First procedure and surgery update

Kora had her first procedure on January 4th. We stayed the night before at the Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg so that we didn't have to worry about potential snow storms delaying us from getting to the city. Kora did really well and the procedure went smoothly. It took a little bit for her to accept the anesthesia to fall asleep but she did great from there. We had a Heart Catheter done to get the best possible images and readings we could prior to open heart surgery. This is considered an invasive procedure for which she had to be fully asleep for. They took a small wire equipped with camera and probes up through a vein in her groin, into her heart so they could measure each chamber and arteries individually.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am and had to get a covid test done due to Kora having a couple symptoms. If it came back positive, the procedure would have to be rescheduled. Thankfully it was not covid and most likely linked to teething as we suspected! We went through the questions, got a length and weight for her, changed into the gown and brought down to the day surgery ward. At 9 am we went in to help her get sedated and she was asleep at 9:20. We were brought out to the waiting room and waited there until just before 12 pm when our Cardiology Nurse came to let us know that she was out and our Dr would be with us soon to discuss findings. He came to speak with us at 12:10 and confirmed that it was as they suspected and there were not many surprises which was relieving. Because they were able to measure flow levels and pressure levels, they were able to determine that she is getting 4x the amount of blood flowing through her Pulmonary artery (the one going to the lungs) compared to the aorta (the one going to the rest of the body). This is why she has been having her breathing issues as thr volume is too much for the lungs. Because of her hearts anatomy, it sounds like her hole in her lower chambers will need to stay open. This means she will be getting a more complex set of surgery which are usually reserved for children with a single ventrical. Because her heart narrowed the Pulmonary artery during development, she was able to bypass the first surgery usually seen in this series of corrections. So essentially she will be starting with surgery 2 of 3. The Glenn Shunt will help reduce the blood flowing to her lungs and should be very beneficial for her.

We should be hearing later this week when our surgery date will be set for. They are discussing us today in their weekly meeting so hopefully we hear from them tomorrow. We had our 4 month checkup with the pediatrician on Monday January 10th as Kora had lost weight since her heart cath last week. She lost around 300 grams which is approximately 2.5 weeks worth of weight gain for her. It was very disheartening to hear this but the pediatrician was not concerned as she was gaining well prior to this cath and told us this is to be expected. There are many ups and downs when having a baby who has a medical challenge. We are hoping things will be upward for a while here with her and that she can hit the 12 lb mark by the time of surgery as I anticipate we will have another weight drop once surgery happens. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support!