Well Ethan's heart cath went well! Dr. Robinson (Ethan's cardiologist that he'll continue to see on a regular basis in the future) came and talked to us while Ethan was in post-op and said that Ethan's heart looks great, the Sano shunt is working very well and is one of the best he's seen yet from a Norwood surgery! Ethan's pulmonary artery is also a great size (it can often be small) for his age. So the good news is that there's nothing wrong with his heart at this time that would warrant needing to go back in for more surgery at this time. We were encouraged and surprised to hear that the medical team had him completely off oxygen (by accident) during the cath procedure and his sats stayed in the upper 70's-low 80's!
Ethan's still sleeping right now, the anesthesia still hasn't worn off so they have put him on .25ml of oxygen while he sleeps, then Dr. Robinson wants to try to have him start being weaned off the oxygen again. Whenever we do go home, we will probably still have an oxygen tank at home with us in case we still need it. One new thing we learned from Dr. Robinson is that all babies tend to have higher pressure in their lungs the first 6-8 weeks after birth, which limits the amount of blood flow to the lungs, but that pressure should decrease by about that time. Since Ethan will only be 4 weeks old tomorrow, he's been ahead of the game with the rest of his recovery so we just need to give him some more time to let that pressure decrease as he gets older and with the HLHS, it just might take him a little longer.
Continue to pray for patience for us and the doctors as we wean him off the oxygen. Pray that his sats would be able to remain in the 70-85% range, and that we can get home soon with him, whether or not we have to keep him on oxygen. We already have a portable tank here in his CICC room, as well as a large tank waiting for us at home in case we need it. Also, praise God that Ethan's off his NG tube and eating well. He's averaging 5 minutes feeding time to finish his entire 60-70cc bottle (which is just over 2 oz.), instead of the 15-20 minutes it's taken him the first 3 weeks of life. God has been so good to us through this journey - in the doctors rounds this morning, our speech therapist overheard the docs saying that they're very encouraged that Ethan's eating like a champ!
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3 comments:
Lots of good news! Still praying that you will be able to come home soon.
Just let us know if you want some company. We would love to come see y'all.
Keep on Keeping on!
-- Meg D.
Lots of good news! Still praying that you will be able to come home soon.
Just let us know if you want some company. We would love to come see y'all.
Keep on Keeping on!
-- Meg D.
Hang in there guys. God is taking care of Ethan and when the time is right, God will lead the doctors to let him go home. In the meantime, he's in the best place. What a wonderful praise that he is doing so very well in so many ways. It sounds like this oxygen sat. level is a relatively minor issue that will totally disappear within just a few more weeks. I praise God that it's something like this instead of something more serious slowing him down. What a delightful little miracle he is! Know that I'm still praying for Ethan.
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