Second Surgery

I began counting down the days once we hit October. I try not too, but it just happens. The closer it gets, the faster the days go by. I dwell in silence about the thoughts that are constantly running through my head. Sometimes my pessimism really gets the better of me. Logan, on the other hand, is as happy as can be. The happiest kid I have ever met. He's doing well, considering. He had his last checkup last week at the cardiologist, his O2 was low, 72-78, alarming to me, but not to the doctors. He had an echo, which he did not like. This was the first time he wasn't calm and it was really hard on both of us. I had to hold him while they got all of their pictures of his heart. The doctor said he is ready.

So, this is what they are going to do; They will close off his current shunt. They will not remove it because it is not necessary, so it will stay in, just be sutured shut. They will then run a conduit, basically a tube, from his right ventricle to his lungs. This conduit will act as the pulmonary vein, bringing de-oxygenated blood from the heart, to the lungs. They will close the hole between his ventricles and the hole between his atrium's. This will be a big change for him and how his body pumps his blood. His body will have to relearn how to circulate appropriately. Besides it being taxing on his circulatory system, it is a riskier (as they all are) surgery because of the way Logan's heart is formed. His left ventricle is on the right side of his heart, it is essentially twisted, so the conduit has to go further to reach the lungs. This can present a few problems, the conduit has more of a chance of becoming compressed by surrounding organs, or general pressure within his chest cavity or even his ribs. It is also a higher risk of clots just do to the sheer size of the conduit. He will have a non mechanical valve in the conduit as blood is leaving his ventricle. I am unsure if it will be a bovine valve or a synthetic valve. We will find out. So, that is it, in a nutshell.

Seems simple enough, right. Hah.

One of the hardest parts of this ordeal, besides the surgery, is the bubble you surround yourself and your heart kid in. You try so hard to avoid any sickness weeks before surgery day. This means, staying home when you're invited out, Not going to public play places, sanitizing your home 3 times a day. (Not really, but you get my point) It's hard. Going to the store is the highlight of my day. If he gets sick, they will reschedule his surgery. It isn't the end of the world, but when you mentally prepare yourself for something like this and then you have to prepare yourself for a second time, it really takes a toll. We have our life scheduled around this surgery, and if it is rescheduled its just an added stress to change everything again. Luckily, we have amazing friends and family that have offered to help us out during our journey. We cannot thank them all enough for their love and support.

We are expecting a call on Friday to confirm his surgery. There is a chance that they will not have a bed for him due to unexpected emergency cases. So, yet again, another unknown. We can only cross our fingers that everything works out and goes according to plan. I am impatiently, anxiously awaiting that phone call.

So, that's it. That's the update I have. I will write again when we get all checked in. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.