Mercy Visit (Mon 03/27/06)

Today was Tucker's heart cath and a very real reality check for us. To look at Tucker in all the many pictures on this site, besides the feeding tube hanging from his nose, you would not know he was a very sick little boy. It is days like today that make me very grateful for the good days that fill these pages and our memory books.

The visit and procedure today went well. The cath was stuck in Tucker's groin and extended up to the lungs and the heart. Pictures were taken, pressures were taken, and diagnosis were talked about. The aortic arch was fine, we did not have to have an angioplasty. The pressures in his lungs were 14 on one side and 16 on the other-which Dr. Kaine said were within the guidelines for the next heart surgery. Tucker's lungs have to be able to work with the extra blood flow to them. As we know from the first surgery, Tucker's lungs are slow going and floppy.

Tucker's heart is enlarged from overworking. The 2nd heart surgery, called the Glenn Shunt procedure, will take some of the work load off the heart by routing blood from a vein of Tucker's directly into the lungs, bypassing the heart. The heart then will only pump the blood that has to go to the body...therefore not having to work as hard. We are not sure yet if Tucker will qualify for the 3rd and final step of this heart "fixing" procedure because he has a double ventricle outlet/right side of his heart...which causes a problem when it comes to finishing the "fix". (This procedure is a few years away)

Tonight Todd is spending the night at Children's Mercy with Tucker. We had to stay in house because of the oxygen saturations in his blood are not what they need to be. Nothing is an easy fix or procedure when it comes to our little man. He is on oxygen and will have to be weaned off it slowly. He spent 6 days at Children's back in February for the flu and some of that is still hanging on-the cough and congestion. The nurse had ordered a chest and lung x-ray when I left at 9:00pm. Our day started at 6:00 this morning, with blood draws and is ending in another night apart and Tucker hooked up to i.v's, crying and us crying with him.

I wish I had a magic wand......