Surgery 2.0

Eliza is on the books for heart surgery tomorrow. Specifically, patent ductus arteriosus ligation. The PDA I mentioned in the previous post did not close with the treatment of medication over the weekend. A lot of times with tiny to small PDAs, surgery isnt necessary immediately - they can give it weeks, months or even years for the baby to get bigger as long as the PDA is not affecting their health. Unfortunately for Eliza her PDA is too big and is giving her a rough time. Since this open valve is diverting too much blood from where it should be going, her body is having to work extra hard and she is worn out. After a pretty terrible night and day she has been taken off the CPAP and re-intubated (no more elephant trunk for now!) and also put back on blood pressure medication. For now, these things are helping to keep her stable until the surgery tomorrow. We hate that her condition is bad enough to require surgery but are glad that its a relatively common surgery performed on small babies like Eliza. They have told us that she will most likely get sicker for the 24-48 hours after surgery so these next few days are going to be tough, but for most this surgery dramatically helps with growth and health -- which is exactly what she needs!

Just try to imagine working on the heart of a one pound baby and putting a tiny clip on one of the arteries --that will stay there for the rest of her life! I mean how is that even possible?! It blows my mind.

Back with another update afterwards -- Send strong thoughts Eliza's way!