Cath=Glenn surgery time

Maddie's cath went REALLY WELL this morning. I did a lot of worrying and borrowing trouble for nothing! We gave her to the surgical nurses at 7:45 and were paged at 9:00, so it didn't last long. Dr. Jones came in to talk to us shortly after and was smiling as he came through our door (always a good sign.) His first words were "Well, she did just fine," what a relief. From her cath, it was concluded that she needs surgery, the Glenn, which is the next phase in the 3-stage surgeries. Her pulmonary artery looks small in one part, the middle where it's attached to the shunt but the ends that go out to the body look normal. That was such good news to hear. Her shunt also looked very good so no ballooning was needed there either. Basically it was just an "investigative" cath, taking pictures in order to make preparations for her Glenn surgery. Now we're waiting to hear when she'll be scheduled. We're told it could be this week or in a couple weeks...she's not urgent, and Dr. Jones did say waiting a month or more isn't going to present any new changes or help. She's not going to gain that much more weight in that amount of time, so she's ready for the Glenn anytime. His last words to us were the best..."this is what I'd hoped for in Madison's case." What a beautiful phrase to hear, brought us much HOPE. God is good. Again, He's shown us His love, mercy and grace with our little Maddie. Here's the pictures we were given of Maddie's cath this morning:

This is the pulmonary artery (long tube running horizontal) and the narrowing is just in the middle where it connects with her shunt (skinny tube running vertical.) The sides of the pulmonary artery are larger (kind of looks like an ant) which are good and of normal range. The skinny loopy things are the catheter wires strung up through her heart.

A quick sketch of the Bi-Directional Glenn that Maddie will have next, hooking the superior vena cava to the pulmonary artery.

Maddie's right ventricle. It's very small in comparison to the left. In a normal heart, these are relatively the same size or are in proportion to each other.

Her left ventricle- enlarged since it has to compensate for her right side not functioning.


Since starting this post, Maddie arrived. She looks great and is ready to eat since she was cut off of feeds since midnight. Her little voice is hoarse from being intubated and she's coughing some but other than that, she looks beautiful! Back to her cute self I'd say!!!