Surgery is done!

Surgery day is done and over and Anthony pretty much sailed through it. It is open heart surgery so there is quite a recovery time, but the big one is behind us now. We got to the hospital at 7am this morning. They were getting ready to take him down to surgery. We got to stay with him in the pre-op area for a little bit and he was all smiles. I gave him LOTS and LOTS of kisses and special kisses for grandparents and aunts and he smiled after every one! I told him to do well and that he is such a strong little boy!

It was a while before we got any updates, but they did keep us informed as things went on. I think he finished up surgery around 11:30 or 12. The surgery was pretty uneventful and everything went as planned. His surgeon, Dr. Hirsch repaired the hole between his ventricles with a patch. His own tissue will eventually grow over this patch as he gets older. He also had a small hole in between the atriums of his heart that she sutured shut. She had to open up the leaflets in one of the valves of his heart as well.

We were able to see Anthony about 2pm. It was heart. He is on a breathing machine and was very sedated. He has LOTS of tubes. His trach, g-tube, a chest tube, catheter, arterial line, IV, central line. I think that is all. It was hard to see him like that but we know that it will get better. He was already starting to be weaned off the ventilator. He might only be on it for a day or two. He is also involved in a research study where his blood sugars will be closely monitored and adjusted. The thinking of this is if he has great glucose control, it will lead to better healing and a less risk for infection. I think this will be good for him. We will be back in the morning to see how he is doing. We have amazing family and my sister took Sophia for the night and Tony's parents will have her after that. This way we can focus on Anthony and getting him better. We have the greatest family ever!

I am so in love with U of M. The nurses are great and actually fill me in on what is going on with his care. It is so crazy the difference with the PICU here and at DeVos. We are invited to attend rounds as well. We probably won't go tomorrow morning because we want to sleep in a bit, but it's nice to know that we have the option. The communication here is great and I feel involved with the plan of care. I couldn't ask for more!