Cath Day August 5, 2010 - update # 2

I am going to try to make this short and sweet because I am at my Mom's and I really want to get home to see my other kids. (5:44 pm)

Tyson's heart cath went on without any major complications and he was discharged from the hospital by 3:45 pm. Right in time for rush hour traffic :) The MRI perfromed before the cath procedure gave a very good picture of the heart, and it revealed that they could indeed insert the cath through a vein, not an artery. Which is why we were able to go home after 4 hours observation, not 6 hours. YAY!

The collateral vessel that is growing did not need to be coiled at this time since it has grown down towards the bottom of the heart, which is where they will be performing surgery in a few months. So no need to repair at this time. The leaky mitral valve which was patched closed during the Glen has stayed the same, no further leaking.

However, the cardiologist said they found something that surprised them today. (Ech, I hate hearing that!) Tyson's pulmonary veins (which were discovered to be small during his Glen surgery in May 2009) are actually smaller now than they were before. This means they cannot complete the Fontan surgery until these veins are fixed. The cardiologist today is hopeful that it can be fixed at the same time as the Fontan, (immediately before the Fontan procedure, but during the same open-heart operation.) BUT... I remember Ty's surgeon saying last May that there was a possibility that they would have to do an additional surgery before the Fontan to fix this problem. Right now we know nothing more than that. The info from today's MRI and cath will be sent to Ty's head cardiologist, who will discuss the findings with the surgical team, and from there they will come up with a date for surgery as well as a plan for if the pulmonary veins problem and the Fontan completion can be solved in one surgery or two. Either way, the small veins most likely will complicate the Fontan recovery.

Despite this possible setback, I am reminded of the lyrics to one of Robin Mark's songs:

"All is well with my soul,

He is God, in control

I know not all His plans

But I know, I'm in his hands."

We are comforted that even though we don't know what tomorrow brings, we know Who holds tomorrow and that He is always in control!

Mel:)