The Plan (at the moment....)

dr russell called this afternoon. here's the plan:

well, the conference didn't exactly go as planned. dr caldarone was away at a conference in the states, so dr russell had to present asher on her own. apparently, the others present were not convinced about the ASD stent, so there is no surgery date at the moment. however....

they're a little hesitant to go ahead with open heart surgery at the moment. so they're going to send him to the cath lab first. they want to get some really good pictures, to make sure it's the stent that's blocking the pulmonary veins (PVs, they take red blood to the heart), and not something else that's causing all these problems. while they're in there, they're going to coil off the collateral vessels that have developed, which take blood away from the pulmonary arteries (PAs, they take blue blood to the lungs). they're also going to see if there's anything they can do about his PAs, which are too small. so, dr russell is going to go ahead with this plan, telling them that this needs to be done urgently. she added, however, that dr caldarone will be returning on wednesday, and she will discuss this plan with him. and then, if need be, they can "reverse things" and get asher in for surgery.

it all seems a little frustrating, i know. oh, believe me, i know. we all know he needs surgery, and now they're delaying it and doing all kinds of other stuff first. but... before heart surgery, they always do a "pre-op cath" in which they get a close-up look at the inside of the heart, checking measurements and pressures, that sort of thing. this is also the time that they'd be dealing with the collaterals and checking the PAs, anyway. so this will all have to be done anyway. they're not replacing the surgery with this, nor are they adding any unnecessary steps. they're going ahead, but more cautiously than dr caldarone would prefer. but he'll be back in a couple days, and hopefully then he'll set everything right.

so that's that for today. perhaps i'll write a bit later about our cardio appt this morning, or i may just wait till tomorrow and fill you in on his paeds appt, too. (my boy's getting needles tomorrow. oh, joy). well, gotta go check on blithe, make sure she's getting to sleep ok. talk to you later! h