This has been a big few days for our little Cooper. He was moved to Vanderbilt Sunday night in preparation for the PDA surgery. His first car ride was in an ambulance and they gave us a shirt to prove it! It was a pretty cool experience. They have a portable incubator with a ventilator built in. I was a little nervous (OK, A LOT nervous!!) but he made the trip in one piece! We hung out at Vanderbilt and slept in their sleep room so we would be there early for his tests and it was a new place! (The sleep room was nice to have, but it is not home and we were not prepared to stay overnight. It is good to be home. Ask Kevin about the cot sometime! Bless him for taking it and giving me the twin bed!!) Cooper arrived at Vandy just in time to meet Santa and get his picture taken with him and Mrs. Claus! It is precious.
This morning the Vanderbilt doctors ran a BUNCH of tests on him. They wanted to make sure he was ready for the surgery, an echo to see where the murmur was is, how big it is, blood checks, head ultrasound, and a PICC line. I was most nervous about the PICC line, but the nurse that puts them in was wonderful and put us all to ease. She only does PICC lines and explained them very well. She got it in the first time!!
After waiting most of the day for an answer as to when the surgery will be, we were told that the surgery would be tomorrow, December 22nd at 11:00 am. We spoke with the surgeon, and he went over the surgery and the risks and benefits of the surgery. Basically, if they do not repair this PDA valve, he will have trouble getting off the ventilator. The risks are the same risks with any surgery. The actual procedure will take about 15 minutes!! There is set up that can make the procedure last about an hour beginning to end. Basically they make a small incision under the ribcage, deflate the left lung, identify the valve,clamp it closed, re inflate the lung, and stitch him up with stitches that dissolve. We are praying that it is that simple!! I will keep you posted on the procedure!
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Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea just how many people are praying for you guys, especially Cooper! God has this in his hands and he is the greatest physician. We love you and will be there holding you hand all the way through!
Court
Praying Cooper does well in his surgery. I know a nurse that works in the NICU at Vandy and she is super awesome, as well as her co-workers, so I know he is in very educated and well trained hands!
ReplyDelete-Summer
I love that you guys are blogging about this and letting people know how God is so present through this entire trial. We are praying not only for Cooper, but for you and Kevin to have the super human strength that this takes. We love you both and Cooper is just the sweetest!
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