... and back again

So we made it back home again and Little S is pretty much fine - it was a longer day than we'd hoped but about as long as we'd expected.

The procedure went well - Dr Y was in charge - we hadn't met him before but he has the same calm confidence as most of the consultants we'd seen at GOSH. It was Dr D's clinic today and it was quite good to get to know another of the consultants at the hospital.

During the catheterisation Dr Y checked that the blood was flowing well between Little S's heart and lungs - then, in each of the two main arteries that had been moved during her operation, he inflated a small balloon to enlarge the arteries, increasing the blood flow. He didn't fiddle with the smaller arteries that Little S developed to get blood to her lungs but they don't do much anyway. The arteries that have been inflated should now ensure that Little S is fine until her next operation.

Little S came through the procedure in one piece and was recovering well (although crying whenever any of the doctors or nurses came near her - after a few hours she began to get used to them and eventually was smiling and laughing at them all) until the nurses realized that she didn't seem to have a pulse in her foot! This was the foot on the same leg that had conveyed the catheter inwards (this was not the intention: they had tried to insert the catheter into her other leg but, in the same way as they are never able to get any blood from Little S, they failed to find a suitable artery for the catheter) - it seemed as though the procedure had caused some clotting and reduced the circulation in her left leg.

So for most of the afternoon, the nurses and doctors tried to find a pulse in Little S's foot and we were unsure if we would have to stay in overnight whilst they figured out what had gone wrong and how to fix it - we were assured that this was not anything to worry about: it was very likely to be sorted quite quickly but, worryingly, I could feel that her lower left leg was significantly colder than her right and I'd feel a lot better once Little S felt a lot warmer - in both legs!

Eventually, after they had been dripping heparin into her for an hour and a half, Dr Y returned and found her pulse - Little S could go home!

She's been a trooper all day - guzzling down milk, wriggling incessantly, playing and playing, smiling for the nurses (eventually) and even laying still for about ten minutes during her afternoon ECHO scan (unheard of).

So we've made it back home again and Little S is fine - another 6 weeks or so and we get another chat with Dr D to figure out what to do next.

There ...

Taken Little S to hospital again today for a cardiac catheterisation, hopefully she'll be in and out in a day.
It's similar to the procedure she had done back in the summer - they squirt some dye into her (newly reconfigured) arteries and then use that to track the blood flowing between her heart and lungs and check that her operation had the desired effect.
However this time they may also need to take the opportunity to stretch one or both of her pulmonary arteries using a (very) little balloon inserted into her blood vessels - to increase the blood flow to her lungs.
So, I guess a bit riskier than last time.
It's weird to be back at GOSH - new year, new procedure - we can no longer stay in the holiday oblivion we managed over Xmas time, pretending all was well.
Little S wasn't exactly best pleased to be back either - prodded and measured with stethoscope, scales and sat-meter (measures oxygenation levels in blood - 'saturation').
Currently we're in Starbucks, waiting, listening to cool, calming music - then soon back to GOSH to see our baby ...
... please be well.