I've received some word regarding my niece's surgery in Boston. It went well.
The operation was delayed half a day and she didn't go under until just after noon on Thursday. The whole thing took about seven hours. The doctors knocked her out, cooled down her body to slow respiration and circulation, attached her to a bypass machine so they could stop her heart and then repaired the leaky valve. Her parents and oldest brother were there the whole time and were given progress reports as the operation went along. There turned out to be three defects: two they knew about, although one was worse than expected, and one they only found when they were already in her heart. Once they were done and had tested their work, it took an hour to warm her back up and another one to close her.
The doctor planned to keep her unconscious and on a respirator over night but her parents saw her as they moved her to ICU and report that she already shows better color than before the operation.
Her Mom reported this morning that the docs plan to start removing her from her various tubes this afternoon and begin to wake her.
The family is planning on staying in Boston for most of next week while she recovers.
It's hard to express the depth of our gratitude to the doctors at Boston Children's Hospital and to all the staff there (let alone the researchers and equipment manufacturers and builders of sophisticated systems procedures and the almost-limitless list of others who have contributed in some way) who made this possible. This is what the interconnected web of civilization produces.
Latest update: 3 p.m. Caitlin is awake and when asked how she felt gave her Mom thumbs up. Tube down her throat will come out soon.
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