Heart Cath

I want to start at the beginning so here I go.  Last night we made it to Charleston around 6:30 and checked in our hotel and let Charlotte just roam around and explore the room while we decided what to do about supper.  Finally we decided to go to Triangle and have a burger.  After supper we hit Krispy Kreme and had a doughnut, and Charlotte had sprinkles and chocolate.  She never ate the doughnut :)  We made it back to the room and let her eat til she couldn't eat and drink anymore.  Finally around 11:30 she passed out and slept all night.  I was afraid that she would wake up wanting milk, but I am thankful that she didn't.  This morning, Charlotte slept through Brian and me getting ready and I scooped her up, wrapped her up in a blanket and headed to the hospital.  Made it through admitting and even the first 30 minutes in the Holding Room then a nurse with cold hands woke her up.  Of course Charlotte wakes up crying because she didn't recognize where she was and the nurse freezing her to death.  It only took a few minutes to get her calm, then about 20 minutes later Anesthesia comes to get information and gave her some versed to calm her for the trip to the lab.  Brian and I have never laughed so hard in all of our lives..... Charlotte was a little drunk kid, smiling, drooling and swaying back and forth, sitting in the little red wagon waiting to go.  It was hilarious, but still I cried when they pulled away. 

The Cath took about 5 hours, and we got an update every hour which made time go by quicker.  Finally we got the call around 1:30 to head back to recovery, Charlotte was back and waking up.  Charlotte looked so peaceful for about 3 seconds and woke up crying and I could tell she was in pain.  She asked for water and drank almost a whole cup, which helped her scratchy throat.  Charlotte coughed one time and the nurse came running over to check her groin, and she was bleeding!  The nurse had to hold pressure on her groin for 20 minutes, which was a total fight.  The nurse decided to give her a dose of morphine and versed and really quickly she was back asleep.  That was a blessing, because she had to lay flat on her back for two hours:(  Ended up, Charlotte slept the whole time two hour waiting period and woke up pretty happy.  After getting everything and Charlotte settled down, The nurse informed us that Charlotte didn't have a pulse in her left foot and she had to be put on heparin to help thin her blood.  IT took about an hour to get the pulse back, but her leg looked terrible.  We were going to have to stay the night in the hospital due to the heparin, but she didn't have to have it to long and the pulse came back pretty quickly, so Dr. Baker decided we could go home at 7.   Brian and I were chomping at the bit to get to talk to Dr. Baker about his finding, but we had to wait til 5:30, because he had another case. 

Finally, Dr, Baker comes back and tells us that Charlotte is still in the running for a two ventricle repair!!  That is awesome, because she would still get to keep the full function of her heart!!  Also, that they had ballooned off the Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), and the shunt to measure pressure, oxygen levels and heart function.  It seems that the blocking caused her cardiac function to decrease, but not enough to alarm him and her O2 level increased.  So now, Dr. Baker has to send Dr. Bradley (Surgeon) the results and then Dr. Bradley will contact Dr. Horne (Cardiologist) and they together will decide the path best for Charlotte.  So now we wait again for another 2 weeks til we can meet with Dr. Horne and find out the decision:(

I am just so thankful that the LORD answered our prayers and made it as easy as possible for Charlotte.  Now I just pray that we get the news we have been praying for these last 22 months!!!