Acceptance and Answers

The rest of August was a month of acceptance for us...Our sweet Kate was not coming home until after her next surgery.  We didn't know when that surgery would be, and would it be a valve repair, a valve repair/2nd stage surgery (Glenn), or just the 2nd stage surgery.  We just knew that our main goals now were to keep her stable on the ventilator, work on her feeds and monitor her brain bleed.  She needed to grow to at least 5kg (11 lbs) for her Glenn surgery.  The weeks of August moved slowly, but Kate did well for the most part.  She had her ugly moments, but overall the doctors were pleased. 

Kate had a CT scan of her brain on August 20th and it showed that her bleed was significantly smaller and was barely visible on the scan.  Prayers were answered and she was cleared to have heart surgery.  We still don't know the long term impact of the bleed, but it was so great to hear that it was resolving, there were no more seizures and she was awake, alert and moving all extremities!

We received some answers when Kate had her cardiac catheterization on August 30th.  This involved threading a tiny catheter up her groin artery to her heart and injecting various dyes to measure pressures in the arteries and veins around her heart and lungs.  They also examined her leaky tricuspid valve.  The results were positive from the cath.  She would be ready for her Glenn at 12 weeks old and her tricuspid valve was more of a mild leak, not a moderate leak.  Kate's surgeon informed us that he would not do a valve repair unless he feels it necessary on the day of her surgery.  The will do an Echo of her heart when she is back for surgery and make the determination at that point. 

Kate hit her goal weight of 5kg in early September and is now scheduled for her Glenn surgery on September 18th at 12 weeks old.  She is getting big and looks the best she has ever looked.  She is tolerating her feeds and is much more aware of her surroundings.  She loves to listen to her music, watch her mobile and even watches a little TV!  Please pray for Kate for a smooth surgery and successful recovery!