Cath Update #2

Quick update post for my little hero. With his superhuman strength, Apollo did extremely well in the cath lab today. Dr. Emani and Dr. Marx joined Dr. Bergersen in the cath lab and discussed the surgical plan in great length for Apollo. Due to his severity, they moved him up to be the first case tomorrow morning which makes this mama super happy. Dr. Emani will be well rested and ready to go as he holds another of our son's heart in his hands.

As of now, Apollo will have two central shunts placed - one to each pulmonary artery. To our shock, he has two shunts currently even though his Chinese file only lists one. His doctors are perplexed because they believe each shunt would have been a separate surgery and we only have record one one when he was 4 months old. Because his left pulmonary artery and left lung are very underdeveloped, he is not a candidate for the Glenn surgery that he really needs right now. So these central shunts should provide their own flow to each artery, and in turn, each lung. He will also separate the PAs and implant a membrane as the divider. There are so many more details that we learned but to be honest, I'm so exhausted that it seems impossible to go through it all. The above explanation focuses on the main goal of tomorrow's surgery. Dr. Bergersen also dilated his BT shunt to increase his blood flow, hence the pinkish fingers above! It was nearly closed so the pulmonary blood flow was passing through a central shunt mostly to his right PA and lung. I can only dream of more pink tomorrow when both sides will have open flow!

Due to his special body, Apollo is at an extremely high risk of having a stroke. Precautions are being made to prep him for the upcoming trauma to his body and to prevent clotting. I beg of you to pray for him as he pops into your thoughts tomorrow. Though his surgery should only be 4 hours, his complexity makes his recovery very worrisome. 

Our faith is beyond measure in the One who already knows our son's destiny. I will place a piece of my heart in our Lord's and Dr. Emani's hands tomorrow. I will sing to him, tell him how brave and strong he is because that's what he likes to hear from Baba, and give him a kiss from each of his sisters and brother. Together with you, we will all be with him in that OR and I believe he will feel the love, prayers, and strength we are sending his way. He has had to fight to live for 4.5 years all alone but not anymore and never again. Tomorrow is Day One of the rest of his beautiful life. And it's going to be incredible!