New surgery date/plan

It is now one week until Katie’s heart surgery in Rochester. We got the call yesterday to confirm the surgery schedule. Unfortunately there is a new baby that is critical and needs surgery first. So Katie’s surgery has been moved (just one day later) to Friday, Jan 17 at 7:30am.

The plan is that Katie, Mike and I will travel to Rochester in the morning of Thursday Jan 16. We will have a pre-surgery appointment that starts at 12:15pm including a tour of the hospital. Katie will have a history, physical, lab work and blood work. That night we will stay in a hotel provided by the hospital.

Katie will have to fast that night. I do not know how long they will want her to be off of milk, but looking online it sounds like it should be about 4 hours. This is stressing me out. I think she can manage four hours but if they want more she will be really upset. I do not want her screaming hungry when I hand her over for surgery. I really want the moments leading up to surgery to be pleasant and calm for her. Hopefully it is only four hours and she does well with the required timing.

On Friday, we will arrive at the hospital at 6:30am with a surgery start time of 7:30. If the weather is okay, my mom is going to take Ellee to Nancy (a wonderful lady from church that plays with Ellee whenever we have appointments or need help) that morning. She will then meet us at the hospital. Katie should be away from us for about five hours. One hour set up, one hour surgery, two hours to wake up, one hour settling into the PCICU (Pediatric cardiology intensive care unit). We will get to see her as soon as she is settled into PCICU. My mom will travel home that night and pick up Ellee before bedtime. Mike and I will stay at the Ronald McDonald house located within the hospital. We can visit Katie 24 hours a day, and will have a bed just a few floors away from Katie.

After a few days in the PCICU, Katie will be moved to the pediatric cardiology step down unit. At that time a parent can sleep in the room with her. I will stay with her since I will hopefully be back to feeding her by then. Mike can stay at the off campus Ronald McDonald house (a few blocks away) until Katie is discharged. The average is 10-14 days in the hospital but some come home as quickly as 5 days. If there are any complications it could take longer. Once Katie is stable and doing well, we will decide about Mike returning to work and visiting Ellee.

This, of course, is all dependent upon no other babies needing surgery before Katie. Hopefully the schedule will hold with this plan. We were surprised that Katie’s surgery was moved a day but we all agree that is wonderful that Katie is healthy enough to be bumped. We do not know what is wrong with the other baby but are praying for them and their family.

We are very worried about Katie’s surgery but know that without it Katie will not survive. This surgery will save her life. Since she is going into it healthy, strong, and eating well the chances for complications are as minimal as possible. Hopefully in a few short weeks our baby girl will have a fixed heart and will be home, happy and healthy!