Wednesday, December 3, 2008

We are DONE!!

Ella Grace was simply amazing!! Her heart is repaired and we are back at home! The surgery went great, the PDA was plugged with a metal coil, and immediately was completely closed. The doctor was so nice, I'm sure he could tell I was a nervous wreck, and after the procedure he led us back to his little doctor's room in surgery and showed us all of the pictures and videos of her heart that were taken from inside, (which is pretty cool.)

While in closing her heart the doctor searched around the rest of the heart to make sure everything was okay (the way this whole thing started was Ella had an upper GI test done because of her reflux. During that test they thought they saw her aorta bulging into her esophagus, so an echo was ordered. During the echo they saw that her PDA was still open though we had been told at 3 months that it had closed. Anyhow the doctors decided they would check out the aorta from inside the heart to double check that it was not bulging into the esophagus.) So while exploring around the heart the doctor found an abnormality, Ella has an Anomalous Right Subclavian from the Descending Aorta (at least that's what I think the doctor's drawing and explanation of the heart says, can't really read his handwriting : ) what does that mean? Well, Ella's heart has 4 branches off of the aorta while the "normal" heart has 3, and Ella's extra one goes from left to right behind the aorta and wraps around her esophagus. Anyhow, the doctor assured me that this was not cause for concern and that no surgery is needed. If she were to ever have problems with this it would have already happened, she wouldn't be able to eat, which obviously is not a problem for my chunky monkey. The doc said we don't even have to have it checked on, just something that is nice to know. Does that make any sense to any of you, cause it doesn't to me? All I know is I'm not supposed to worry about it, so I'm good.

I of course had my trusty camera with me at the hospital today! Ella was really excited to play in the waiting room!
Ella was pretty funny at the beginning, they gave her an oral medication that made her loopy and lethargic. By the time they took her back she was fighting to keep her eyes open so wasn't upset at all at leaving mom behind. Me on the other hand, sobbing like a baby.
Right when the medicine
started kicking in.
She kept staring at her
hand like she couldn't
figure out what it was.
It's getting hard to sit up.
Lost the paci.
This is after 6 failed
attempts at starting
an IV
Finally success
In all Ella was only separated from me for a little over an hour.
She was quite upset when I arrived in recovery, I'm sure she
was scared and felt weird. She had that very raspy voice from
just having the breathing tube taken out. It took about 10 minutes
to calm her down, only after they finally let me hold her.
Here we are in our own room. Ella had to lay completely flat with her knees pinned down so the slits in her arteries in her thigh would not bleed, for 3 and a half hours. She at one point spiked a fever, but it was gone within 15 minutes.
The best part of it was when she got to eat, of course!
Hooray for grilled cheese!!
And here we are leaving, she REFUSED to be carried.
And here she is starting to run
which of course was my cue to turn
off camera and pick her up.
Seriously? Running after a heart procedure? Isn't she amazing??? Now comes the big challenge, no running or jumping for 48 hours, HA HA HA. Oh yeah, and no bath for 48 hours, I guess so her sites in her thigh don't become infected, they don't even have stitches. Do they realize how bad this kid is going to smell, hopefully it's not an especially barfy drooly next 2 days. Ella gets to go back to school on Friday according to the doctor, pretty incredible!! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!!!

29 comments:

Pam said...

Oh I am so glad to see that everything turned out okay. I have been thinking of you guys all day!

What a big day, I am just so happy you're home!!!

((HUGS!))

RK said...

Man, that's amazing! How great is it that we live in a place and time where this is possible! Glad it went well and that she's feeling good tonight. Good luck with that no running for 48 hours. :o)

StephthefutrRxDr said...

awe bless her sweet little heart, that pic of her after recovery in your arms tugs at my heart strings. What a sweetie, so glad it went well.

Melissa said...

How incredible! I am so glad that everything went well...Thank God for today's technology.
She's just so cute;)

Sabrina said...

We said a prayer for Ella today. My Abbi has to have her heart looked at again next week. I was concerned about it when I found out about Ella's heart b/c Abbi was "cleared" at birth too but now the heart doc wants to take a second look. All b/c of your little Ella! The Lord words in mysterious ways. I am so glad she is home and doing so well.

Shannon said...

Wow, that is INCREDIBLE! I'm always amazed by what modern medicine is capable of! Thanks for posting the update, and I'm glad she's already bouncing back so well. It sounds like they did her surgery the same way as mine was done, up through the thigh. But I had to stay in the hospital overnight and I never did get to feeling up to running! ;) Adults are such weenies.

Laurie said...

Whew! Big sigh of relief!

She is amazing, as are all the medical staff that worked on her. Incredible.

What a fantastic early Christmas present!

Anonymous said...

Well, she IS the AMAZING Ella Grace after all what else did you expect?! Glad to see she did so good. Sorry to hear of the 6 pokes for the IV, but if that was the only glitch that is ok. The pic of her dazed little look is just precious! She is such a little trooper and I'm sure she stole everyone's hearts while she was there! Good luck with the no running or jumping for 2 days--that will be more painful than the procedure-Ha! We love you missy and are sooooo proud of you!! Talk to you soon--We love ya's-Aunt Tami and family

Mommy and Peepers said...

Thats great!! I'm glad everything went well, it is nerve racking. Peepers was sore for awhile in the groin spot, but otherwise she was ready kicking too.

Carolee

The Mattesons said...

Your little Ella is adorable beyond words! I am glad that everything turned out okay and that she was feeling well enough to run around! I love how cute kids look in those tiny hospital gowns, it makes me laugh!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful news! We are so glad to hear that Ella did great. She is amazing.....

Jennifer said...

I am so happy that everything turned out so well. You are so brave and strong and amazing. You, KC....and Ella too. :) Love you guys!!!

Tricia said...

Amazing! So happy!

Mary said...

Woo Hoo for Ella. What a wonderful day. Great medical care is one of the reasons you choose Spokane and boy did it work out for you today. It amazes me that you can do all of that and be home the same day.

I'm glad to hear that Ella will be back at school Friday. I wouldn't want to miss our lunch date. Riley and I would go through withdrawls.

Riley sends kisses and hugs to his girlie.

Cate said...

That's great news! Good luck with keeping her still, though.

Melanie said...

So glad it went well! Thinking of you.

Mommy to those Special Ks said...

She is just SO beautiful!!! I'm so glad it all went well!!! She is amazing! (Kennedy's only allowed to have a bath once a week because of her neck brace... she does get pretty stinky sometimes! LOL We do lots of sponge baths!)

Kristen said...

What a relief to hear it's over and went well!!

Anonymous said...

Truly amazing...and she always brings a smile to my face...keep the pictures coming!

Cammie Heflin said...

Yeah Ella! I'm so happy that all is good!

Anonymous said...

So glad the procedure is over and went so well. Can't believe she walked out later the same day!! Yeah Ella!

Anonymous said...

I knew it would all be fine but it is still a huge relief to know it's over and she is back to school Friday. She is the Amazing Ella after all. gramma

Melissa @ Banana Migraine said...

She is such a doll! I'm so glad it's done and that it went well.

kecia said...

she is amazing-and so are you for handling all this! I am glad everything went so well!

Michelle said...

So glad to hear everything went well - Ella is amazing! And so cute! I love the pic of her trying to run off after her procedure! What a tough kid.

Anonymous said...

WHat an awesome kid! I'm glad you all got that over with!

Becca said...

Wow, I can't believe she was trying to run!! I'm so happy things went well. She's got the best attitude about all of this, and certainly didn't look like she'd just had surgery--she was just as pretty coming out as she was going in!

Bethany said...

Glad to hear everything went well!

Robin said...

Kacey-so glad Ella Grace is doing well. AMEN!!!