Surgery Day

(As of 3:38 p.m.)

We started the day very early, as we had to be here at 6:30. Fortunately for Gabe, he didn't have to be hungry all day like last week. There was much to do at the hospital and Gabe was in pretty good spirits. They took him back at 8:15 for what was supposed to be a 2-3 hour procedure. We got our first update around 10:00 saying that things are good. Around 12:30, they were still working, but wouldn't give any indication as to why it was taking so long. The cardiologist just came to talk to us to let us know of the complications they are experiencing. They put in the BT shunt two different times and didn't like the blood flow that they were getting from it. They decided to start a central shunt around 3:00. With this procedure, they will have to put him on the bypass machine, which is something we were hoping to avoid. So we will be waiting for a couple more hours. I will post again in this same blog post with an updated time when we know more. Please keep the prayers coming, this is the first time that I have been really scared.

(At 5:11)

The cardiologist just came in and told us that Gabe is off the heart/lung machine. Things are going well. He said that the surgeon is going to keep him in there to make sure that things are working correctly. He has been in surgery for just short of 8 hours. This has been a really hard day for us. We are just waiting to hear that they are closing him up. I will post when I hear.

(At 9:57)

Gabe got out of surgery around 6:30 tonight, which made a 2-3 hour surgery a 9 hour one. The surgeon is a bit of a perfectionist and after putting in two shunts, wasn't happy with how they were working. After his angiogram, his oxygenation levels were in the 50s and leaving today's procedure, they were at 84. He looks so much better than I thought he would. He is a little puffy, but his color looks good. Better than last week after the angiogram.
even his nail beds are considerably less blue now. He is resting very comfortably and with some medical assistance. We are going to try to get some rest tonight because they say the next two days are really going to be tough. Doc also said that he sees the next surgery being somewhere in the weeks to months range. It all depends on how this shunt works. I am just anxious to get this little guy on the road to recovery.