Rex's Surgery

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Rex's surgery was scheduled for 7:15am so we were there with him about an hour before that. We prayed with him and could only look at our sleeping, sweet boy before they finally came to take him to the O.R. 

 

Both sets of grandparents were there and also Kristie & Maisie. (John had taken Lyla to school and she went to a friend's house after school.) We all waited in the cafeteria for the o.r. waiting room to open. Once it did around 9am, our nurse practitioner, Misty, came to give us our first update. Rex was handling the anesthesia well and they were beginning the procedure. We understood that the plan was to go in under his left arm, go between his ribs and move his lung to get to his aorta. Thanks to google images, I have a few pictures to show you what the coarctation looks like and how they repaired it.

 The picture above shows the "coarc" (or as I like to call it the "pinch") in his aorta.

The first procedure removed the pinched section and brought the two pieces together.

Unfortunately, Misty's next update let us know that this procedure was not successful. Rex was still stable and doing well but his blood pressure below the stitches was still lower than above the stitches. They would have to re-clamp his aorta and perform a second procedure. The surgeons had explained to us the importance of "short clamp times." The longer the aorta has to be clamped and blood flow is restricted, the higher the risk of complications like kidney failure or worst case--paralysis. Needless to say, hearing they were going to have to re-clamp his aorta was scary for us. But we kept praying. In fact, we all joined hands and prayed together right there for Rex, for the doctors, for anything we could think of. We also kept texting for others to be praying.

We received so many encouraging texts during his surgery--prayers, scripture and some of my favorites saying "my kids and I are doing battle on our knees for Rex right now." "Doing battle." Typing that now still gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes.

This diagram was given to us by the surgeons after surgery and it shows all three procedures.

The second procedure (top row, 2nd picture) shows where they detached the artery that goes to the left arm, put an incision down the side of that artery and one on the top of the aorta. Then, they laid that artery on top of the aorta to widen the opening.The most amazing part is that Rex's body will create new vessels to go to his left arm. His arm was cold and a little pale for a couple of days but now, you would never know there wasn't an artery leading to it. However, without that artery, he will never have an accurate blood pressure reading on that arm.

Misty's next update was more scary news. The good news was that Rex was still stable and handling it all very well. The second procedure still did not correct the issue and make the blood pressures above and below the same. They would have to re-clamp a third time and perform another procedure. I lost it. He had been through so much already. We all had. I began to question if surgery was going to be successful at all and if he really was going to be okay. The idea of paralysis kept creeping into my mind causing unnecessary fears to take hold. I cried many tears and once again sent another mass text asking for more prayers. This two-hour procedure was lasting much longer than it should have.

I found this diagram and like it even better-it once again shows all three procedures.

Diagram C is the third and final procedure that was finally successful! Praise the Lord! The final procedure uses a patch of pig intestine to widen the aorta. (The only thing inaccurate about diagram C is that it has that left arm artery still attached which Rex's is not.)

We were told Rex was recovering nicely and we should go get lunch while he recovers and they get him back to his room. His surgery took 2 hours longer than it should have but in the end--his aorta was fixed! Whew. Once again, I say, "Praise the Lord!"

 This was Rex immediately after surgery. He looks so much bigger in this picture. Plus, he was bloated from the surgery and from the blood transfusion he received. The bandage under his left arm is over his incision. It starts just under the arm, is crescent-shaped and goes all the way to the middle of his back.

The doctors were watching Rex closely that day. We were all glad when he peed right away-showing his kidneys were functioning. I will never forget when I first saw his left foot twitch. I jumped up-"did you see that?! Did you see his foot move?!" That little twitch meant we mark paralysis off the list. Woohoo!

 Here he was when we arrived Wednesday morning. 

He was able to go off the ventilator and was only on a little oxygen through his nose.

He also had a new friend from an amazing organization called Jarrett's Joy Cart. Jarrett was a cancer patient at UK and started the Joy Cart because he wanted to "bring excitement and joy into every child’s hospital stay." Jarrett lost his battle in 2002 at the age of 13 but his legacy will forever live on. Every Tuesday, each child gets a toy for as long as he/she is a patient at the hospital. This little monkey (and the elephant Rex got the next week) will forever be in Rex's keepsake box, that's for sure.