The Operation

After checking into hospital on Tuesday 23rd, we sat around for 6 hours until Katelyn went in for the Cardiac Catheterisation. I took her into the Theatre, where he gassed her to sleep(and she screamed and screamed) and then I lay her on the slab. She is already a floppy baby, but wow, she become like a dead doll within seconds in my arms.

She was delivered back to us in the ward,seriously miserable. The anaesthetist told us we could give her milk (considering she hasn't consumed anything for 12hours!). She devoured it.

For the next 2.5 hours she was totally miserable, vomiting from the milk (the nurses then said you not meant to give milk-ahhhh doctors!). When she eventually settled down, and the doctors had done their pre-surgery rounds, we headed to bed. What an angel, she slept so well when she was finally down. I couldn't sleep, racing mind.

Woken at 4:50 (madness!!!) for sterile bath, sister made Katelyn cry LOTS doing horrible unnecessary things, but after that she had her pre-med and became a cute little sleeping child.

Simon arrived at 6:30am, and 5minutes later the theatre nurses came up to get her. Simon carried her down, and we sat in the Theatre waiting area together praying for her, the doctors, the surgery and everything possible...then he had to hand her over.

After we had a few hours to catch-up on sleep(me!)and get to gym(Simon), we waited for another 2hours for her to come out of surgery. After 6 hours, she came out and we had a chat with the surgeon...all a little overwhelming, but the summary looks something like this:

- It was a complicated operation.

- Good closure of the holes and she is happy with them considering they were so big

- The valve was incredibly 'deformed' and a floating valve, she did the best she could with it and seems to be happy with the result

- Post-surgery her heart hasn't got a steady rhythm,so is on pacemaker for now and will see if it regulates itself,else she'll need a pacemaker which will be put in within a week or so

- (Katelyn's extra complication is an obstruction around the aorta outflow tract). The short version of the 'obstruction' is that she removed a small bit of tissue which seemed to help a little bit, but she's being very guarded of how the heart is going to respond. She did notice it made a difference when she removed the tissue, but she says it'll have to be something we monitor closely going forward.

**But for now we just sit in ICU watching our little one sleep and slowly wake, struggling with her hands tied down, and I can only imagine desperately wanting to rip out the million tubes all over her. **

God is ever faithful.
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