Surgery Went Incredibly Well

The day started out at 3:00 a.m. this morning when Bailey and I finally fell asleep. With a whole 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I woke up at 5:30 and got ready for the day. Another surgery day. Couldn't stop thinking about what the day might bring. I woke Bailey up at 6:30 and before she even opened her eyes, she said, "I don't want to go to surgery." She was pretty scared this morning. Luckily, they took her in at 7:00 so we didn't have to wait around too long. They let one of her night nurses, Jenny, scrub up and go back there with her until they got her to sleep. That helped her out quite a bit.

[Well, if I don't speed up a bit, I'll be here for a while.]

They got her to sleep and did lots of echos and various tests continuing to check on the function of her heart to make sure they were making the right decision by removing the Berlin Heart. It wasn't until about 1:00 this afternoon that they decided to go ahead and take it out. That was the longest morning. Then, not too long after that, they said she was off the by-pass and doing great. We got to talk to Dr. T about 4:00. He was very pleased. He said her "numbers" were better today than they were even at last week's cath. She's got a little leak in her mitral (sp?) valve that they thought they might try to repair while they were in their, but Dr. T told us after surgery that the left side of her heart is working so well that there was nothing that the repaired mitral valve would improve, so they decided not to do anything with it. And, that can be controlled - they don't seem to be worried about that at all. Dr. T said there was a dramatic improvement in the function of her heart, so much so that he felt good in their decision to remove the device. I really haven't seen him this happy outside of a water fight! He really had nothing negative to say. (And the documentary team who was filming the surgery let us in on some things they heard in surgery regarding how happy everyone was with everything.)

So, we finally got to see her about 6:00 in ICU. I hadn't even walked in the room yet (without gloves and mask, I might add) and she looked over at me and waved. That was shocking. They were already talking about taking the breathing tube out - and that kind of scared me since coming off the ventilator back in early February was quite an ordeal. So, after holding her hand a while, I went down to get some dinner, thinking that maybe they'd have the tube out by the time I got back and I wouldn't have to be there for it this time. Well, Scott came running through the cafeteria and said, "They're ready to take the tube out but she won't let them without you there, so you gotta get up there - they're all waiting on you." Well, that blew my plan, but I managed to get up there and ran into Dr. T right outside her room. I whispered to him that I didn't think I wanted to be in there for this and he said, "No, it'll be all right." Sometimes, that's all you need to hear. Bailey and I both braved through it and it went fast and easy. I got to finish my dinner, and came back to word that we might be going back to the Heart Center tomorrow, since she's doing so well. She was already giving Dr. T a little grief. It's good to see her spuny already! She's not in any pain, except for her sore throat, and is in very good spirits. She looked at me and said, "I'm so happy," as her eyes rolled shut again. One of her biggest worries with this surgery is getting her chest (drainage) tubes pulled out (in a few days). After she saw them a little bit ago, she said, "I was worried about getting my chest tubes out, but I was looking at them, and they're nothin'!" I suppose they do look like nothin' compared to the Berlin Heart canulas. There are just two little square gauze patches on her belly where the canulas used to enter her body. The reporting nurse told us during surgery that she was unhooked from the Berlin Heart and I said, "You mean it's further than 6 feet away from her?" She said, "Yes, it's in another room."

I just can't explain the craziness that today has been. Being so excited about the possibility of her heart healing and going home soon, but at the same time, still not knowing for several hours if it would actually happen or not. But they didn't change their minds. They took it out! And she's doing incredibly well! Dr. T passed me outside her room in ICU a few minutes ago and he simply looked at me with a smile and said, "Who'da thought?"

Another incredible day. Another crazy incredible day. Lots of tears, lots of fear, lots of family, lots of friends, lots of sleepless hours, lots of ecstatic joy. I think we can finally let ourselves be completely and fully happy.

We don't know what the future holds. We're hoping (along with the doctors) that this will have been her last surgery she'll ever need. It's possible she'll still need a transplant at some point in the future - whether it be 6 months, 2 years, 10 years, etc. - but for now, we're going to enjoy it and live life to the full!

I love you all, and thank you for hanging in there with us.

Angie