Ash's heart cath and valvuloplasty procedure was successful on Thursday morning with no complications. We arrived at the hospital at 5 am. We were taken up to the pre-op prep area where we were given a little hospital gown for Ash to wear as well as the little stuffed panda that you see in the picture. (He received the blue Easter bunny from his cardiologist as well). We were allowed to be with him until 7am when they took him back for the procedure. The procedure only took 30 minutes once he had been successfully prepped. So, we were only separated from him for about 2 hours. The head nurse called us in the waiting room via phone after each significant step of the process. They were able to successfully widen the pulmonary valve, relieving pressure on the heart. In fact the procedure was so successful that there is an 80% chance that he will never need to have anything else done in the future. We have some really cool pictures to prove it. He was a little trooper through everything, even managing a few smiles in the recovery room. It was great that we were able to hold him right away and feed him upon his waking (he was happy too as he was NOT impressed with the sugar water they offered him). After about 2 hours in recovery, we were transferred to a nice private pediatric room for overnight observation. He mainly ate and slept most of the remainder of the day Thursday, but was back to his smiley active self by Friday morning. He was so active in fact that he kept grabbing the electrode heart monitor leads with his long toes and yanking them off! Dr. Kimberling was so happy with his recovery that we were discharged from the hospital by 10am on Friday. Ash definitely had no hard feelings about the whole thing as he gave Dr. Kimberling and Mr. Gary (the head cardiology nurse) a big smile when they came in for his check-up Friday morning. We will visit the cardiologist again in May for a follow-up to make sure everything is still on track. As St. Francis Hospital is a children's hospital, and they try to make it a welcoming place for kids during their stay, we were visited by the "Caring Canines" group (a really cute golden retriever and an energetic Mexican hairless mix) as well as a local girl scout troop who gave Ash an Easter basket filled with all sorts of goodies
for an infant. We were even treated to a beautiful rainbow after a big rainstorm went through Thursday afternoon. It was nice to have the long weekend to recover as we did not get much sleep either Wednesday or Thursday night. We would like to send a big THANK YOU to Grandpa Cliff and Grandma Dixie for staying with Zach while we were with Ash in Tulsa. I would also like to thank all of you who sent notes, prayers, and good thoughts our way as we were going through this challenging time. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!
Ash's heart cath and valvuloplasty procedure was successful on Thursday morning with no complications. We arrived at the hospital at 5 am. We were taken up to the pre-op prep area where we were given a little hospital gown for Ash to wear as well as the little stuffed panda that you see in the picture. (He received the blue Easter bunny from his cardiologist as well). We were allowed to be with him until 7am when they took him back for the procedure. The procedure only took 30 minutes once he had been successfully prepped. So, we were only separated from him for about 2 hours. The head nurse called us in the waiting room via phone after each significant step of the process. They were able to successfully widen the pulmonary valve, relieving pressure on the heart. In fact the procedure was so successful that there is an 80% chance that he will never need to have anything else done in the future. We have some really cool pictures to prove it. He was a little trooper through everything, even managing a few smiles in the recovery room. It was great that we were able to hold him right away and feed him upon his waking (he was happy too as he was NOT impressed with the sugar water they offered him). After about 2 hours in recovery, we were transferred to a nice private pediatric room for overnight observation. He mainly ate and slept most of the remainder of the day Thursday, but was back to his smiley active self by Friday morning. He was so active in fact that he kept grabbing the electrode heart monitor leads with his long toes and yanking them off! Dr. Kimberling was so happy with his recovery that we were discharged from the hospital by 10am on Friday. Ash definitely had no hard feelings about the whole thing as he gave Dr. Kimberling and Mr. Gary (the head cardiology nurse) a big smile when they came in for his check-up Friday morning. We will visit the cardiologist again in May for a follow-up to make sure everything is still on track. As St. Francis Hospital is a children's hospital, and they try to make it a welcoming place for kids during their stay, we were visited by the "Caring Canines" group (a really cute golden retriever and an energetic Mexican hairless mix) as well as a local girl scout troop who gave Ash an Easter basket filled with all sorts of goodies
for an infant. We were even treated to a beautiful rainbow after a big rainstorm went through Thursday afternoon. It was nice to have the long weekend to recover as we did not get much sleep either Wednesday or Thursday night. We would like to send a big THANK YOU to Grandpa Cliff and Grandma Dixie for staying with Zach while we were with Ash in Tulsa. I would also like to thank all of you who sent notes, prayers, and good thoughts our way as we were going through this challenging time. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! 
Good News!
ReplyDeleteBeen thinking about you all weekend.
Shari
I'm so glad to hear Ash is doing well. Happy Easter, little guy!
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