Heart Catheterization

Today has been a long day! I am not a morning person and I had to be up at 4:30 in order to be ready to leave the house at 5 am to get Caden to UC Davis Medical Center for his heart catheterization. I had gotten up several times during the night in order to give him as much food as possible before he wasn't allowed to eat anymore. So I was really tired this morning!

We got to the hospital a little before 5:30. This was our first time at this hospital and didn't really know what to expect. It is certainly a different experience than the other facilities we have been in. You can tell from the admitting process that this is definitely a county hospital. But once we were up on the floor and waiting for Caden's cath, it was a totally different environment and was great.

We were brought to the 7th floor and put in a quiet room at the end of the hall on the unit. The nurse tried once to get an IV and when she was unsuccessful, she said the anesthesiologists could do it in the cath lab. I was grateful she didn't poke him again. Thankfully, Caden took a nap before his procedure which gave me and Greg a chance to eat our breakfast. And the poor baby was so tired from getting up so early.

A little before 8:30, the nurses from the cath lab came and took us all downstairs for the procedure. We met the anesthesiologists and talked to them before they took Caden in the room. Then they put us in a small waiting room until they were done with the cath. Right around 11 am, Dr. Van Gundy came in to talk to us and give us the update. Everything went smoothly. He was looking at two things primarily: checking the anatomy and verifying the pulmonary pressures. He said the anatomy looked good and there were no problems there. As for the pulmonary pressures, he said they were slightly elevated. Normal is less than 30, and his were between 40-45. So he does have pulmonary hypertension. During the cath, he did a test to see if treatment helped the pressures and they did not. So, at this point, the only thing we can do is wait, there are no treatments to help him. We just have to wait for Caden to grow and get bigger because the lung tissue continues to grow and develop until around the age of 7 or 8. But at least he won't have to be on any medication for it anymore.

After talking to Dr. Van Gundy, we waited a few more minutes for a nurse to come and take us to see Caden in the recovery room. That place was a zoo! It was crowded and noisy. There was a small baby screaming nonstop for almost an hour. Not fun. It was also frustrating because Caden's nurse really didn't seem to understand about his conditions. We asked her when we could feed him and she was talking about that he needed to be fully awake and in a more upright position, etc. I told her he was fed exclusively through his feeding tube and that shouldn't be an issue. She finally agreed to let me feed him and then was blown away when I pulled out the portable feeding pump and milk. She told me I had to do clear liquids first to see if that would cause him to throw up. I told her he couldn't throw up due to the Nissen in his stomach. She didn't know what to do with that information. Anyway, we survived our two hours in recovery and were sent back to the floor to hang out until Dr. Van Gundy thought we were “safe” to go home. We are pretty much on our own in the room on 7th floor. The nurse has come in a couple times to check on us during our time here. We are still waiting on discharge. Apparently Dr. Van Gundy isn't near a computer where he can input the discharge orders. So we wait... :(

Caden has done amazingly well today. He has been extremely mellow and laid back through the whole experience. That has made it way less stressful on me which was nice. The nurses were all talking about how easy he was and how adorable. Of course we think he's sweet and adorable, but it's always nice when someone else tells us that too. :) We are so blessed to have such a good-natured baby who has handled everything he has been through so well. God is good! Thank you for your continued prayers, love and support.

Here are some photos of our day:

Caden in the car on our way to the hospital (just a little sleepy)

Daytime nurse Kelly

Transport nurse

Transport nurse

A drugged Caden (Benadryl & Versed) with Anesthesia Fellow

In recovery

Caden with Greg in recovery

Sleeping in his room on 7th floor

Caden's room on 7th floor

Dr. Van Gundy with Caden in the afternoon