of a chance of rejecting her liver is because there is a small amount of research that shows pediatric patients who receive an organ from a parent have shown some slightly higher success rates as far as recovery.

One day at a time though. First and foremost is that we would all be praying for two successful surgeries next week, for Dani and Cordelia.

Current prayer requests are that Cordelia and Dani would remain healthy over the next three days (surgery is not an option if an infection is present) and that God's hands would be directing every small detail of pre-surgery, surgery and recovery. 

Dani's mom and my mom and dad will all be traveling to Cincinnati on Monday to be there for the surgery-- prayers for safe travel  for them would be appreciated as well. 

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and support. This is a big week coming up and continued prayers would be very much appreciated. 

P.S. The $5,000 fundraising goal has been reached which is wonderful!!! Thank you.  If you know of friends and family who would still like to donate please don't let them be deterred, the site can still take donations! 

Over the next couple of weeks I will post a few more updates about the Caring for Cordelia fundraiser and the needs we have in regards to it. 

Praying for Miracles

"You can think you have a mature faith, but trails test the strength of your faith in a way the good times in your life cannot. At those times, you either run to God or you run away from God."

(A quote Cliff sent along this week by Chris Spielman, former NFL player and current sports analyst)

While Cliff and Danielle are 400+ miles away, it seems I have learned more about them in the last two months than while they were less than 10 miles away for the last several years.

It has been such a blessing to see friends leaving comments here through the blog, or to hear the stories of how their church family has gone above and beyond what one might expect to love and support them in tangible, emotional and financial ways. It's been moving to see current friends and family, but even more interesting to hear from past friends and family who have come alongside them in one way or another to encourage and support them.

I must say, it's hard to admit that there could be any good in this whole situation, but if there were one thing that would be it-- that this incredibly hard challenge has shown that people (friends, family and even strangers) are capable of incredible good.

Speaking of past friends and family, I'm not sure if any of you saw this, but one of Dani's former suite mates from college posted this comment at the end of one of the blog posts last week:

"I want to remind you of something you said to me once in that small living room area in our dorm. You asked me what my favorite flower was and I think I said a rose. I wasn't sure. I asked you what yours was, and you said, "A dandelion. Because even through pavement an concrete it still come up, it still blooms." Ever since then, I have never seen that flower as a weed or an annoyance like others tend to...I see you and your strength." 

Lets continue to love and support them in all of the ways that we can...Cliff sounded tired when I talked to him last night...He said they tallied spending the last 44 nights in hospital rooms. I could hear "tired" in his voice.

Cordelia's sodium levels dropped to a dangerously low point over the weekend and last night that had to give her a very concentrated sodium mixture that can be harsh on the veins-- last time they did this Cordelia was incredibly upset (Cliff said more so than anything else they've needed to do to her) and they actually stopped the process partway through (though after she had gotten enough to bring her levels up). Her belly was also tapped late last week and she will most likely be tapped again before the end of this week. While this has become somewhat "common" procedure, the process always introduces a chance to introduce infection...please pray for protection over her.

Cliff has told me several times that the doctor's have called this a "tricky case" more than once...She is so small and her liver is so badly damaged that the challenges are incredibly intricate and complicated. For all of those reasons she needs a new liver and very, VERY soon.

That said, a surgery date has been set for either August 14th or 16th (to be confirmed this week). This means that if a liver does not become available by that date that Dani will have part of her liver surgically removed to use for Cordelia.

While it is "good" that they even have this option, it is not an ideal situation for many reasons.  It would mean that after surgery Dani will be recovering and unable to be with Cliff in the waiting room and in the weeks that follow Cliff will be in a position to have to run back and forth between two hospital floors to see Dani and Cordelia...Sigh.

Let's lift them up in prayer over the next couple of weeks...let's pray for a miracle!!! Please send this link to everyone you know and ask them to join us in prayer this week...prayers that a liver would become available for Cordelia. 


If you're not used to praying, here's a short prayer to get you started...


Dear Heavenly Father, We pray right now that You would bring a liver to Cordelia this week. We believe that miracles DO still happen. We pray that Your hand would show up powerfully in this situation and that You would go before Cordelia in surgery, be with her in surgery and be protecting her and healing her body afterwards. Be with Cliff and Dani this week as well as this has been a long road that has not offered much rest...Be their rest and their strength this week.                                   In Your Name We Pray, Amen. 

Potential Operation Date Soon to Be Determined

Hi Friends,

Yesterday was a big day for little Cordelia...she GIGGLED! Oh how I would love to be closer so that I could hear that sweet giggle. It's funny, there is so much going on with her that I think it is sometimes easy to forget that she is just a sweet little girl who is supposed to be working towards normal baby milestones...like giggling, and cooing and babbling. Cliff called me yesterday like such a proud Dad (and proud he should be!) to tell me that Cordelia giggled...

She also had a blood transfusion yesterday, which is a much more serious matter, but Cliff thinks she may have been feeling a bit better from the addition of the blood, which helped put a smile on her face.

A bigger piece of news connected to a BIG prayer request...an operation date is being set for Cordelia and Dani sometime in mid-August. Cliff said he is thinking somewhere around the 16th-18th.

What does that mean?

It means that the Doctor's feel like it is not worth waiting any longer than that for Cordelia to get a liver because her health will only continue to decline and the more it declines the more complicated surgery becomes...Sigh...

So...it means that on that date, if a liver hasn't come in before then (we are praying that one does!!!!) Dani will undergo surgery to have one quadrant of her liver removed and while she is undergoing surgery Cordelia will be prepped in another surgical room for the transplant.

There are some complications to doing it this way-- first and foremost Cordelia and Dani would BOTH be then recovering from major surgeries on different floors of the hospital, which would be hard for Dani and Cliff.

Secondly, Dani's liver is not ideal, but it is usable. It is not ideal because there are what the doctors call "vascular anomalies", which basically means she has quite a few more veins around her liver than usual and it makes it a little bit more complicated to remove.

Dani's friend Joyce is also in Cincinnati (with Dani's mother) this week. Joyce is being tested to be a living donor as well...Typically they like to use a parent's liver if they are going to use a living donor, but if Joyce's is a better match it may be a good option.

So, please join me in praying over the next couple of weeks....Please tell everyone you know, especially those prayer warriors in your life to be praying for Cliff and Dani and Cordelia. It takes my breath away to think about how major and challenging all of this is. Our real hope is that a perfect liver comes in for Cordelia in the next two weeks so that Dani can be available to be with her after her surgery and not recovering from her own.

Psalm 31:14

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."