After leaving Sofia sedated in the cath lab, we were due to get our first update 2 hours in and I was just about to get a little nervous when we hadn't heard anything by 3 hours. I started to notice that it seemed like all the families that were originally there in the waiting area had gotten updates and moved into patient rooms. So I was relieved when we soon got paged and heard that the doctor was actually finishing up and would be out to talk to us soon. It was almost exactly 3 hours from start to finish. Right after we had left her in the cath lab and started our long wait in M20, I put on Pandora Radio and the first song was called Live High by Jason Mraz and I chose to take this as a good sign.
Dr. Golden was very pleased with how things went. He said that the pressures they checked were even lower than they were when last checked during her 2009 cath. The pulmonary arteries looked good. I believe it is the right PA that looked a little narrow at one spot, but he also wasn't sure if that was a glitch in the program capturing the image or if it was actually a little narrow, but he said that is where they will put the conduit in the Fontan surgery anyway and was not concerned with it. There is some occlusion in her vessels (not sure if it was veins or arteries), but he was able to get in through the groin after doing ultrasound to look at the blood flow, and he definitely got a good picture of the inferior vena cava and a long stretch of that looks good. She did not have any collateral vessels. (A lot of single ventricle patients' hearts develop collateral vessels and they sometimes coil them off during caths). She had a stable heart rhythm throughout - back in 2009, she had needed epinephrine for irregular rhythm during her cath. Before the cath I had asked Dr. Golden about the potential of this repeating itself and he assured us that her heart is bigger now and she's more stable hemodynamically, so didn't anticipate any problems. He was right. She did just fine. He pulled out his cell phone and showed us 3D video of the imaging. Looked interesting, but you could have told me it was her brain and it's possible I might have believed you.
She was very groggy waking up from the surgery, but we were right there with her. She had to stay flat for 6 hours, which was a little challenging at times. She did really well, particularly while being fed orange popsicles (her choosing). We chilled in the familiar pods on M40 for awhile and saw some familiar faces and it was pretty relaxed. Dr. Golden stopped by to check on her and said he already shared the good news with Dr. Edwards (Sofia's cardiologist) and Dr. Stewart (surgeon). We really like him and are glad we found him. Dr. Stewart ended up stopping in as well and we talked briefly about surgery and we're all set for May 10.
It was nice to get home. I really didn't anticipate her being released the same day, so it was a very nice surprise. Oliver had his overnight bag back just in case. I had a headache probably from the lack of sleep, worry, and not drinking enough, and I can't imagine how Sofia felt so it was nice to be back home. At one point I told Sofia I was sorry she had to spend the day at the hospital and that it wasn't fun. She corrected me and told me it was fun. I think we may need to redefine fun in this household. At least this made me think that maybe it wasn't a horrible experience for her. We ended up getting home at 7:30 last night, which wasn't bad. Sofia was back to her usual self and had fun playing with Adelaide before bedtime. I'm not sure anything can hold her back.
Live high
Live mighty
Live righteously
Taking it easy
Live high, live mighty
Live righteously
Just take it easy
And celebrate the malleable reality
Nothing is ever as it seems
This life is but a dream
Arriving at the Clinic
Waiting before the cath
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