Thaddeus Update 73

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We found a playroom while we waited to be discharged.

By Friday morning, Thaddeus was feeling fantastic. He slept until about 7 am, which is good since the nurse told me he was awake until about 2 am. (Dede and I gave up at 11:00). After making a couple of pancakes disappear in record time, we had to wait until rounds before we could be discharged. One of the nurses gave Thaddeus some single use saline containers and showed him how, and helped him, to squirt hospital employees. He would then run away laughing hysterically. It was universally agreed that he didn't need to be in an ICU ward. After waiting for the doctors to "round", we were quickly discharged. Thaddeus had a nice nap in the car on the way home. After we got home and hugs were exchanged, he proceeded to play just as if nothing had happened. When asked what the best part was, he replied: "I got a new Superman blanket." He went on to explain that the second best part was eating two and a half popsicles. On Sunday, I got a special Father's day treat. All eight of us were able to go to the same church at the same service for the first time in I don't know how long. It's good to be home. Thanks for all of the prayers. I'll let you know when the next thing comes up.  TIME TO GO HOME!

Thaddeus Update 72

All is well so far.

I am very happy to report that all things are exceeding expectations at this point. When they inflated the balloons, they were able to use a larger and larger balloon. Each time there was no compression on the airway. As such, they decided to go ahead and put the stent in. As you may recall, the doctor was hoping to be able to get the arch from about 4mm all the way up to 10mm. In fact, she was able to get the stent in at 12mm with no apparent issues. The Dr. watching the airway was careful to stress that he saw no compression on the airway AT THIS TIME. However, there is no particular reason to think that it will be an issue in the future if all is working well now. The stent they put in is able to expand to 18mm, but the doctor didn't think there would be any reason to go above 12 mm for a long time, if ever.  Right now we are waiting for them to let us see him and hang out in his room. They will keep him quiet and still for a while yet, especially since he tends to wake up fidgety and pulling at things that shouldn't be pulled at. Our cardiologist is in the clinic today, so we are also hoping that he will get a chance to pop in and talk.  Thanks for all the prayers. Keep it up.  Oh! They just came to get us to move to his room! Our superhero!

Thaddeus Update 71

Why would I be scared?

Earlier this week, Jeremiah asked Thaddeus if he knew what was coming up on Friday. Thaddeus replied that he was going to the hospital. Jeremiah asked him if he was scared. Thaddeus scoffed and replied "It's just going to the hospital. Why would I be scared?"  So, here we sit in the all too familiar waiting room. Thaddeus has been a trouper, as usual, even though we got him up at 4:15 and he hasn't eaten since last night. As you know, his pulmonary arch is quite small. The doctor told us that it measures around 4mm in diameter. When you look at the MRI results, you can see that the arch is much smaller than the rest of the artery. As a result of this, only about 10-20% of the blood flow to his lungs is going to the left lung. Since the lung isn't getting blood, it isn't functioning at anything like the level they would want. Also, the diaphragm on his left side is creeping up into lung area. Obviously, neither is a good thing long term. So, today, they are going to do a catheterization. They go in through the femoral artery in the thigh and snake it on through to his pulmonary arch. When they are there, they are going to inflate a balloon and stretch out the arch. They'd like to get it to around 10mm if possible. Now, the problem with that is, by stretching the artery to 2.5 times its current size, it is possible that they could compress the airway. There isn't much point in giving the lung blood if it can't get air. As a result, while they do the balloon, a different doctor will be putting a camera up Thaddeus' nose and down into the airway located near the arch. This doctor will be watching to see if expanding the pulmonary arch affects the airway adversely. If they don't see any issues, they will deflate the balloon. There is a very small chance that this will leave the artery large enough and they will call it a day. This is very unlikely and the doctors do not anticipate leaving it like that. They are planning on putting in a stent if all else looks good.  If they see that expanding the arch causes issues elsewhere, especially the airway, they will not put in the stent. If that is the case, they will need to schedule Thaddeus for open heart surgery to move some things around to create more room in that area.     It will be a few more hours before they are done and we can figure out the next step. I'll talk to you after that.