Success

Baby X had his heart procedure this morning. Afterwards the doctor took us into a little classroom sort of conference room with giant screens in the front with images of Baby X's heart during the procedure and he talked us through it all. It was a success. He still has a slight obstruction, but they are okay with that because it means that if necessary, he can have this procedure again later on down the road rather than the next step having to be valve replacement surgery... if that makes sense.

I asked about Baby X's future lifestyle. Basically, he'll probably have to avoid sports like soccer, basketball and tackle football, but baseball could be a possibility and definitely golf and bowling. He'll be able to function like a normal kid, even playing these sports for fun... just not super competitively on a high school team or something. He'll be making frequent visits to the cardiology clinic at Children's Mercy and his cardiologist will be able to better direct us to what he can and can't do as he gets older.

Down the road he'll have to have valve replacement surgery, but hopefully this procedure today pushed that back until he reaches an adult size.

He came out from under the anesthesia will. His voice (ie: cry) is really hoarse from a sore throat after having a tube down it. And he has a big bandage on his leg from where the catheter went in. We stuck around at the hospital until he'd had two normal feedings and then came home (we spent last night there). I'm trying to spend every other night at the hospital, so tonight's my night home with the big kids, and tomorrow morning.