Surgery Day

The most highly anticipated day of our lives has finally arrived. We heard Thursday that Mason's surgery had been scheduled for Friday morning-first surgery of the day. I asked to be able to hold him and got the okay from Dr. Hintz, the Neonatologist. Daddy went to give blood and I held Mason for approximately 2 hours. It was so wonderful! The transfer from his bed to my arms was almost effortless, regardless of all the wires and tubes he was connected to.

When we arrived at the hospital Friday morning we were greeted with the news that, yes, in fact he would be headed to surgery in the morning. His nurse then was able to have Daddy hold Mason for a while before getting him ready. When it was time to head to surgery he was sleeping on his tummy comfortably. The Director of Pediatric Anesthesia, Chandra Ramamoorthy, MD, was to be in charge of his anesthesia and was assissted by one of her Fellows. Her Fellow commented on Mason being the best hypoplast she had seen! Dr. Ramammorthy was ready to take Mason but found one of his leads not connected to the portable statistics/readers. She promptly took charged and found what was missing and we were off. At approximately 8:30 am when began our walk to surgery. When we reached the coridor to the surgery unit, I lost my composure and started to cry. One of the worst things possible is to have to give your baby to others for one of the most complex surgeries that could be performed on an infant.

At approximately 2:00 pm we were found by Arden, Patient Care Coordinator, and told we were getting our 45 minute call. This meant that in approximately 45 minutes the surgeon would be out to speak to us. A little over an hour later, Ernie saw Dr. Hanley coming towards the patient waiting area, where we were tucked behind a post. He almost walked away and Ernie called out to him. I quickly searched his face for the answers he would be giving us and knew things went well. He began by telling us that everything went as close to perfect as possible. There were no new anomolies that were encountered, everything was just as they expected with the heart. He said Mason was on the heart/lung bypass machine for 1 1/2 hours and that this was on the low end of the spectrum. I asked what we would expect to see when Mason was out and Dr. Hanley told us that he would have his chest open but covered, in somewhat of a football shaped opening and of course he would be connected to a series of ivs, chest tubes, monitors, etc. Dr. Hanley also told us the next 24-48 hours were the most critical. In addition, he commented on the fact that we grew a healthy, strong boy and that helped. We expressed our sincere thanks for all that he had done and asked that he thank his entire team for all their efforts. He gave us a wonderful smile and said he would be sure to do so. In approximately another hour we would see our sweet baby boy.

Exitement consumed us as we approched the CVICU (cardiac care unit). Mason had made the first step towards the pallative repair of his heart. We made it over to his bassinett and found him hooked up to all those drips, ivs, tubes, monitors, etc. that we had been seeing in photos of other surgeries and which Dr. Hanley told us about. I almost couldn't see any of those things, but focused solely on my beautiful little boy. I was so thankful that God took him in his hands and has given him the strength to get this far. We almost couldn't contain the joy we felt upon seeing him-no matter how many other things were connected to him. We spent most of the afternoon and evening with him and went back to Ronald McDonald for some fitful sleep. I called his nurse, Julie at 1:30 and 5:30 to ask how he was doing and both times she said he was doing well.

This morning we headed off to the hospital and thought we would be getting there in time for rounds. We were told they would be approx 9-10 am but were in fact done at 7:30. No worries, we heard that all had gone well and that the only order thus far would be to add diuretics to remove some of the fluid build up. In fact, if you look at him he doesn't have too much build up at all. Throughout the day, we sat at his bedside and took breaks for breakfast, lunch, and breast pumping! I did notice that occasionally he had a couple erradict breathes but was told that they would be sure to monitor that he was still properly sedated. They do not want him to wake up with his chest open. His nurse, Melanie, told us that they would gradually wean him off his medications once his chest was closed. We later heard from the Head RN that it looked like his chest might even get closed tomorrow, Sunday. This was so exciting! Everyone who has seen him thus far, medically, seems to think he is doing very well. Of course, the Head RN let us know that there have been times when they think everything is going great and something unexpected happens. Overall, she said he is doing picture perfect. He is receiving some blood to accomodate his somewhat low bloodpressure and will receive the diuretic to allow him to urinate later today. In the meantime, nurse Melanie told us she will be changing all the drip lines as they are removing the tubes from his naval. She will be hooking up new lines to run through the existing arterial lines. I counted approximately 8 drip lines she would be changine-but possible more.

The following is a list of medications he is being given: (nurse Melanie, kindly printed out this list along with a print out of each drug and their description/usage)

Epinepherine-helps blood pressure

Milrinon-increased bloof flow to the extremities

Dopamine-helps blood pressure

Heparin-prevents blood clots

Vecuronium-paralytic while his chest is open

Calcium Chloride-helps blood pressure and heart contractions

Morphine-pain medication

Around the clock:

Zantac-prevent acid production in the stomch

Cefazikub-antibiotic

Asprin-prevents blood clots

We will be heading back to the hospital shortly to meet the new nurse in charge of Mason's care-she will arrive at 7:00pm for change of shift. Although our strong boy has made it through his first surgery we have a long road to go. With all the support of our friends and family and most importantly, the faith we have in God, we know we can make it through.

Thank you Dear God for all you have done in our lives. We especially praise and thank you for allowing us to have Mason here with us today.