Second Update for Thursday

We are pretty certain at this point that Graysen will not have surgery today. Monday is a possibility, but there are already some doubts about the availability of staff then.

Thursday's Update

The doctors told us this morning that Graysen will probably not go to surgery this afternoon. There is still a chance that he will if an operating room becomes available. We really won't know for sure until later in the day.

If he does not have surgery today, the next likely surgery date will be Monday. The doctors are very happy with his condition right now, so the later surgery date is not likely to be a problem. They tell us that it's always better to have a baby that is healthy enough to be bumped to later in the schedule than to have one that is sick enough to bump someone else. I tend to agree.

Update on Graysen

Lee and I visit Graysen every night at 8:30 PM to say good night. Here is a picture of Graysen from tonight's visit. He is doing well.

We are still unsure about surgery tomorrow. We met with the surgeon today. He is willing to do the surgery tomorrow, but he does not have OR time on Thursdays. He has set times on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Another CT surgeon has OR time on Tuesday and Thursday. He has asked to use the other surgeon's time for tomorrow. The other surgeon has a patient scheduled for tomorrow, but the patient is becoming unstable and may not be able to undergo surgery. If he is not stable in the morning, then Graysen gets his surgery. If the other patient is stable in the morning, Graysen will not be able to have his surgery. If Graysen does not have surgery tomorrow, the next earliest possible date would be Monday. Everything is day to day. We will know around 9 AM - 10 AM if Graysen's surgeon is able to obtain OR time.

The surgeon said that he will only do a partial fix at this time because the full surgery is too risky for a newborn of this size. The partial fix includes sewing on the pulmonary branch that goes to the left lung to the pulmonary artery and creating a shunt between the aorta and pulmonary artery to provide mixing of blood for oxygenation. He will undergo the full "fix" later on in the first year of life.

Wednesday's Update on Graysen

Lee and I are doing well. We are still hoping for surgery tomorrow. As far as we know, Graysen is still on the schedule for tomorrow morning. However, we have not spoken to the surgeon yet. He speaks to the parents the day before surgery. Nothing is confirmed until he speaks to us. Hopefully we will hear from him this afternoon.

Graysen is doing OK. He had five episodes in two hours where he stopped breathing yesterday. They put him on forced air which is helping. He will be put on a respirator if the episodes continue. I was glad to see that they did not have to put him on a respirator last night. They had warned us that they may have to do so. Babies that are not on respirators before surgery do better after surgery. They do not become as dependent on it and the doctors are able to remove life support earlier than babies who are on a respirator before surgery. I am hoping that he will make it through the night without one so that he can go into surgery strong.

So, we are still waiting. I am hoping that he can start his road to recovery tomorrow.

Tuesday's Update on Graysen

Graysen is doing well today. He is resting, as usual. The ultrasound on his hip was normal. The next step is to do x-rays on his knee and get an orthopedic consult. This is to make sure that the problem is not with his knee.

We are tentitively planning on the heart surgery occuring on Thursday. We should be able to meet with the surgeon tomorrow. He will finalize the date and which surgery he will perform. Most likely, he will only do the partial fix at this time because Graysen weighs under 3 kg. That means that they will perform a second surgery sometime between 6 months - 1 year to complete the fix of his heart.

Surgery is scheduled

We were told this morning by the attending MD that Graysen is scheduled for surgery on Thursday. We expect that the surgeon will talk with us tomorrow to give us more details.

Big Brother

Caleb met Graysen on Sunday. Because Caleb is so young, he was only allowed to visit for a few minutes. He does not understand what is happening, but he was nice to the baby. Caleb is on his way back to Florida with Grandma and Grandpa. He is scheduled to visit again on February 15th.