Heart Cath

Today was the heart catheterization. Asher had to stop eating at 6 am this morning, which made for a lot of crying for us! By the time the doctors took him for the cath at noon, we were glad to see him go! They let us go into the cath lab with him, and we were able to stay there while they sedated him. Then we gave him kisses, and it was time for them to do their work. In the meantime, Adam and I went to Andronico's (super fancy grocery store!), and ordered a nice deli sandwich for lunch. We ate on the patio at an outdoor mall here, and enjoyed the beautiful landscaping. We wandered the mall a bit, then headed back to the hospital. The doctor who performed the cath (who had no bedside manner) spoke with us after 3 pm. The cath went well, there were no complications, and he came off of the ventilator without a problem. During the cath, they found that the MAPCA's (the extra arteries that come off of the aorta and connect to the lungs) are not necessary for proper lung function. All of the lobes of his lungs are receiving their blood supply from Asher's pulmonary arteries, which is good. Asher's PA's have grown a little since his last surgery, but not quite as much as they had hoped. The pressures in his heart and lungs are low, which is good.

Right now Asher is at the hospital, they wanted to keep him over night to make sure all is well. He will come home tomorrow, and then surgery will be sometime between noon and 1pm on Monday. The game plan for surgery is that they will put a patch in to widen his pulmonary arteries, they will ligate (disconnect) his MAPCA's, close all of the holes in his heart, and place a new valve and conduit connecting his pulmonary artery to his right ventricle. They will also trim some excess muscle tissue off of his right ventricle. He is not expected to come out of surgery until 11pm. It is going to be a very long day!

We had a few tears today, though it was totally unrelated to the procedure! Asher was starving when he came off of his sedation, so our nurse called ahead to the 3rd floor (where he is right now) and suggested that the nurse should order Asher's formula so he could eat when we get there. Of course, the nurse didn't do it. We get there, and they ask us what formula he takes, and then they place the order. Still no formula. They verify his formula, and I say that I really don't care what he gets, I just want him to eat. Still NO formula. It is now well past 6pm. I am totally frustrated, and start crying because my baby is starving, I can't do anything about it, and the nurses don't seem to care. So Adam steps in, talks to the nurse, and tells her how upset I am, and it really doesn't matter what we give Asher, he is starving and needs to eat, it's been over 12 hours since he had any food. FINALLY they bring us some formula for him, and I was able to feed him. Unbelievably frustrating, it would have been faster to go to the store. I wouldn't leave for the night until after shift change, so that someone I felt more comfortable with was taking care of him.

Off to bed now, will post again tomorrow!