Pre-op appointment...

Well all looks well to continue as planned for surgery on Tuesday! The pre-op appointment at UNC Hospital took about 4 hours. Dan, unfortunately, had to work so it was just me and Ethan. I first met with the cardio-thoracic surgical nurse, and she drew out exactly what would be happening in the surgery. Basically, they will be removing the shunt that was placed during the first surgery and have the de-oxygenated blood coming from his head go straight to his lungs instead of traveling through his heart first. This will take a lot of work off his heart so he won't be burning calories as fast. This is will result in a quicker growth rate for Ethan and also higher oxygen saturations! For the visual learners who want to see the diagram, click here. I was encouraged by the surgeon today that he called Ethan a perfect candidate for the surgery and thinks things should go very smoothly! The surgery is only about 4 hours instead of 6 like last time so that's good too!

We'll do our best to keep everyone updated about Ethan's recovery process after surgery. Please just continue to keep us and the doctors in your prayers over the next couple of weeks! Thanks!

Sunday

Today we checked out of UNC and came home to K-Town for the night. It is nice to just be here, although we both miss seeing little E. We stopped by Johnny Carino's at SouthPoint for lunch. At one point, Julie was unable to eat for about 32 hours so some good food was definately on the horizon. It is 10pm. We'll leave for UNC at 5am to get to see Ethan from 6am until they take him into surgery at 7am. Ethan is really doing great. He is uncomfortable due to the medicine that is keeping his heart function in good condition until the surgery. Poor guy softly whines every few minutes to let us know he doesn't feel so good. Today, Julie held him and the whines all but disappeared. He likes when we hold his feet. I got some father-son time with him for about an hour. I miss him already! I know you all want to see more pictures. He still is very shy about opening his eyes. Jenny (Julie's younger sister) so far gets the photography award. She took the very first two pictures from yesterday's blog entry. Here are some pics of his Blue Dog, Julie rocking him, and his room with all it's gear. The medical gear looks pretty intense, but the only equipment being used now is a monitoring system for heart and lung function, an IV for fluids, and the constant Prostin drip that keeps the special duct in his heart open until he has his first surgery. I plan to update this blog with status reports from his surgery each time we get an update. Pray hard friends!