Today was surgery day. We reported to surgical daycare at 7 am. We dressed G in a hospital gown and got to snuggle him until about 8:30 while various doctors and nurses came to see us. Even though he was fasting, he was still a happy boy. The nurses were stopping on their way by to smile and talk to him. He was given a sedative to keep him calm when he was taken to the operating room. It's a funny experience to see your baby get stoned. He was really chatty!
We decided to go out and have breakfast with our parents to distract ourselves. We were given a pager that would go off when the surgery was done. We met with the surgeon post op in the mid afternoon. I love this man. He is so kind and brilliant.
G had a transannular repair, which means that part of his pulmonary valve and artery are from a donor. His coronary arteries were in the right place, and he hadn't grown any new blood vessels which could complicate surgery. He did have patent ductus arteriosis and patent foramen ovale, two other defects. These are a duct and a hole that are present in the fetus but normally close after birth. His did not, which allowed extra blood to reach his lungs. But his pulmonary valve was extremely tiny. So his really bad heart was compensated by two other defects. We have been saying that he had a problem so he MacGyvered himself a working-ish heart.
We were able to see him a while later. He had lots of tubes and wires : oxygen prongs in his nose, two chest tubes to drain fluid around his heart, pacing wires which could be hooked up to an external pace maker if needed, a central line in his neck, an arterial line in his wrist to monitor blood pressure and take blood for tests, and an IV. He was on a sedative and morphine, so he was really groggy, but he was doing really well.
We stayed with him until about 10 pm. At that time they were talking about moving him to the ward the next morning. We decided to go home to get some sleep.
The hospital called around 12:30 to inform us that G had taken a big poop of mostly blood. They had taken him for an abdominal x-ray, which came back clear. His abdomen was soft (good) and not swollen (good). They said they would call us if anything happened - a diagnosis or another episode. We didn't hear from them, and went back about 7am.
G's creatinine is elevated, which means that there is some sort of injury to his kidney. Bypass during surgery is very hard on kidneys, plus G had a CT with kidmey-toxic dye just before his surgery, plus they kept him a little dehydrated (which is hard on kidneys) post op to help his heart and lungs. It continued to climb yesterday and we are waiting for it to start to decrease.
So he has complications with his kidneys and intestines. A general surgeon came by and examined him. He is being fed through an IV to give his gut a chance to rest for a few days. He will be put on more antibiotics if needed. His fluids have been increased and he is off all of his pain meds. He was still groggy for most of yesterday, but around 9 pm we saw some of our baby emerge from the sleepy zombie. He babbled and even played a little. That recharged us after a day of complications.
Oh and I got to hold him yesterday! It was heavenly.
Heading back to hospital now. We will be in ICU for a few more days, maybe on the cardiac ward by Saturday if all goes well.
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