Surgery Day Wrap Up

It's 10:00 and we are back at the hotel to get some much needed rest. Obviously this has been a very taxing day and we need it pretty bad. Before we get to sleep I wanted to give a good wrap up of what all happened during surgery.

The CT scan today revealed that coarctation (narrowing) of the aorta was our problem. Interruption of the aorta and/or the PDA valve was not the case. It was determined through the scan that what was being called an irregular shaped aorta was actually the PDA valve protruding into the aorta. This was the valve that should have closed after birth but ended up being the life saver by staying open. It was protruding into the aorta just after the coarctation point. Because of this protrusion and because of the length of the coarctation in the aorta, the best option for surgery was a midline incision through the sternum with the use of a bypass machine. During the surgery, Dr Imamura cut out the section of coarctation and used a "bovine pericardial patch" (also known as a piece of cow heart) to make the aorta complete. He then cut out the PDA valve since it is no longer needed. As stated earlier, everything went "textbook" during the short 3 1/2 hour procedure. We are so blessed that everything went so smoothly.

Brycen is now in CVICU (cardiovascular intensive care) for recovery. The next 24-48 hours are CRUCIAL for his full recovery. When we got to go back to his room before dinner Brycen was doing great. To mom and dad he looks scary and not so good, but to the doctors and nurses he looks very good. We returned for another visit after dinner (we're only allowed 10 mins every hour due to INTENSIVE care) and decided it would be best that we head home. Between our two visits, Brycen has become a tad unstable. His blood pressure took a pretty big drop and his blood gases came back a little low (blood gases measure how your other organs are performing). The doctor told us this was nothing major and is NOT unusual at all. They see many changes in the first few hours of recovery and "just have to find the combination that works." They made a few minor changes and were taking new blood gas tests as we were leaving. They expected them to come back a little better since his blood pressure was starting work its way back to normal. The doctor reassured us this wasn't anything to panic about and informed us that Brycen is hardly on any medications and is pretty much doing everything on his own. "We still have plenty of tricks left up our sleeve," is what she told us as we left.

We ask that the prayers for Brycen and every child at Children's continue and don't forget to praise God for the miracle he brought us through today. We need a GOOD next 24-48 hours before we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We will update as often as we can tomorrow. I expect another "holding pattern" for a few days.

Thank you for all you have done for us!!!!!