We just met with the surgeon, Dr. Dearani. Bottom line is that after fixing the ASD, which he described as a very large hole for such a small heart, no further reconstruction was necessary. The patch is the size of a dime. After fixing the ASD and taking her off the heart and lung machine, her heart performed well enough that they felt that the bi-directional glenn (the major reconstruction part) was now unnecessary. There was no narrowing of the tricuspid valve, and her heart was already much smaller with the leak eliminated. It was the best possible outcome, and clearly Dearani was pleasantly surprised by it.
He told us that perfect is the enemy of good, and by attempting to repair the tricuspid valve he could do a repair that they consider a good one that wouldn't have as good a function as she has now. So the choice was to leave the valve alone. He found enough leaflet tissue that if a repair is warranted in the future, he thinks it would be relatively easy. For now, the leakage of the value is minimal, and the existing leaflets have good function. The blood flow through her heart is now normal, for the first time in her life.
Importantly, they only split the bottom part of her breast bone, versus the entire bone. The incision is lower on her chest, and smaller. The bi-directional glenn would have required a much larger and higher incision. Scarring will be far less this way.
They are now closing, which will take roughly an hour, and then she goes directly to ICU where the team wants approximately another hour to get her settled before we can go up to see her. Dearani said that with any luck, her breathing tube can come out today. They had previously thought it could be in for up to two days. Having been through ICU hospitalization with her before, I now know enough to know that there are absolutely no guarantees, and everything is fluid. There will most likely be a great many changes to the plan ahead.
We are ecstatic over the outcome. There is still plenty ahead, but for now we have the best possible outcome that we could have hoped for.
9 comments:
That is such terrific news. The prayers will continue.
You guys all have amazing strength!
Love to you all,
Jud
Tears of joy, and thanks given!
Thank God! Prayers and love continue to all of you.
your blog is a savior and I find myself holding my breath reading your updates and viewing the pictures. thanks for sharing....we are praying...couldn't be happier for the Clary clan. wish i was as strong as little Erin! Jan and John
We are thrilled for Erin! She is quite the hero. Your strength is remarkable. We are deeply moved by Erins journey, and know she will pull through like a champion. We send you our heart felt wishes for a speedy recovery and we cannot wait to spoil her on cleveland st!
With love,
Liz, Richard, Ryan, Carly, Isabel, and Mitzy Saltzman
I heard from Cindy about Erin's surgery & she shared your blog with us. I have been thinking about you & your family. I am so happy to hear things went well today. She sounds like a sweet but strong little girl. I hope she is up & running around soon!
That is wonderful news! We will be thinking of you all and hoping and praying for a speedy recovery. We are already missing our afternoon visits from miss Erin
Love, the Petelins xoxo
That is wonderful news. We are are so happy Erin's surgery went well. Love to you all.
Michelle and Bruce Hawver
As a parent, reading your words, one cannot help but
have tears blurring vision in seconds.
What an incredible journey.
An amazing girl, incredible parents, fairy tale progress.
We can't wait to let our breath out and seeing her out of the ICU.
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