Not only was Micah's surgery successful, but he took it like a champ! We have been home now for two days and he is 10 days post op! Baby boy is also six months old today (started writing this late on Sat) and he has two major heart operations under his belt.... Diaper.
To say that I am proud of my boy is a strong understatement. This child has taught me more about myself than I would have ever expected.
To those of you who don't know, my son was born with a rare heart defect combo called Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome and Tricuspid Atresia. His congenital heart disease was unknown until a few hours after his birth. It has been quite the journey over the past six months, let me tell you! Having four other children and then adding this into the mix has definitely been a test of character, to say the least... I have found myself at dark moments many times and have had to reach deep inside myself to snap out of how I was feeling and focus on my children, first, instead.
But enough about me.
Here's a quick recap: Micah had his first open heart when he was 11 days old. They put a shunt in his heart to hold a passageway open for blood to circulate to his lungs (the ventricle that carries blood to his lungs never developed, and his tricuspid valve is nonexistent), they also created another passageway by removing some tissue (to ensure that his lungs would get blood), and they put a band around his pulmonary artery to control how much oxygen would be able to come into his body and, therefore, not overwork his only working ventricle that is operating his entire body. Micah's body is only capable, at this time, to reach between 75-85% oxygen (as opposed to 100% as you and I can achieve).
So that's what happened when he was a week and a half old.
This time around, my little warrior had the shunt removed, had the pulmonary artery tied off (I believe - might need to edit this if I find out differently), and he had a Glenn operation where they basically rerouted some of his anatomy. They connected the flow of oxygen to his brain and upper body so that he had more oxygen available. His third procedure, when he's 3 years or about 30 pounds, will be the Fontan operation where the connect the rest of his body (his lower body) to a better oxygen flow.
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| before surgery |
My son went into surgery at 7am and came out about 4 hours later. They were able to get him off the ventilator before leaving the operating room (last time they waited till he was a day post op). He was very groggy for the next day.
What we weren't aware of till the day before his operation was the fact that Micah would have a massive headache for the first day or two from the change in oxygen in his brain. His head kinda looked inflated (with the new O2 mixed with the swelling that surgery causes).
Now, Micah had said "momma" twice before, a week or two prior to surgery... but the night of his operation he learned how to cry for me... "momma, momma momma" oooooover and over and over! It was so terrible! I cannot even explain it! Why, baby, why did you learn how to cry for me at this time? I felt so helpless because I couldn't pick him up yet :( It was awful, simply AWFUL!
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| Shortly after surgery |
I'm getting ahead of myself... When he came out he had three chest tubes draining blood from his body (this is typical of a lot of surgeries), oxygen for assistance in breathing, a line going directly in the artery in his neck in case he needed more blood (and he did end up having blood transfusions during surgery - thank you to my husband and my friend, Monique, from church, for donating!) which he did one day post op (thank you to the anonymous donor for that), as well as lines that went directly to his heart in case they needed to send a pulse due to rhythm problems (those weren't used)... he was full of IVs and wires everywhere. I was prepared for that, and didn't panic. It was still hard to see, don't get me wrong, but I knew it had to happen.
Seeing him thrash around in pain, moaning for his momma, however, I was not prepared for.
They had to keep upping his morphine and other pain killers almost constantly, it seemed... By the time morning rolled around, he was literally sedated from the amount of medication that they pumped into him. I was happy to see him sleeping. My husband and I slept at the Ronald McDonald House the night of his surgery.. I felt so selfish.. but I could not bear to see him in so much pain. I wouldn't have slept at all if I was in his room with him. I am SO glad that is over...
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| Finding comfort in momoma |
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| finally able to hold him |
Anyway, after that horrible, first night, time moved along at a good pace. He got transferred out of the ICU into acute care pretty quickly, and we went home when he was 8 days post op. We would have gone home at 4 days if the nurses had realized that this little booger is a crazy wiggly thing and he kept setting off his monitors as false alarms. He kept reading at low 60s for his oxygen but his color was great and there was no way that he was that low. Oh well! Daddy and I stayed in his room the remainder of the time.
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| The discoloration is from his sensitivity to tape. His incision looks great. |
So, here we are, 10 days post op, and this little man is acting like nothing happened! We are back to scooping him up under the head and butt (we cannot pick him up under the arms for the next two months to avoid cracking his chest back open) and he is on three medications (one to help the functioning of his heart, one to get the extra fluids off his body, and one to help his lungs gain access to the oxygen that is available in his body)... but beside the new battle wound on his chest and three new incisions from the chest tubes.. you would have NO idea that this kid has had anything but a perfect life!
Micah, you are my hero. I will stand by you through all your trials and any hard times you may face in the future. But know that my life would not be as great as it is without you. I am a better person. I love you.
