Last Monday, we took Amelia to her pre-op appointment, and spent about three and a half hours at MGH, talking to assorted people. The whole thing was a little overwhelming, and a lot exhausting (for us and Amelia), but we came away from it feeling better prepared.
It was great to be able to speak with both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. Each explained what he would be doing on the day of Amelia's surgery so that we would know what to expect. On the day of the surgery, we'll report to MGH at 6:00 AM, and they should put her under around 7:30 or so. The actual surgery will begin around 8:30 or 9:00, and should be completed by noon. (While it's amazing that they can repair a heart in a matter of a few hours, I have a feeling that those hours are going to be agonizingly slow in passing...) She'll be on bypass and intubated during the surgery, and they'll keep her sedated for a few hours afterwards. I found the anesthesiologist's description of the various IVs and catheters that they'll place to be particularly helpful in preparing myself for what Amelia will look like post-surgery. (Will it still make me cry? Probably. But at least I know what's coming.)
The surgeon also was very honest with us, which I appreciated. He walked us through the potential complications, like infection, etc., and explained that there is a small chance (less than five percent) that the sinus node, which is the natural pacemaker tissue in the heart and is very close to where Amelia's defect is located, could be affected during the course of the surgery. If that were to happen, she would need to have an artificial pacemaker. Odds are, however, that Amelia will be completely fine after this surgery. Her surgeon has been performing these kinds of operations for about thirty years and so this is pretty routine for him, which is encouraging.
In addition to the surgeon and anesthesiologist, we also talked to a cardiology PA, who walked us through the logistics of the day of surgery, a child life specialist, who will be on hand to help put Amelia at ease before and after the surgery, and a woman from social services (I guess to ensure that she has a safe environment to continue recovering after she's released from the hospital). Amelia also had to have a chest x-ray (which she handled beautifully) and a blood draw (which she did not handle very well). Definitely a long day!
We got the results of Amelia's bloodwork at the end of last week, and everything looked good. Now, all we have to do is keep her healthy between now and then, which is easier said than done! She actually came down with a cold in the middle of last week (undoubtedly from something she touched while at MGH), but is just about over it. If she has anything more than a runny nose leading up to her surgery, it will be rescheduled. Not the worst thing in the world, but we've gotten to the point where we just want to get it over with, so fingers crossed that she stays healthy.
In just three weeks, Amelia's surgery will be over and she should be on the road to recovery!
 |
| Our little cardiac patient, three weeks pre-surgery |
No comments:
Post a Comment