Heart Catheter Procedure - Preparing for the Glenn - Operation #2

Well...It has been a long time since we have posted.  That is because we have been home with Amelia.  Since we checked out following the first procedure, Amelia has grown used to her home and Mom and Dad have become sleep deprived!!!  This was exaggerated over Labor Day weekend because we had to check her back into the hospital for an infection she developed in the incision on her chest.  We were in for 8 days and sent home on PICC line antibiotics 3 times a day for 6 weeks.  Can you say no sleep???!!!  We enjoyed watching her learn to smile and recognize Mommy and Daddy and be a somewhat normal baby.

This Wednesday, we had another clinical follow up with our cardiology team.  Amelia was starting to be fussy for Kim during the day and she had started to change her eating patterns.  The sonographer also saw some slight changes in her heart function.  With single ventricle babies, it is the small subtle signs that cause the doctors and nurses to be concerned.  With the signs Amelia was showing, we checked in for observation.  We had a Catheter procedure scheduled for Oct 28th which was pushed up one week to this morning.

The Cath went well.  Amelia came back awake and fussy - she had not eaten in 10 hours.  The doctors did not find anything problematic with her Sano shunt.  She has grown well and the pressures and functions in her heart and lungs were very strong.  In addition, after her first surgery, there were some heart arrhythmias, and with that, some worries about the electrical paths in her heart.  One of the specialist said he did not see any abnormal electrical paths in her heart during the cath procedure which is very good news.  Our surgeon likes to complete the second operation, the Glenn Procedure, at 3-4 months old.  Amelia will be three months on Sunday, and with her fussiness and since her heart and lungs have developed sufficiently for the Glenn, we are going to stay and get the operation scheduled for sometime next week.


This is both exciting and scary news for Kim and I.  We know that making it through the next procedure completes the last of the biggest hurdles for HLHS babies.  Chances are, when we make it through this surgery, we will be, for the most part, out of the woods as the chances that she will make it on into adulthood rise significantly.  But, we have to go through the difficulties of heading off to surgery again and seeing our little girl come back sedated, limp on her little bed.

Please pray for us as we prepare for next week.  We new the time was short until her next procedure, but we not ready for it to some this fast.  We know God is in control and He has had is hand on our little peanut through this entire time, yet it still takes a toll on us as we go through the surgeries and recovery.

Bless God!!!


Amelia, Kim and Brian