Heart Cath Update

It has been such a long day! Santi couldn't eat after 5am, so I was up at 4:30am to feed him. He downed all 6oz of his bottle and went back to sleep until 7:20am when I woke him up to leave. We checked in to CHLA at 8:00am, waited in a couple of pre-op rooms until he was finally taken into surgery a little after 10:00am. Despite being hungry, he was smiley and charming and waited patiently. I swear he even flirted with Dr. Takao when she came in to brief us on the procedure.

Abe and I waited with his parents. Around 1pm Dr. Takao came out and told us everything went great. As predicted, she found scar tissue causing some narrowing in his aorta. She was able to open it up with a balloon, no problem. The cath also showed that his atrial septum is slightly smaller than it should be. It's not an urgent fix, but when Santi comes back for his Glenn they'll remove some tissue and open it up. We will know the date for his within the next few weeks.

Once Santi was in recovery they noticed that his right foot lost its pulse. This is common (apparently) following a cath. They put him on a blood thinner to break up the small clot thought to be causing a blockage. It's been a few hours, he's still on the blood thinner and a weak pulse has returned to his foot. But his leg is still a little cold to the touch.

Overall, everything went better than I anticipated. The worst part is waiting. We didn't get to see him until after 3pm. He was sleepy and groggy, definitely not himself. We were taken to his room in CV Acute around 6pm. The nurses are going to try to wean his oxygen over night...fingers crossed we get to go home tomorrow without O2!

It is so hard to see your baby in the hospital, even for a day. Especially now that he likes to move around so much. I know his Glenn is right around the corner. Abe and I really need to get mentally prepared to help him through it. But honestly, nothing can prepare you for sending your baby into open heart surgery.