Lily's Heart Catheterization

Phew...what a day!

Lily did really well during her heart catheterization today.  About two hours into the procedure, the nurse came out to tell us that the doctor found something unexpected, and would like to speak to us outside of the operating room.  My stomach instantly sank to my feet.  Jacques and I hurriedly gathered our things, and followed the nurse to the OR.  The doctor discovered that Lily had severe right pulmonary artery stenosis.  The vein that carries oxygen to her right lung was only 2mm wide, which is super tiny.  He wanted to let us know that he was going to perform a balloon angioplasty in order to open the vein wider.  Jacques signed his name to the consent form again, and the doctor told us it would take about 30 minutes for them to get donor blood on hand just in case Lily needed it.  Right around the four hour mark, the nurse made an appearance again to tell us that Lily was done, and they were working to get her bleeding to stop.  Lily takes an aspirin a day in order to thin her blood, so this proved a bit difficult.  About twenty minutes later, the cath team wheeled our princess past the waiting room, and paused so we could see her for a moment.

The doctor took Jacques and I into a consultation room, and through
drawings and diagrams attempted to explain to us our daughter's
completely unique anatomy.  The best way to describe Lily
is that she is one of a kind!

Through the balloon angioplasty,
the doctor was able to get her 2mm vein open to 5mm.
About 6 months after her open heart surgery,
Lily will need another heart cath
in order to put a stint in her artery that will open it up to 8mm.

Check out the rash on our sweet girl...her entire body was covered.

The doctors do not think it is an allergic reaction, but rather

just the effects of the massive amounts of contrast they used

to get the images they needed during the cath.

Lily cried for about an hour and a half during recovery, 

but then settled down and ate some Goldfish crackers and a sucker.

So, how do you keep an almost "3" year old still

for six hours after a heart cath?

Put a straight jacket on her leg of course!

I truly cannot believe how amazing Lily did at being still

for SO LONG...even I was struggling.

I also had no clue that a child could literally eat the same bag of

Goldfish crackers for 5.5 hours...straight!

Since Lily had the angioplasty during her heart cath, 

they needed her to stay overnight for observation.

About 5 hours into recovery, they wheeled her to the

"sleepover room".  Check out her T.V.

It knows her name :-)

Before too long, Lily realized that her hairbow was missing.

Oh my!

I quickly found her bow, and all was right with the world again.

Lily thinks her bed is pretty cool.

The highlight of my day came around 11:30pm when they 

FINALLY removed her pressure dressings, 

and my sweet angel got to cuddle in my arms...

Be joyful in hope...Romans 12:12.