Our surgeon is Dr. Lofland, and we have heard all good things about him from other heart families. The procedure could last between 1 and 3 hours long, and Henry will initially be cared for in the PICU (pediatric ICU) immediately after surgery at Children's Mercy Hopsital where the environment is similar to the NICU (where he was admitted right after birth). They have strict rules due to the high acuity of the patients and have the "two visitors at a time" rule with a "scrub in" to protect patients from germs/infection. Henry will initially be on a ventilator and asleep at least overnight to help with recovery and pain control. He will be moved to a stepdown bed (in 4 Tower at CMH) after he is off the ventilator, which might not be until 2 days post-surgery. Henry could be inpatient anywhere from 5 to 10 days total, all depending on how he recovers and how his SATs look.
I will try to update everyone via the blog as we won't have phone access while we are in the hospital. Similar to last time, shift change (7-8:00) is the only time we are "kicked out" of Henry's room and we will probably be making/returning phone calls, eating, etc, then. We are fortunate enough to be taking time off work to be with Henry during his inpatient stay, so our focus can totally be with him. As always, thanks for all your well wishes and support. We will update you as soon as we can with his progress!
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