Catheter results

After the cath, sleeping off
the anesthesia.

Brandt (I keep trying to call him Wade! Guess that's because I've never had a kid by another name, before...) came through his cardiac catheter procedure just fine yesterday! It did require IV, anesthesia, and intubation (breathing tube), but by the time I was able to see him, the latter two were gone. They left the IV in so he could receive his two doses of antibiotics and some blood thinners. The first because whenever something foreign is put into the body, there's always risk of infection, and the second because the doctor had to use an artery in his leg rather than a vein like he was hoping. That meant that blood flow to the leg was compromised for a while, and could have resulted in clotting.

The danger of that has totally passed now...they can feel his pulse in his foot, and his profusion (the time it takes for the skin to pink back up after pressing on it) was back up to par this morning. Last night, they had to use a Doppler to find the pulse in his knee and couldn't find it at all in his foot, and his skin didn't turn pink again for a good ten seconds after pressing on it. So he's definitely progressing in the right direction.

During his procedure yesterday, they did manage to fix the issues they saw on the echo! At first, they thought it was simply that his pulmonary artery (the one they tried to fix during his surgery) was still too small. When they got in there, that was the case, but for a reason they hadn't considered. It turns out that the problem area is where the PDA was disconnected. They had used a piece of the pericardium (the membrane around the heart) to patch the hole, and for some reason or another, it didn't hold its shape like it was supposed to. Instead, it partially collapsed into the artery, essentially flattening it, and not allowing enough blood flow through.

It's hard to get out of the habit
of watching the monitors
constantly for the O2 sats.

If Brandt had had a normal heart, his blood pressure through that particular area would be enough to keep it pushed out, and make it a non-issue. As it is, his BP wasn't high enough to do that, and was further hindered by the problem it couldn't fix for itself. (How's that for "clear as mud"?) So obviously, that was causing some low sats.

Turns out, it wasn't the only issue, though! The shunt that was placed at the same time had become narrowed at the base where it joined to the PA. This happened because it got a little pinched by scar tissue as it healed. This also slowed blood flow and further decreased his sats.

The original plan for fixing these was to try using the balloon method, where they send a wire with a teeny little balloon on the end up through the tube that's threaded through the artery. When the get to the narrowed area, they puff up the balloon, move it a little, puff it up some more, etc, until the blood vessel they're working on is the right size again. Because of the nature of the two issues Brandt had, though, that method didn't work for either area. Instead, the doctor inserted two wire mesh stents (tubes) to hold it open.

In the case of the artery, it will essentially grow into his body over time, and be a permanent part of him. The one in the shunt will be removed when the shunt itself is taken out, most likely in his next surgery.

This kid finished off nearly double his usual intake!
110 mL instead of the normal 60-70. Holy smokes!

We've seen pretty good improvements today, because of this procedure! He was taken off oxygen last night because, even though it was on the lowest setting possible, we were seeing his sats go into the mid 90's, which is too high for him to sit at for long periods of time. When we took it off, he settled right in to where he needed to be, in the 75-85 range, and has sat there comfortably all day. He still does dip down on occasion, but now, it's either due to bad reads (we change out his pulse-ox do-hickey every now and again because they wear out) or crying jags or general wigglyness. Each time, it pops back up on its own within seconds. The stress of keeping a constant eye on the monitors and trying to raise his levels every time they dropped is gone.

Check out that incision!
Nearly healed up!!

All the doctors seem very pleased with his progress too. He's come off of the blood thinners and antibiotics, and they're essentially just watching him now to make sure that this is his new normal, now, and not just a fluke. It doesn't hurt my feelings any!

I have Tanner back with me now, by the way! The way things have worked out, I haven't had to spend a single day alone since I've been out here. I hadn't thought that would be an issue when I was faced with the prospect (this was before I knew Mom could make it out for a week), but I've been immensely grateful for all the company I've had. Husbands make the world go round, and moms and sisters (and cousins) are a very close second.

To digress a moment, I have to brag about this super cool husband that I lucked out with. He has somehow managed to talk me out of my hormones every time they flare up. I joke about how irritating it is to be married to such a rational person, but more often than not, it's a sanity saver. Every conversation we had this past week that started in tears ended with me saying something like "Oh, you're right...I'm being ridiculous." or "I'm not sure why I didn't think of that..." and left me feeling like I could handle life again. That's no small feat, considering how messed up my head can get sometimes.

And if you think I've had a rough time of it lately, this guy has not only had to deal with the shock of needing heart surgery the same as I have, he also sat in a hospital room with me for 12 hours a day for a week straight and never once complained (even resisted my attempts to get him to go have fun. "No, I'm here for Brandt."), even though he had tons of pent-up energy that he would have loved to burn off. He carried everything and walked really slowly next to me too and from the CICU the week after he was born because I couldn't actually move any faster (that fun postpartum stuff). He handled Wade single-handedly in the first couple days, made sure I ate when I would have otherwise forgotten, and made sure I got enough sleep so that I could actually be of use to Brandt. Then he went home and had to go back to work like nothing was wrong, run the house, make his own meals, deal with all the insurance paperwork, and his wife's insane phone calls while wondering from 800 miles away how his two children were doing.

I think he just wrote his own book on how to be an awesome husband/dad.