Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Open Heart Surgery

Avelyn's surgery was yesterday. It was the most difficult day the three of us have ever had. We thought the surgery would be the worst of it but her recovery has proven us wrong. 
Once the surgeon opened her up and got her on the heart-lung bypass machine he took a good look at her heart and surrounding vessels. Turns out her ductus arterious was formed in a way that favored the right side and leaving he left underdeveloped further past what the echo cardio grams could pick up. The artery has a significant narrowing out closer to the left lung which has encouraged smaller accessory arteries (reffered to as MAPCAs) to grow. This is bad, as the small accessory arteries steal their blood supply from the periphery. The surgeon was able to clamp the largest and most accessible MAPCA but he full expects more that he couldn't see or get to. 
To help the left side grow, he fashioned her BT shunt to favor the left side. This increased blood flow to the main left pulmonary artery should also encourage the MAPCAs to recede. If they don't her surgeon will have to manual find and clamp them off during the next surgery. 
So what does all this mean?
Well it means that plans reverted back to the original staged repair meaning in 4-5 months she'll need another open heart surgery for a full repair. 
I apologize for these tardy posts but things have been hectic. I know there are those out there waiting for updates but often times I cannot pull myself away from her bedside to write. She's just to fragile and precious to leave or to divert my attention away for long. 
I'll post some details of her recovery later. 
The photos below are the last ones of her unscarred chest and her just after coming up to the Pediatric cardiac ICU. 

3 comments:

  1. Praying for this sweet baby girl and for you all as you care for her.

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