More Cath Info

I spoke with Dr. Baker this morning. He's the one that will be performing Chase's cath procedure on Thursday. I emailed him a list of questions yesterday and he thought it would be easier to discuss over the phone. So, I learned a bit more info about the procedure and thought I'd share it with you.

First of all, he said Chase will be under general anesthesia. He says that's what he does for almost all of his cath procedures. He did say that the anesthesiologist would be Dr. Walton (the same one who was on during the bronchoscopy nightmare) or a member of his team. They would all most definitely discuss what happened and take the necessary precautions to prevent it from happening again.

Dr. Baker is about 90% sure he will balloon Chase's coarctation during the cath procedure. This is what will require Chase to stay overnight for observation. There are a lot of risks to this but he says the benefits outweigh the risks. There is a chance the coarctation will narrow again following the procedure (he didn't specify... days? weeks? months?) and will need to be ballooned again. This may need to happen several times over the next several months. Not feelin' great about that! He did say usually within 6 to 12 months the ballooning fixes the narrowing and it is no longer an issue.

His best guess is that, assuming the balloon procedure corrects the coarctation (even if only temporarily), Chase will probably have his next surgery in about a month (the end of March). We won't know anything for sure until after the cath procedure on Thursday.

Please keep all of us in your prayers -- especially Chase as he goes through one of what will be several "ordeals" in his sweet little life. Pray for safe travel and for hubs and I to handle things as best as we can. Pray for the doctors to make the right decisions. Also pray for LO, who will be staying at home with my mom and my wonderful sister while we are at MUSC.