Sorry for the delay in updating... it's hard to update once they tell us he's done we sort of rush around, get our things together so we can get up to recovery so we are there when he wakes up! It is all very rushed.
Dr. Divekar presented a lot of information to us regarding the severity of his very narrow pulmonary arteries. He did end up having to place a stent, but apparently he isn't expecting it to help lower the pressure like we thought. It is just one piece of the very complex puzzle that is Andrew's heart. The hope would be that this stent would assist by increasing blood flow, which in turn should make the arteries grow over time. But our past experience with this is....those stubborn things don't want to grow. Apparently the problem spots are the smaller branches that stem off the larger left pulmonary artery. They are as thin as a hair strand (we saw it on film today). Basically there is not much he can do to get those to grow. So he couldn't tell us that this would work. Basically, there is no "fix all." We just have to play the waiting game again and see if they grow over time. And looks like we'll be back here in another 6 months for more balloons/stents. Like we learned a long time ago.... this journey will never be "over."
I'm too exhausted and overwhelmed with information to type out more details right now. We are processing everything. I'm hoping my head is more clear later tonight or in the morning to give more explanation. The main thing is, Andrew did great and the procedure went great today.
Thanks for all the prayers- and please keep them coming. He's going to need them!
Dr. Divekar presented a lot of information to us regarding the severity of his very narrow pulmonary arteries. He did end up having to place a stent, but apparently he isn't expecting it to help lower the pressure like we thought. It is just one piece of the very complex puzzle that is Andrew's heart. The hope would be that this stent would assist by increasing blood flow, which in turn should make the arteries grow over time. But our past experience with this is....those stubborn things don't want to grow. Apparently the problem spots are the smaller branches that stem off the larger left pulmonary artery. They are as thin as a hair strand (we saw it on film today). Basically there is not much he can do to get those to grow. So he couldn't tell us that this would work. Basically, there is no "fix all." We just have to play the waiting game again and see if they grow over time. And looks like we'll be back here in another 6 months for more balloons/stents. Like we learned a long time ago.... this journey will never be "over."
I'm too exhausted and overwhelmed with information to type out more details right now. We are processing everything. I'm hoping my head is more clear later tonight or in the morning to give more explanation. The main thing is, Andrew did great and the procedure went great today.
Thanks for all the prayers- and please keep them coming. He's going to need them!
