Andrew and I accompanied Tyler to his January 16th cardiac appointment. We learned much news regarding his upcoming Heart Catherization procedure and next Open-Heart surgery.
Tyler had an echocardiogram during this appointment, and what they saw showed his heart to still be in good functioning order, but with new signs of over-stress. It is nothing to get too worked up about... we just know that he can't live on the first surgery for much longer. Remember, the right side of his heart is what is pumping to his entire body and lungs. It is working 2x's as hard. After the next surgery, the Glenn, it will only be working 1.5x's as hard. (and after the third surgery it will be working at the 1x capacity)
We've been told a few dates, and unfortunately, time isn't going to be slowing down for Mommy and Daddy's sake!
- The next cardiologist appointment is February 14th. He will have another echocardiogram and we will also be scheduling his Heart Catherization.
- The Heart Cath will take place towards the end of March. If Tyler has a morning catherization, he will be discharged later that evening; if he has an afternoon catherization, he will be kept overnight and discharged early the next day. Children's Mercy Hospital monitors the hypoplast babies for roughly 6-8 hours after a cath procedure.
- Then, his second Open-Heart surgery will take place BEFORE April 10th. If all goes well, the outlook for length-of-stay is about 10-15 days. He will nearly be 8 months old and usually these HLHS kiddos have the second surgery when they are in their 6th month. However, that is not possible for Tyler, because his 6th month falls smack dab in the center of RSV season. His Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon will NOT operate on him during this time unless serious medical intervention is needed.
So, that is our most updated news regarding the condition and status of baby Tyler's heart. Andrew and I are trying hard to process all the information we were given and what to expect. Why can't this be easier to wrap our minds around? It's just surreal to think we're going to be doing this all again in a mere 10-12 weeks. Afterall, it seems as though we just brought him home.