Umbilical Vein Line

Nate was able to come up last night and I was comfortable enough with our nurse that I went and stayed at the hotel with him, so I wasn't able to update the blog last night.  Greyson is stable right now and I feel comfortable leaving him over night as long as we are back in the morning for his feeding.  I called yesterday afternoon to see if his PIC line had been put in yet and found out that the cardiologist told them to leave the Vein line in in case they do that balloon surgery rather than the permenant fix.  I was kind of upset at first since they are only really good for 7-10 days and after then they start presenting a risk of infection.  He has to have blood work done every other day to make sure he isn't getting an infection.  After me and Nate spoke with Dr. Sadiq at rounds this morning we are both more comfortable with the idea of the balloon surgery.  The cardiologist presented it to me as he would rather do this temporary fix even if the permanent fix was avalible at this time to let everything grow, sort of like it would be easier for them but not impossible right now.  Dr. Sadiq explained that Dr. J (cardiologist) and Dr. Fiore would talk today and decide if Dr. Fiore could fix the septal defect and switch the great arteries AND correct the valve tissue that has connected to the left ventricle rather then down into the right like it is supposed to.  The valve tissue is what is causing the issue that we weren't aware of before birth.  The balloon surgery would be a temporary fix IF dr. Fiore doesn't think he can fix it right now, then in 3 months or so, when things have gotten bigger, they would do the actual repair.  We were concerned with monitoring his blood oxygen level and respiratory rate and pulse at home, to make sure that his heart is still pumping enough oxygenated blood to his body.  Sadiq said that they would do echo's after surgery to make sure that enough blood is getting to everything and that they blood is mixing properly.  They would also repeat Echo's periodically over the next 3 months or so and make sure that as things grow everything was still mixing and getting oxygen properly.  It would mean lots of trips up here, but probably an easier surgery on him now and a quicker recovery.  I am more alright with the idea now that I know it is on the table if he doesn't feel he can fix it now.  The cardiology team should be doing rounds soon and when they do I will update on what they talked about.