New surgery date

We are home again, we were discharged from the hospital around 10 am this morning and we have slowly gotten back in the groove. The doctors said that everything looked good in James heart, no blockage, not much leakage, good pressure in the heart, and he were impressed by the size James has grown into. We have rescheduled James Glenn procedure and the new date for his surgery is August 6th, we will go in on the 5th for preparation for operation. We were really looking forward to have this surgery, but if he wasn't ready we just have to wait for him.

Heart Cath

We are in recovery from having James heart catheter done today. He is still sleeping, but will wake up soon. His leg needs to be still 4 hours after the catheter so he needs to lay flat and his leg is tied down. Everything went really well, but when the anesthesiologist was taking out his breathing tube he stopped breathing and they had to give him medicine to relax his lungs and they gave his some help getting his breath back. The doctor believe that he still have some traces left on his lungs from the flu, he had in the beginning of May, and they believe that is why it happened. Therefore they have decided to wait a few weeks with the Glenn surgery. Hopefully we do not need to wait to long for the procedure. But better to play it safe than take any risks. We will stay the night at the hospital and then we will all go home in the morning. We will post the new surgery date as soon as we have gotten it scheduled.

Ready for heart catheter

Nästa operation närmar sig

På måndag den 13:e juli är det dags för James "Glenn operation" och vi ser fram emot att få hans andra stora operation genomförd. Glenn operationen innebär att kirurgen först och främst tar bort röret som blivit insatt under den första operationen (Norwood), vilket leder blodet till lungpulsådern, sedan kommer kirurgen att skära av och koppla in övre hålvenen direkt till lungpulsådern så syrefattigt blod kommer direkt till lungorna. Detta innebär att hjärtats högra sida nu bara kommer att pumpa blod till stora kroppspulsådern vidare till kroppen och lungorna får då sitt blod från hålvenen som kan växa med James övriga delar i hjärtat. James hjärta kommer då att minska arbetskraften och han kommer att få mer energi över. En skillnad är nu bara att det är hjärtats högra sida som pumpar blod till kroppen istället för den vänstra som hos ett normalt hjärta. Blodet som kommer från hålvenen är syrefattigt så han kommer fortfarande att kunna bli blå om läpparna när han blir ansträngd . I övrigt så mår James bra, han vägde 6580 gram igår och han var 65 cm lång när han mättes hos barnläkaren förra veckan, då han var på sin fyra månaders koll. James skall undersöka hjärtat med en hjärt kateter på tisdag, på fredag ska han förberedas inför operationen med röntgen, blodprover och andra tester och sedan på måndag är det den stora dagen.

Glenn Operation

Ready for next Surgery

In only a week we are going back to Children's Medical Center in Dallas for preparation for James Glenn procedure. We have heard that success rates for this procedure is 95% and we are feeling pretty good about this surgery. What this procedure will do is to remove the tube that is directing blood from the right side of James heart to the lung arteries and instead the surgeon will connect the superior vena cava directly to the lung arteries so the blood comes directly to his lungs. That mean James heart will get less of a load and will only pump blood to the body. This will save alot of work for the heart and James should get more energy after this surgery. We are going to the hospital on Tuesday to get a heart cath done so the doctors will get a clear picture of James' heart. We will probably stay the night and come home Wednesday. Then we are going back on Friday for pre Op, we will get an x-ray, check his vitals and get all the information about his surgery. Monday the 13th is the big day. We are the second surgery of the day by Dr. Forbess, but we still have to be there early that morning. James has been doing great in general. He was 14 lbs in weight and 25.5 inches tall on his 4 month check up with the pediatrician last week. His cardiologist says he looks good and is ready for the surgery. I will keep everybody updated on how it is going.

James 4 months old