Andrew will be having his second open heart surgery on April 9th. He has outgrown his conduit that was put in his heart at 3 1/2 weeks old. He will need this done every time he outgrows it, but should be spaced out alot further than 2 years. It will be starting about 7 am and lasting anywhere from 8-10 hours. It won't be as complicated of a surgery as the first, but getting in is a little more time consuming. They told us it is like peeling an onion, very tedious. Once he is out of surgery, he will be on the ventilator until he wakes up and he will have many wires and a few chest tubes and monitors. From what we understand, as soon as he wakes up, they will take out the ventilator, which is a huge relief for me as I was picturing him waking up very confused and trying to take it out. I was happy to hear this. He will be in ICU the whole time, but after his chest tubes are removed, he can go to a step-down unit where I can stay with him. This is where he will be recovering until he is discharged. They expect him to be walking and riding a tricycle in the halls in a matter of 4 days or so, hard to believe. He could potentially come home in a week or 10 days, that is the plan. It seems so different from his newborn surgery where he had to stay for 4 weeks for recovery. I am expecting him to do great! I do worry for his fear of doctors and nurses. He is terrified, mostly due to his monthly Synagis shots where the two nurses come in the exam room and move the table he is on out a little and, with one nurse on each leg they count to three and give one shot in each leg at the same time. The way they do it is scary. So now, even a stethoscope is freaky to him now. But, overall, I think he will do very well. We are not taking him indoors anywhere until then, keeping out germs so he does not get sick before the surgery. So, pray or him and the other kids, too. Maci is so attached to me right now. Bad age for her, 7 1/2 months. But it should only be 10 days at the most.
