First Surgery on Thursday

Friday, we had a cardiology appointment in Birmingham. We thought Ava was doing well, but Dr. C didn't see it that way. Her O2 sats were in the low 80's. Dr. C looked at the overall trend of her levels since leaving the hospital and saw that they have continually dropped. What this means is that there is not enough oxygen being pumped around her body. He was also concerned that she turns blue when she cries hard. She has always done this since she was born, so I wasn't alarmed by it. It bothers me, of course, but I thought it was to be expected at this point. Dr. C also looked at her heart and spend some time assessing the blood flow through her pulmonary artery (heart to lungs). As we already knew, this pathway is not as wide as it is supposed to be. 

Dr. C recommended that she have surgery on Thursday to address these concerns. Since she is not big enough to have the full surgery to fix everything, a temporary procedure is needed to buy some time for her to grow. He mentioned several times how complicated all of her defects are...very disheartening. The chances of them being able to completely repair all the different defects right now are just not good enough. So the surgeon will insert a shunt between her aortic artery and pulmonary artery to create a second pathway for blood to get from her heart to her lungs. (I have not researched this procedure yet, so I hope I'm getting the details right.) Ava will have her existing narrow pathway and this new, artificial pathway. 

Dr. C also started her on a heart medication that will slow her heart rate and decrease the workload on her heart. I am so sad that she is already being medicated, but am also thankful that such medications exist. I'm not sure yet if she will stay on this medication post-surgery.

We knew there was a possibility of a smaller surgery before the major repair, but we were not expecting it right now. We were very much blind-sided by this decision on Friday. Ava will have some pre-op things done, like xrays and blood work, starting around 6:00 a.m. on Thursday and then will be the second surgery that same morning. I will keep the blog or Facebook updated as best as I can. We are expecting to be in the hospital for 7-10 days if everything goes well. Lord willing, Ava will spend a few days in the ICU and several days in a regular room. I am absolutely dreading her having to go through this.

Sweet baby wide awake

Thankful for my best friend, Sarah, and her family, who let us stay with them in B'ham. This is her younger boy, Sam.

 

I am confident that our prayer warriors will be standing in the gap as they have already been doing. A few of you have been praying very specifically for my children before we even had knowledge of them! For the few of you reading this who have spent time at Children's, I would love a reply or email with any advice on what to pack, what the setup will be like in ICU and on the floor, any hospital tips/tricks, etc. 

Until next time,
Krystal