Surgery #3

Can I say that as a parent, the time spent waiting for the surgeon to come out and tell you how everything went, is the most excruciating wait you can ever do. Every second that passes feels like a minute, and every hour feels like three. We didn't know exactly how long this surgery would take, but we knew it would be on the longer side.

Evanna went into surgery at 7:30am and we left for breakfast. We came back around 8:30am, and the wait began. When we passed the 5 hour mark (which is how long her original open heart surgery took), my anxiety hit an all time high. I know this was a more complex surgery, but it still wasn't technically OHS.

Finally at 2pm (6.5 hrs), Dr. Rebeyka came out to tell us that it went well. He said it took him a lot longer then he thought, but he was generally happy with the results. He was able to widen her upper left collateral, and when he took the clamp off, her O2 immediately rose by 8 points, which was a very good sign. He had to leave her bottom left collateral for now, but he hopes that once we get her home, it will grow on its own.

Dr. Rebeyka also resectioned her subclavian artery, which I guess was causing significant pressure on the back of her trachea. I am NOT trying to get my hopes up, but Dr. Rebeyka feels like she should extubate just fine now, and she may not need a tracheotomy at all.

Evanna still has tracheomalacia, so this is why I'm not holding my breath, but obviously I'm happy there is still a chance she may successfully extubate.

We still need to take this one step at a time, and I'm really trying not to get ahead of myself, but I just really hope this is the surgery that will get us on our way and let us bring our baby girl home.

Thank you for the the hundreds of prayers said on our family's behalf. I'm truly blown away by all the support we have received, and we have definitely felt everyone's love for our sweet girl.

xo The Irvine Family