T minus 10 hours and counting

We spent pretty much the whole day at the hospital today for the pre-admissions clinic. We watched a video about cardiac surgery, got a lot of info, spoke to the surgeon, respiratory therapist, and anesthetist, had an ECG, blood tests, chest x-ray,... pretty much the full meal deal to prep for surgery.

Shawna got the first slot for surgery, so that means we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am and surgery is at 7:20 am. Yes, that is early. But, like the anesthetist said, it doesn't matter if you get a good night's sleep, it's important that Dr. Ross, and all the doctors and nurses get a good night sleep.

We did find out that the surgery will be a little bit different than we were lead to believe. We were under the impression that an extra vessel that was stealing blood from the heart into the pulmonary artery (going to the lungs) would be tied off. Well, as we learned more from the surgeon, that is not really what will happen.

Warning: The following is our understanding of what will happen. If anyone (aka Dr. Booker) is offended by our inaccuracies or improper use of terms, or if you don't get the little bit of anatomy, we apologize.

The aorta that supplies blood to the heart splits into two sides - left and right coronary arteries. Subsequent arteries "split" off of these to supply the whole heart with blood. In Shawna's case, a "secondary" artery coming off the left artery called the left arterial descendent (LAD) is not attached to the artery at all, it is attached to the pulmonary artery that takes blood from the heart to the lungs. This is essentially robbing the heart of blood since the pressure in the pulmonary artery is lower. Shawna's heart has compensated for this to an extent by forming little vessels that come from the left and right arteries to ensure the heart gets enough blood, but over time the defective (or rather incorrectly located) artery will most likely enlarge and steal more blood from the heart, causing damage over time.

So, they are going to detach the LAD from the pulmonary artery and stretch it over to the aorta and attach it there (if it cannot stretch enough they will "tunnel" over to it). Ideally, blood will flow through the newly moved LAD and all will be great. If blood does not flow through the newly moved artery (which may be the case because Shawna's heart has kinda adapted to supply the heart with blood without it) it may clot and the artery would essentially block itself off. This is also a very good thing because it would no longer be stealing blood from the heart and siphoning it to the lungs. Either way would be considered a success, but the former is preferred over the latter.

Well, we had better call it an early night. Please keep Shawna, the Dr.s and nurses, and our family in your prayers.