July 14, 2009

Preparation for surgery....

Posted Oct 6, 2007 5:08pm

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to give a quick update on baby girl. We went to pre-op in Cincinnati last week (thursday the 29th) to get ready for surgery. Daddy could not go because of work :(, but we had the wonderful company of Auntie Stacey! It was nice, but a long day. We left at 5am and did not get home until almost 8pm.
At the visit, she had her MRI and echo performed. These tests began around 10am. We had to be at the hospital by 9am to check vitals, ask any updated history questions and meet with the nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists. At this time, they weighed her which was 12 lbs. 4 oz, measured at 24 inches, and oxygen saturation began at 71% and improved to 77%. This is a little low for her, but she did well. Her tests lasted til about 1:30pm, in which at this time we were called back to recovery to see her. She was placed under general anesthesia which required her to have a tube down her throat. She was a little groggy and barely hungry after test. She should have been starving because she had not eaten since 4:30am. But, when she is tired she refuses to eat. So, the nurses were pleased with her recovery and the doctors stated that she did very well.
Next, we went to see Dr. Eghtesady, one of the surgeons performing her surgery on the 9th. During his visit, he examined Jenna and spoke to us about what to expect. He said that he would be doing the unifocalization procedure which entailed him taking her collateral arteries, removing them from the aorta and reattaching them to the pulmonary artery. However, she does not have the pulmonary artery, so it requires him to put in a conduit containing an artificial valve to substitute. He said that it is only a 30% chance that he will close her hole in the heart at this time. So most likely he will not be doing it this time. He said that her conduit will probably need to be replaced when she is about 2 or 3, so he will probably close the hole at that time. He said closing the hole depends on her blood flow in the heart at the time of surgery. He said that the surgery will take about 5 hours. She will be on the heart lung bypass machine for 2-3 hours during surgery and be on the ventilator during and after up to 48 hours possibly. He said that she will probably have to have blood transfusions, and in the CICU and Stepdown afterwards. Estimated length of time in the hospital is 10 days. She will not be able to go back to daycare for 6-8 weeks. So it will feel like I am on maternity leave all over again. He states that she will have to be on medication like Lasix afterwards and probably not a lot of pain medicine because children do fairly well with pain afterwards. We were given the unfortunate news that she will have to return for many MRIs and Echos her entire life and will have to endure more surgery down the road, possibly in to her adult life. It just depends on how much she will grow. Surgery is set for the 9th @ 7:30am, testing is on the 8th @ 10am.
I wanted to let everyone know that she is able to roll onto her belly completely and hold herself up on her arms and flip back to her back. She is now trying to pull her body up to a sitting position if she is sitting against you. Also, she is reaching for many things in your hands, such as the phone and any papers that you may have in your hands. She is smiling and laughing a lot now too.
Please everyone; keep us, (especially Jenna) in your thoughts and prayers while we endure this journey (especially Tuesday, surgery day). Thanks so much for all of the thoughts, prayers and donations made to Jenna at this time.

Love, Jenny, Justin and Jenna

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