Pics of Tyler

Here he is yesterday. Poor little guy didn't know what he was getting into today.


They gave him some cozy p.j.s when he got to the hospital this morning.As sad as this looks, if you go back to our pics from the last surgery, this isn't nearly as bad. He has the breathing tube out now and is getting oxygen through his nasal cannule (spelling?).
You can tell his color is a lot better.

Update on Tyler

Tyler had his surgery today. Everything went very well. The surgeon was very pleased. They tried to take his breathing tube out shortly after we were able to see him. Unfortunately, he was still drugged up and they quickly found he needed the extra breathing assistance. They'll try again later as he starts waking up today or early tomorrow.

He looks pretty good, but swollen - especially in head and arms. The rerouting of the arteries created more pressure in the upper body, so that will take some time for him to get use to. He should look better in a couple of weeks. His extremities have a lot more color than prior to the surgery and we're hopeful that he won't need to be on oxygen at all by the time he comes home.

We have pics, but we're still at the hospital and don't have the cable to upload them. As soon as we can, I'll post some.

July 29th

The hospital called today and set Tyler's second surgery for July 29th. The procedure is called the Bi-directional Glenn or hemi-Fontan Procedure. Click here if you want to get the lowdown on exactly what will be done. Essentially, it

"involves redirecting oxygen-poor blood from the top of the body to the lungs. That is, the pulmonary arteries are disconnected from their existing blood supply (e.g. a shunt created during a Norwood procedure, a patent ductus arteriosus, etc). The superior vena cava (SVC), which carries blood returning from the upper body, is disconnected from the heart and instead redirected into the pulmonary arteries. The inferior vena cava (IVC), which carries blood returning from the lower body, continues to connect to the heart."

It's pretty amazing they can do this sort of thing. After this surgery, he'll go another couple of years or so before his last surgery (not counting a potential heart transplant some day).

Barring any complications, he should be in the hospital less than two weeks. He's been a tough little guy so far, so we don't expect him to be in recovery more than a week. At least, I don't. Jamie might have a different opinion.