Pulmonary Artery Band Surgery



Ninetendo DS





Nasty Tasting Medicine

  

Mom in Scrubs!




And he's snoozing...

 We arrived at the hospital at 12:00pm on Tuesday, August 28^th for Diego’s PA Band Surgery.  We were delayed an hour because the surgeon’s first surgery took longer than expected.  Diego was called back to take vitals around 1:00pm.  Then off to the operating holding room around 1:45 where he changed into his “johnnies” (as I learned the hospital gown is called).  The nurse definitely knows how to keep a 9 year old boy pre-occupied.  They let him play with an iPad and Nintendo DS while we waited for the anesthesiologist.  Once the anesthesiologist came, they gave Diego medication to help him drift off to sleep.  The anesthesiologist hung around waiting and waiting for the medicine to kick in, but the more they asked him questions the more he talked.  Somehow, Diego managed to tell the 3 anesthesiologist every detail of how Cesar came to the United States, how Cesar and I met and were later married.  After the end of that conversation the anesthesiologist realized that this boy wasn’t going to sleep on medicine alone.  Therefore, I had the pleasure of putting on scrubs and going into the surgical room with Diego.  They were all very sweet and let me stand beside Diego as they placed the root beer flavored gas mask over his face.  Within seconds, Diego was out cold!  The lead anesthesiologist said there is no way he is already out.  So they called out his name and there was no response of any kind.  That’s it; just like that, Diego was snoozing! 

 We received the first update around 4:00pm that the incision had been made.  Approximately an hour later, the nurse reported that Diego was doing well, stable with no complications.  One last update from the nurse around 5:45 said that the surgeon was wrapping things up and would be out soon to talk with us.  Dr. del Nido came out sometime after 6:00.  He said that Diego did very well with no problems.  He saw a significant amount of leakage in his tricuspid valve, which he said confirmed Diego's symptoms of low stamina, sluggish during physical activity and fatigue.  Diego's left ventricle pressure was 38 before he placed the band on his pulmonary artery.  Once he placed the band on Diego’s left ventricle he had a blood pressure in the low 70s, which Diego tolerated well.  Dr. del Nido tried to increase the tightness of the band, but Diego did not respond well.  The surgeon is pleased with a left ventricle blood pressure in the low 70s.  Diego's left ventricle pressures will have to get up into the 80s before he will be considered for the Double Switch surgery.  This could take anywhere between 6 months to 2 years.  He said they will keep Diego sedated for a while to monitor his tolerance of the higher blood pressure.



After Surgery in PICU

 It was probably 7:45pm before they had Diego in the Pediatric ICU.  We were thrilled to be able to finally see him.  Shortly thereafter, Diego's blood pressure dropped significantly and gave us a little scare.  They asked us to leave the room while they worked to stabilize him.  Dr. del Nido came in and adjusted Diego's medicine and requested a blood transfusion.  They explained to us that things would be a little rough for the next 24-48 hours while Diego's left ventricle adjusts to the extra work load.  Around 10:30 his blood pressure became too high.  Again, they adjusted his medication and had to restrain him because his feisty nature was coming out.  He was trying to pull the tubes out, which in a sense is a good thing.  It shows that he is the true heart warrior that we have always believed him to be!