Home of the Four Trans

We brace our ourselves today in preparation for what is to come after the initial surgery scheduled for tomorrow, August 13, 2007 at 7AM. Both our parents are also in L.A. with us for support, and for a chance to see Justin one last time before his big day.

The first scheduled surgery is called the modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt procedure, and will be performed by pediatric cardiothoracic specialist, Dr. Vaughn Starnes of CHLA. He has been described as the Michael Jordan of pediatric heart surgery. We were lucky enough to have had Justin diagnosed early on inutero so that we had sufficient time to research on the best surgeons possible. We also have a friend who works in the medical field who used her connections to point us in the right direction. We continue to hear such positive feedback about Dr. Starnes and his expertise, so we are optimistic that tomorrow’s procedure will undergo successfully. However, we continue to pray, and are constantly on pins and needles because we never know what to expect.

The things we can expect: the surgery will last about 1.5-2 hours, Justin will be on a respirator for a minimum of two days or until he can breath on his own, his body will be significantly swollen because of the immense amounts of IV fluid that will be pumped into his body, he’ll have additional lines put into his neck, he’ll be sedated and on strong pain medication similar to epidural, he’ll have a long scar down his chest, and his skin color may be blue.

Despite the gruesome picture depicted for us, we are still hopeful and look forward to seeing his eyes open, hearing the strength of his cry, and being able to hold him. Loi still has not had a chance to hold his son for the first time. And, I just can’t wait to get to know my son and the feisty little person I’ve been accustomed to kicking me in the womb over the past 9 months. He’s an amazing little one…only 4 days old…He’s fought for his life thus far, he’s been such a warrior, a brave soul, we know he’ll fight some more.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Heart Disease, Justin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.