It's on. Dr Eckhauser went over the surgery with us and then the anesthesiologist came and took her back. They anticipate the surgery will take about 4 hours. I don't know if that includes the time to get her all hooked up to monitors and IVs and get her sedated. She can be a little tricky about that. It's comforting, though, to know all the different things ands ways they monitor throughout.
Her surgery is called the bidirectional Glenn procedure. They divide the Superior Vena Cava off from the heart and attach it instead to the pulmonary artery. The result is that blood from the head and arms goes directly to her lungs instead of passing through the heart first. They tell me the pressure changes in her blood flow take her body awhile to get used to. It will throw her off for a few days and she will likely be grouchy. After her body adjusts, though, she will be getting much better oxygenation of her blood and she will feel better and more energetic.
Besides the Glenn, they will also divide off the pulmonary artery from the heart so all the blood that goes through her heart will be going to her body instead of some going to lungs, and they will remove the septum between the left and right atreia. There is a hole there now but scar tissue has developed that needs to be cleared out since that is the route blood takes from her lower body into her heart.
For now we are waiting. They will call with updates when they get her all ready to go and then about every hour throughout.
Her surgery is called the bidirectional Glenn procedure. They divide the Superior Vena Cava off from the heart and attach it instead to the pulmonary artery. The result is that blood from the head and arms goes directly to her lungs instead of passing through the heart first. They tell me the pressure changes in her blood flow take her body awhile to get used to. It will throw her off for a few days and she will likely be grouchy. After her body adjusts, though, she will be getting much better oxygenation of her blood and she will feel better and more energetic.
Besides the Glenn, they will also divide off the pulmonary artery from the heart so all the blood that goes through her heart will be going to her body instead of some going to lungs, and they will remove the septum between the left and right atreia. There is a hole there now but scar tissue has developed that needs to be cleared out since that is the route blood takes from her lower body into her heart.
For now we are waiting. They will call with updates when they get her all ready to go and then about every hour throughout.
2 comments:
The things that can be done in this modern age are awesome!
What amazing progress they have made with heart surgeries! I am glad they are willing to teach and share with the families. Hopefully that makes it all a little easier to see and experience.
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