Yes, that is right...Natalie is having surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7:30am. Her stats keep dropping and got to an extremely low level Sunday night. The doctors did an echo on her today and the results are showing her VDS(ventricular septal defect) almost closed. This is a hole between the bottom two chambers of her heart; this hole is necessary for her to survive until surgery.
Now, they attempted the BT Shunt (Blalock Taussig Shunt) about three weeks ago and Natalie would not tolerate the shunt, so they removed it. They will be re-attempting the BT Shunt tomorrow. Dr. Forbess seemed very positive about the procedure. There are a few new things different this time:
1. He has been in her heart before so he knows his way round
2. Last time her stats where much higher than now
3. Her VSD was a lot larger
To refresh your memory and so you do not have to look back at the previous blogs...The BT Shunt is a small tube that connects the aorta to the branch pulmonary artery. The shunt allows blood to flow to the lungs.
I will keep everyone updated like last time on the progress of her surgery.
I also met with the transplant team this afternoon. Now, a heart transplant is a last option, this is when we have no other options. Natalie is not officially on the transplant list. We will start the evaluation period, which takes about a week. The evaluation period is when they run a battery of tests, such as MRI, Echo, EKG, blood work, etc. Now she has done some of these already, so we will not have to repeat all of them.
Once the evaluation period is complete, we will then see how this surgery goes and figure out if she has any other options or not. The transplant team is wonderful! Everyone at Children's is great, they really sit down with you and make sure you understand everything, which I am sure is a challenge talking to me sometimes. I have had people explain things to me over and over again (bless them all), but they never seem to mind.
I would like to ask everyone to say a pray tomorrow for Natalie and the team of surgeons.
Now, they attempted the BT Shunt (Blalock Taussig Shunt) about three weeks ago and Natalie would not tolerate the shunt, so they removed it. They will be re-attempting the BT Shunt tomorrow. Dr. Forbess seemed very positive about the procedure. There are a few new things different this time:
1. He has been in her heart before so he knows his way round
2. Last time her stats where much higher than now
3. Her VSD was a lot larger
To refresh your memory and so you do not have to look back at the previous blogs...The BT Shunt is a small tube that connects the aorta to the branch pulmonary artery. The shunt allows blood to flow to the lungs.
I will keep everyone updated like last time on the progress of her surgery.
I also met with the transplant team this afternoon. Now, a heart transplant is a last option, this is when we have no other options. Natalie is not officially on the transplant list. We will start the evaluation period, which takes about a week. The evaluation period is when they run a battery of tests, such as MRI, Echo, EKG, blood work, etc. Now she has done some of these already, so we will not have to repeat all of them.
Once the evaluation period is complete, we will then see how this surgery goes and figure out if she has any other options or not. The transplant team is wonderful! Everyone at Children's is great, they really sit down with you and make sure you understand everything, which I am sure is a challenge talking to me sometimes. I have had people explain things to me over and over again (bless them all), but they never seem to mind.
I would like to ask everyone to say a pray tomorrow for Natalie and the team of surgeons.
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