The "BIG" One

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from Dr. Cua, Duncan's cardiologist. He and the heart surgeon had had a conversation about the echo and MRI from last Friday. The conclusion they drew was to move forward with scheduling the 2nd stage of the Hybrid Procedure. By most families, this is called "The Big One," because it is the most intensive, drawn out, and risky. Althought the success rate is still in the high 80s, it - understandably - makes us all nervous.

The option to keep this surgery posted for further in NovemberDecember by intervening with a cath was decided to not be worth the benefits it offered. Another "bandaid" to keep Duncan's heart situation safe for a while longer would have only made the big surgery more complicated. After weighing the pros and cons, both Dr. Cua and Dr. G (surgeon) recommended that the surgery be on Monday, Oct. 22. NOT FAR AWAY! We will be keeping a close eye on Duncan's behavior between now and then. If we're noticing signs of stress to the heart, it could be that the surgery will need to be bumped even closer.

Thanks to everyone for passing this along to your church prayer chains and other families who are interested. We are clearly made very nervous by the reality of a DATE planned ahead, but also relieved that Duncan's days of being medically REALLY fragile will eventually be a thing of the past.

Love and thanks to everyone.