The surgery is done! Jereth came through the surgery without any difficulties. He is resting comfortably with sedation and pain medication. The next 12 - 24 hours are the most important for his healing process.
The rest of the pictures show the tubes, wires, and other medical stuff being used to keep Jereth alive and resting comfortably.
Surgery Day - 30 March 2011
We brought Jereth to the hospital today at 6:30am. We waited in Same Day Surgery for 30 minutes then they took us back to the exam room. In the exam room we met with the anesthesiologist, the cardiac surgeon, and a few others that were involved in the surgery procedure. They let us know what was going to happen and had us sign several consent forms.
At 8:00 am we handed Jereth over to the anesthesiologist and went to the surgery waiting room. A little before 10:00 am we were told that Jereth was ready to go and the surgery was beginning. An hour later the nurse practitioner came to find us and let us know that Jereth was on the heart and lung bypass and that the surgeon had begun repairing his heart. By 12:30 pm the surgery was finished and the nurse practitioner returned to tell us that everything had gone well.
Around 1:00 pm Dr. Kaza, the surgeon, came to tell us that everything went according to plan. He closed the shunt between the main artery and vein that normally closes shortly after birth, called the PDA. He also stitched the hole in the atrial wall closed and put some stitches to close a tear in one of the heart valves. And most importantly, he stitched some Dacron fabric into the wall between the ventricles to close the large hole.
We were able to join Jereth in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) by 2:00pm. He is on a ventilator, has 3 drainage tubes from his chest, lots of monitoring wires, and a central line for intravenous access to give medicines, blood, and fluids as well as for drawing his blood for testing.
The doctors and nurses are trying to make sure his heart rate stays steady but below 100 beats per minute and his blood pressure stays low to allow his heart to heal without tearing any of the stitching. It has taken time to get the right combination of medicines to control Jereth's pain without causing problems with the blood pressure or heart rate.
We are very grateful that he is doing so well. We appreciate all the love, thoughts, prayers, and positive energy sent his way.
Jereth's heart surgeon gave us a piece of fabric when he met with us. It is laying on Jereth's chest in this picture. The cut out part of the piece of fabric is what was stitched into his heart. I knew the hole in his heart was large, but I didn't realize it was that big.
 |
| The size of the hole |
The rest of the pictures show the tubes, wires, and other medical stuff being used to keep Jereth alive and resting comfortably.
Surgery Day - 30 March 2011
We brought Jereth to the hospital today at 6:30am. We waited in Same Day Surgery for 30 minutes then they took us back to the exam room. In the exam room we met with the anesthesiologist, the cardiac surgeon, and a few others that were involved in the surgery procedure. They let us know what was going to happen and had us sign several consent forms.
At 8:00 am we handed Jereth over to the anesthesiologist and went to the surgery waiting room. A little before 10:00 am we were told that Jereth was ready to go and the surgery was beginning. An hour later the nurse practitioner came to find us and let us know that Jereth was on the heart and lung bypass and that the surgeon had begun repairing his heart. By 12:30 pm the surgery was finished and the nurse practitioner returned to tell us that everything had gone well.
Around 1:00 pm Dr. Kaza, the surgeon, came to tell us that everything went according to plan. He closed the shunt between the main artery and vein that normally closes shortly after birth, called the PDA. He also stitched the hole in the atrial wall closed and put some stitches to close a tear in one of the heart valves. And most importantly, he stitched some Dacron fabric into the wall between the ventricles to close the large hole.
We were able to join Jereth in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) by 2:00pm. He is on a ventilator, has 3 drainage tubes from his chest, lots of monitoring wires, and a central line for intravenous access to give medicines, blood, and fluids as well as for drawing his blood for testing.
The doctors and nurses are trying to make sure his heart rate stays steady but below 100 beats per minute and his blood pressure stays low to allow his heart to heal without tearing any of the stitching. It has taken time to get the right combination of medicines to control Jereth's pain without causing problems with the blood pressure or heart rate.
We are very grateful that he is doing so well. We appreciate all the love, thoughts, prayers, and positive energy sent his way.
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