The purpose of this procedure was to search around for a cause. They were not able to find anything, though. There wasn't anything blocking blood flow or any extra blood vessels carrying blood away from his lungs. In fact, there was actually an extra vessel carrying blood TO his lungs, which is doing nothing but helping.
The doctor said that the function on the left side of his heart (reminder: Micah's right heart does not function. He relies solely on his left side) is excellent. The pressures are fine and nothing that they could find is causing his o2 to drop. Micah will require a third open heart surgery, as we have known, and this lower o2 is just showing readiness for the operation. He won't be able to have it for a while, however, because he needs to be big enough. The doctors want him to be 30 pounds or so, and he is teetering between 24.5 and 25lbs.
I just got a call this morning from his main cardiologist, and he had a conference this past Friday with the cardiologist who performed the cath. They discussed the medications he is taking and decided that they want to completely take him off of one of them. They said that it isn't having any effect on his o2 (it is supposed to be helping him use his available o2 more efficiently). They raised it from 3.7ml twice a day to 5.5ml three times a day before his angiogram, and it didn't change his o2 at all.
We are going to step him down and he will be completely off of it in 2 weeks. I'm nervous... next month will make two years of him being on it. I'm praying that it goes well and he is ok without it. He will continue to have his other medication twice a day, though. This is good news, though. Lesser medicine is always better than more, right?
As for the actual procedure, it was a breeze. We got there with no traffic (that's amazing when you're driving to Hollywood), and we checked in and got him processed without issues. They had me give him some medicine to relax him, and he was so loopy and relaxed, it was hilarious. He told my husband that he had two eyes (reminded me of David After Dentist on youtube). At one point he was licking my tablet and putting his nose up against it lol he was super sweet and funny.
My husband and I were able to walk into the Cath lab and stayed with him until he was put under. He was in there for about 2 hours. One of my best friends stayed with our 6 month old in the waiting room, so we sat with her after she and I grabbed some breakfast. The baby was extremely well behaved and the time flew by. Before we knew it, the doctor was walking in and we were hearing all this good news :)
While we were there, we got to meet a friend I made through a heart group I'm a part of who has an amazing heart journey of her own. She is 27 years old and has survived a plethora of open heart surgeries and operations. She has all three of the defects that Micah has, plus some others including her heart being on the right side of her body, upside down, and flipped! She is a true inspiration. If I wasn't so wrapped up in what was going on with Micah at the time, I probably would have been completely overwhelmed by meeting her. What a hero my son has to look up to! She met Micah before the end of the day.
When we got called back, Micah was a bit groggy at first, but he came out of the anesthesia well. They did an echo cardiogram to make sure that everything was fine post cath. Everything looked great and Micah cooperated with the tech. We were able to load up into the car within 7 hours of getting there, I believe, and we got home with NO traffic. Again, that is amazing when you're leaving LA on a weekday at 230 in the afternoon. God seriously had his hand on everything. He is so good to us!
There is so much hope for our boy! Thank you to everyone who looked out and prayed for us. Micah has a bright future :)
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