Just in the past 24 hours a decision has been made for Duncan to undergo that catheterization procedure. A bit of history: Duncan has routine bi-monthly heart check ups between the first open heart surgery (at 11 days of age) and the second one (somewhere in the 6 month range). The past two check-ups (consisting of an echo and an EKG) have revealed restricted blood flow in the arch of his heart - which "fuels" the head, neck, and heart by delivering them oxygenated blood. The plan was to just keep an eye on it in hopes that he would stay stable enough until the next surgery.
However, his behavior seemed changed from Sunday until yesterday - not eating as well, increased fussiness, sweating a bit, and clammy hands and feet. It was enough to call in about, so we did. They squeezed in an appointment yesterday to do another echo and EKG, which revealed that the problem had worstened. His heart was beginning to be a bit under stress and the blood pressure difference between the top half of his body and the body half had increased. So - needless to say - they were glad we brought him in. They decided to admit him at that time. He stayed at Children's overnight, and he is currently in the cath lab (the family surgery waiting room has a computer with online access, which is what I am using). This is a 3 hour procedure involving a ballooning of that restricted area and a stint to keep it open.
The cath specialist, Dr. Cheatum, said this problem happens in less than 10% of the HLHS patients - yet another minority category Duncan falls into. But the risks are low and it does not affect the success of his next surgery, so it's just a little hurdle to get past. As you can imagine, we are just a little on edge at the prospect of going under anesthesia again, the fourth time in his barely 3 months of life.
Be in prayer if you get this before noon. I will be in touch about the results.
No comments:
Post a Comment