Heart Cath

What is a heart catheterization? Well, in laymen terms, the doctors sedated Logan so they could put a catheter into an artery in his groin and push it up to his heart, they also put one in a vein in the same location, up to the heart. They are able to get very accurate readings of blood oxygen levels, pressures and they are able to see the inner workings of his heart as they take X-ray pictures. They also push a dye through the catheters, which shows where blood is or is not flowing. It gives the doctors a better dynamic of the heart in all of its complexities.

We had to be there at 6:45am, so we woke Logan up, loaded him in the car and headed up. We got all checked in, changed him into his little tiny hospital gown, which was surprisingly super cute, and he played in the hospital crib. The nurse put on a numbing cream on each side of his groin, gave him a dose of benydryl and a shot of morphine. It was only about 20 minutes until we were on our way down to the Cath lab. I chose to carry Logan down, and the nurses pushed the empty crib. It seemed like we walked forever, and we did. It was a very long walk from where we started. Normally, after carrying Logan for more than 3 minutes it starts to take a toll on your arms and back, that day, I felt like I could have carried him forever. We got to the door and we had to part ways, the meds were kicking in at this point and he was getting drowsy. We gave him kisses and handed him over.

There was a small waiting room separate from the more public waiting room. We were all alone in there, it was nice and cozy. We waited until the doctor came to speak with us before he preformed the procedure. He explained what he was doing (as I explained above) and told us that as long as everything goes as planned, it wouldn't take more than an hour or two. Then we would get to see the pictures and videos that they took, and he would explain their findings to us. Once he left, we went for a short walk down the block to get some breakfast, a bagel and coffee. We returned and waited.

10 o'clock rolled around and the doctor emerged from the cath lab, he said that Logan did great (of course!) and that we could follow him to see the pictures. This is where we obtained a lot of information, most of which I have forgotten because I was overwhelmed. What I did retain was this short summary of what we were told.

His heart is a little more complex than we originally thought. The dextrocardia really complicates the dynamics of his heart, and it also makes "corrective" surgery even harder. Just to remind you, Logan's heart pumps opposite of how it should. His right ventricle is pumping to his body and his left, to his lungs. The heart was not built to pump like this, and eventually (years from now) it will fail because the right ventricle will become to weak to keep up with the pressure needed to supply his body. The main goal, eventually, would be to re-route his heart so that the left ventricle (the correct ventricle) would pump to the body. In order to do this, they would need to place a conduit from the aorta to the left ventricle, and plumb the right ventricle differently to pump to the lungs. They now, are not sure if they will be able to make this happen because the conduit would be so long, that it wouldn't be a stable structure spanning across the heart. It is still an option at the moment, though. He (the doctor) also mentioned simply replacing the shunt at his next surgery and letting him grow bigger, and re-evaluating the heart in a few years. The doctor said there was a possibility of making Logan into a single ventricle patient, which would basically bypass the right ventricle all together and basically deeming it useless. I will fight tooth and nail to not let this happen. The doctor d

oesn't seem to think that it is something that would happen because he does in fact have 4 working chambers, but it is a possibility. I asked about long term prognosis, and of course, everything is hypothetical, but Logan will more than likely need a heart transplant at some point in his life. Depending on what steps they take in these next few years will determine how long his heart will carry him. Could be 20 years, could be 60. We don't know.

So, they now have to take all of these findings, bring it to a conference with the surgeon and other cardiologists and discuss what they can do, what they will do, and when they want to do it. We will not know anything for another 4-6 weeks. The doctor seems to think that his next surgery will be between 2-5 months. Every CHD is complex, but the dextrocardia really puts a spin (literally) on things and makes everything so much more complicated.

It took me a while to get this updated, and I know I have forgotten some information, but that is the jist of it for anyone following our story. As always, we appreciate your support and love during our journey.