The big meeting...

Well today all the cardiologists and surgeons met again to try to figure out what would be best for Ben. They don't think there is anything they can do for the mitral valve as far as repairing or replacing it right now. They would like to try to extubate (take out the breathing tube) again so that he might be able to go home in a while and recover and get a little bigger before doing another open heart surgery. They think if he is able to go home he would require another surgery in 1-3 months. I am nervous because the last time they tried to extubate it didn't go so well and it put his little heart in a lot of stress for about a week causing him to have lots of other complications. But the only other alternative (if he is not able to extubate) is the really risky Norwood procedure which is another open heart surgery (or series of surgeries) where they would completely reroute his entire plumbing in his heart to only use the right ventrical and not the left at all. This would mean he would only have one pumping chamber for blood to come in and out of and would mean at least 5-8 future surgeries beginning in the near future. On the positive side, he had a catheter to his heart yesterday to measure the exact pressures in all the valves and chambers and his left atrium which is collecting all of the regurgitated blood from his mitral valve only had a pressure of 16. Dr. Hawkins, the surgeon, said normal is below 10 and if it was over 20 they wouldn't even try to extubate because there would be no way Ben would be able to do it. But Ben's was 16...so he really might be able to get off the breathing tube and then in a few weeks he might be able to come home and rest for a few months or longer. Oh wouldn't that be wonderful! Maybe he could even be home for Christmas! The first spontaneous trial (30 minutes with the ventilator off to see if he'll breathe on his own) was today and it went pretty well for 20 minutes, then he stopped breathing and the machine kicked back on. That is pretty good I'd say and I'm sure it will only get better tomorrow. If the trials go well they will try to take the tube out on Sat or Sun. Cody and I both have really good feelings that he will be able to get it out and that he'll be able to come home soon. Oh I hope so!