Happy tears

Today for the first time since Max was born I cried happy tears. After crying multiple times a day when everything was going wrong it was a nice change to cry when something finally was going right.

Yesterday around 3PM Max was wheeled into the Catheterization lab. The plan was to  directly measure blood flow and pressure differentials in different places of his heart. The doctors needed to know exactly why Max's oxygen saturations were so  low (high 60s-70s). The good news is they discovered the PA band was not the problem. The bad news is they discovered the problem had to do with Max's anatomy of his great vessels. Basically the PA band directed excessive blood flow away from the lungs which is a good thing but it also caused the blue blood (deoxygenated blood) to preferentially go out the aorta. The cath Cardiologist, Dr. Peng, our attending in the CVICU, Dr. Ritu Asija, and Max's surgeon, Dr. Frank Hanley, all discussed the options and made a last ditch effort to try and open up Max's atrial septal defect. The hope was that by making the opening bigger among the top two chambers of the heart that this would allow for more red and blue blood to mix so that blood going out the aorta would become more red or oxygen saturated. Max was gone in the cath lab for almost four hours. When Dr. Peng came out of the procedure she stated to us that everything went smoothly but the ASD balloon procedure did not seem to help his oxygen saturations. 

Brad and I made a conscious  decision to stay positive as the alternatives if this didn't work were bleak. I prayed and went to bed anxious but optimistic. When we walked into the CVICU this morning we ran into  one of my favorite doctors here, Dr. Loren Sacks. Dr. Sacks had been with Max for the entire night shift  and informed Brad and I that Max's oxygen levels were significantly higher and it seemed to him that the ASD procedure is what he needed. Both Brad and I broke down in happy tears. This was the  first time in the CVICU that we have received positive news about Max. 

The team made the decision to extubate little Max (remove his breathing tube) around 2:30PM today. They made some significant changes from the last time this was attempted. They gave him Ativan and Dex (not sure what this is short for) to keep him calm and steroid treatments to help with upper airway restriction. We were also blessed with a very attentive nurse and attentive fellow that were determined to get him through this time.  Three hours later he is still doing great. And his oxygen saturations actually went higher after extubation (low 90s). Max is currently at 50% oxygen on the CPAP and they are continually weaning him. The hope is to have him on room air (no oxygen) sometime soon. 

Although Max is still in the CVICU we hope that he is now one step closer to coming home. Praise God!