Surgery Re-scheduled

Miami Children's Hospital has moved Caleb's surgery to Wednesday, January 11, the first case in the morning.

On the fifth of January, we have an appointment with his cardiologist.

Last night, Caleb had a rough time - constant crying, vomiting. It lasted from midnight until about 10:00am. He also has diarrhea. The doctor says he may have a virus. No surgery will be possible until he's not sick.

Some people started praying. He's doing better now.

Home, Surgery Scheduled

We went home Thursday afternoon. Caleb had an MRA (similar to an MRI) on Thursday morning. We were a little concerned that the general anesthesia and intubation might be a rough go for him, but he came through with flying colors. We get the results of the MRA today.

Looking ahead, Caleb's Glenn operation has been scheduled for Monday, January 9, 2006. We go to the hospital on the Friday before as an outpatient to do all the pre-op stuff - blood work, EKG, etc. Then, on the morning of the ninth, Caleb will be Dr. Burke's first case. After this operation, we are hopeful that Caleb will do very, very well.

Cath Update #2

The angioplasty was successful. Dr. Zahn took about three times attempts using balloons of increasing size to eventually increase the narrowing to about eight millimeters. His pulmonary artery is about the size of a six-year old! This is good. Small is bad. This should prove to make the forthcoming surgery very successful.

While Caleb was in the cath lab, a Miami Dolphins player delivered a Dolphins teddy-bear for him!

Caleb will be observed and tested for the next day or so; we should be able to go home tommorrow.

Cath Update #1

We just spoke with Dr. Zahn, the head of the cardiology department and the one who is performing Caleb's cath.

In his right pulmonary artery, they found moderate to severe narrowing. As I write this, they are inserting a balloon (angioplasty) which they will inflate at the point of the narrowing. They will then deflate it and pull it out and hope that the narrowing will expand. If this is successful, Dr. Burke will not need to address it during the operation in the future.

The good news is that they haven't had to intubate (put him on the breathing machine). Instead, Caleb is sedated, but he's breathing on his own. We hope this will continue to be the case during the rest of the procedure because oftentimes extubating can be complicated.

Thank you for all your prayers! We will continue to try to update as news (and a computer) becomes available.

Cath Underway

We prayed with the cath team and kissed Caleb goodbye. Now we wait.

Cath Just Days Away

On Tuesday morning, we will check into Miami Children's Hospital's ambulatory surgery waiting room a bit before 9:00am. Caleb will go to pre-op at 9:00. We will then go to the Parent's Sleep Lounge in the Cardiac Area. Caleb's will be the second cath of the day for Dr. Evan Zahn, the head of the cardiology department. When the first cath is over, the team, I believe, will take a break, and then Caleb's will begin. When the cath is over, Caleb will be extubated (taken off of the breathing machine) and then brought to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

This is an exploratory cath, a precursor to the Glenn operation. Depending on what they discover, his surgery could be as close as a couple days after the cath. We are hoping, however, that it can be scheduled in January. If Caleb does well, he will stay overnight in the hospital on Tuesday, and we should be able to go home on Wednesday. Because Caleb seems to be fond of the hospital, we will not be surprised if he decides to stay a bit longer by giving the doctors something to work on.

We have been so blessed by the Lord. The outpouring of God's grace and riches upon our lives through His body has been overwhelming and humbling.

14 lbs, Baby!

Caleb is growing! 14 lbs. He visits his cardiologist tommorrow. We are preparing for his cath next week, Tuesday. He's been off his feeding tube now for a couple weeks! Thank you, Lord.

We Are Back Home

We were released from the hospital yesterday and are happily at home. We will be back in less than a couple weeks for Caleb's cath. We will continue to post as new events take place.

No SVT; Caleb Has A Virus

We are thankful that Caleb does not have the arhythmia known as SVT - the accelerated heartbeat. Evidently he has a virus; this causes his heart rate to climb. He also has a slight fever still. All things considered though, he's doing well. We're not in the CICU, but on "the floor", a regular hospital room.