Pre-admission update

The pre-admission testing went very well.  No x-ray - just blood work and a lot of conversation with us and with Kate about exactly what is going to happening.  It was also an opportunity for Kate to meet some people who she will see next week so that she isn't as nervous - there will be a familiar face or two when we can't be with her.  I appreciated the team at CHOP - they are definitely good at what they do (although as an adult I felt a bit out of the loop - meaning that it is SO geared toward her being comfortable that we kind of felt like spectators, but that was fine).

We met with a Nurse Practitioner that has been working with Dr Vetter for 15 years and knows about exactly the way they do the procedure at the hospital currently.  Apparently some of the paperwork we received was a bit outdated. So - the way this is being done was explained in a different way yet again - but this time MUCH less scary.  No incisions.  It is done through an IV type of port - so it will act very much like an IV wound afterward.  She explained that the average procedure time is 4 hours - with the mapping being the most time consuming part.  She will be sedated while we are with her, then the IV will go in, again with us with her.  By the time they move her to procedure she will be pretty out of it (they did this with Chris with his last surgery - that pre med put him to sleep completely).  Once they take her to the Cath Lab, they will put her under further.  The reason they are calling it twilight is because she will not be intubated unless she moves around too much and they have to truly put her under.  She will not have to be "awake enough" to do anything - and she was told yesterday that if she can tell them to give her more medicine she should and they will - she shouldn't be able to have any idea what is going on.  There are up to 5 sites, but that isn't always the case.  There is a slight chance they will have to go in through the neck as well as her legs, but that isn't very common.  And the reason they don't have to monitor her over night is that before she leaves that Cath Lab they will attempt to put her into arrhythmia to make sure she isn't able to do it - and apparently if they can't get her to, it can't happen on it's own.  Once they know for sure she can't go back into arrhythmia, that's when they are "done".  We will be back (unless we get caught up in a conference with the Dr.) with her in her room before she comes completely out of sedation - apparently most kids, since they fall asleep and wake up in the same room with their parents standing there, have asked when things are going to start.  That makes me happy - I didn't really want her "awake" in any way.  Her recovery will be 5 hours, and by the end of that time, they will have her walking around to make sure there is no bleeding from the sites - so she can sit up and walk around when she gets home - in fact they said no "real" activity for a week, but NO lying around in bed - she has to up and walk around - nice and slow, but around.  If they are at all concerned about bleeding, they will keep her there until they are pretty certain those veins have healed to the point she won't bleed.  The biggest step in her recovery is the bruising at the sites - much like an IV will bruise if it is "done wrong".  All in all - that should be the only "pain" she ever feels.  A week later all restrictions come off.  That's it. 


Please continue to pray for us!  We really appreciate it!