We had a very interesting appointment with the cath lab surgeon today. I really like him, he’s always very direct but answers questions thoughtfully and compassionately. He seems to understand how important everything he says is to us. Every doctor we’ve spoken with has their own take on Ramona’s treatment plan and prognosis and Dr. Wax is no exception. He shared two thoughts with me today that were rather a surprise…

The first thing was that, although the risk involved in a straight heart cath is pretty minimal, the risk of something “really, really bad” happening goes up to about 5% once any surgery is done to the heart during the cath. This totally makes sense, but had not occurred to me before and adds a little more stress to my already building pile of worries and anxieties.

The second thing was a little harder for me to take in and I’m still not sure what to make of it. I asked him if he thought Ramona would “make it” if her arteries had not grown significantly. By this I meant, “Does she have a chance of growing those arteries very, very slowly and still having the repair?” But he answered by explaining that he felt that if Ramona’s saturations remained in the 80’s and if those arteries grew enough to keep up with her, she might survive into her thirties, even with an unrepaired heart.

This flies in the face of my previous understanding. We have been thinking that we were in a race against the clock to get her heart fixed before she could no longer survive. He made it sound as if not only was this not the case, but that repairing her heart with arteries as small as her was a “tough call” and “grey area”, even if the CV surgery team thinks it’s a good idea.

So that’s a lot of food for thought. I’m still hoping and praying that her arteries will be miraculously big enough that a full repair would be a no brainer. But if that’s not possible, I find hope in the possibility that she may have some years ahead of her anyway, even if it’s not as many as we would like.

So, please join us in prayer. Please pray that by her surgery (on Friday) her cold will have cleared up, otherwise we’ll have to reschedule. Please pray that they see nice big arteries when they go in there. Please pray that we can get some sleep and rest between now and then. And please, please pray that Ramona will recover quickly, both physically and emotionally.

Thanks for checking in on us, Jane.

Here’s a pic of Ramona acting silly in her pj’s at breakfast (taken with my phone, but still pretty good!)
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