I was premature in saying Kate's surgery was done...it was only at the closing up stage. They had wired her chest closed but then one of the stitches in her pulmonary patch broke and she began to bleed profusely. The surgeon said that it was "very bad" for awhile but they were able to get it under control. They had to put her back on the heart/lunch machine and go back in. They had to administer a lot of medications and fluid during the bleeding and it was hard on her lungs. That will cause her to have a bit more difficult time recovering, but she should still be okay.
My heart just about stopped when he told us about the bleeding and even though I know she's okay now, I am still shaking.
We are so thankful that she is stable and we will hopefully be able to go into PICU and see her in about an hour. The doctor said that her prognosis is a bit unknown since they have only been doing the Fontan procedure for about 25 years. He thinks that in the next 20-30 years, she will have to have something else done because her heart won't last longer than that. Hopefully, there will be some new technology that will help her. If not, she would probably need a heart transplant. We aren't going to worry about that right now!! We are just going to enjoy each day and are so thankful that she made it through the surgery.
With the single ventricle surgery, she will still be able to have a good quality of life, for which we praise God! He put her here, with one of the best pediatric heart surgeons in the world and we know that the very best has been done for her. He was the one who pioneered the full repair procedure, so we know that if it was possible, he would have done it. We can rest in the knowledge that she has had the surgery that was the best for her.
Thank you for praying! She still has a ways to go before she's totally out of the woods, so if you could please keep praying, we would be so grateful.
