Heart Cath

It's been a couple weeks since I've update on Clayton.  The cath lab called and got us in a lot earlier than I was expecting.  It was probably better that way because I didn't have weeks to agonize over Clayton's heart cath.  So anyway, Clayton had his heart cath last Thursday, August 18th, which was also the first day of school.  Oh well.  Everything went really well.  We checked in at 6am.  They started around 8am, and he was out around 10:30, much sooner than I expected.  He was intubated for the procedure.  Although we haven't heard anything official, the cath lab doctor said the pressures in the lungs were fine, which is one of the main measurements they look for before a Fontan.  They were also looking for collateral veins that often develop in his situation, and they only found one worth coiling off, which is probably why they were done so quickly. 

Clayton was pretty cranky coming out of anesthesia and had a little nausea, but once we moved out of the initial recovery room and into a little more private quarters, he did much better.  A huge thank you to the inventor of the portable DVD player.  Clayton had to lay flat for three hours.  Try telling that to any 5 year old boy in a hospital.  The DVD player was a trememdous help with that.  Clayton was discharged at 1:30pm, and we rested most of the rest of the day.  They entered through veins in his neck and groin.  The neck entry went well, but wow, there was (and still is) some severe bruising at the groin site.  I'm thinking this was partially due to him having to be held down by two nurses and a doctor before I could get back to the recovery unit after the procedure.  It will still be weeks before that goes away.

The next morning Clayton felt up for school, so we let him go.  We live about two minutes from the school, and the teacher said she'd call me if she had any concerns.  Everything went great with that, and he even went to his first t-ball practice that night.

The information collected in the cath has been sent to Stanford, and they will get back to us with their recommendations for Clayton's surgery.  I have no idea when it will be, but we're hoping to put it off at least a couple months, as Ryan is in a really busy season with work.  We'll see.

Thank goodness that step is over.  Seeing Clayton thrashing around after the cath and begging for something to drink after being intubated sure does make me dread surgery.  I know it will not be fun. 

Cardiology Clinic

Clayton had his cardiology check up on Wednesday.  Weight gain since January... wait for it... none.  Yep.  I promise I feed him (see attached picture).  So I had to ask the question, "Is it even possible for Clayton to achieve 15kg?"  And the answer I got was, "Maybe not."  That said, after some discussion between OU and Stanford, Clayton will have a heart cath this fall here at OU Children's (I'm trying to be okay with that).  Those numbers will be sent to Stanford, and they'll decide if they want to go ahead and proceed with Clayton's Fontan.  Clayton is going to pre-k this year, and it would be nice to have this done before kindergarten, so we'll see what they say.  The whole thing makes my heart pound a little too much.  I'm in no rush to do this surgery, but I do really want it behind us.  I can't believe it's been almost five years since we've been to Stanford.  I can still hear the beeping (and smell the parent lounge... gag).