So, I'm at work this morning around 9am and my cell phone rings and it's Beth (Scarlett's cardiologist). She says "Hi, did you get my message"... I immediately think to myself ....ah crap, they're rescheduling her surgery...., and I say "nooooo?...what message?", and she proceeds to tell me what I knew she'd tell me.
Evidently Dr. Cleveland, Dr. Pophal, Beth, and the others met for their weekly 'Cardiac Conference' this morning. Scarlett was brought up as a patient who was having surgery this week. Dr. C asked Dr. P to go over the results of the heart cath 3 weeks ago... then Dr. C said he really wants another CT scan done of Scarlett’s heart before her surgery.
Beth says that her CT scan will be tomorrow and that the surgery scheduler will be calling me to schedule it. I ask “So, this means her surgery won’t be on Thursday?”, and she says “no”….My initial reaction is "AHHHH!" (I wanted to scream), but I just quietly and patiently listened to Beth explain that Scarlett’s collateral arteries on the right side are wrapped around the aortic arch, and Dr. C wants to know where they are originating from, which only a CT scan can show.
I guess the upside is that I’m thankful that Dr. Cleveland wants to know exactly what he’s doing when he gets in there. This is a major reconstructive surgery on a very fragile area. Dr. C will be operating through a microscope. I want him to know as much as possible about Scarlett’s heart before he gets in there.
Beth also said that another reason her surgery is being rescheduled is because they don’t have a homograft in Scarlett’s size (for her weight and size). They rescheduled her surgery for next Thursday, same time. This is a tentative date as well…dependant on the approval of Dr. Cleveland.
So tomorrow morning we check in at 6:45am for the CT Scan, it shouldn’t take very long, but since they have to put her under general anesthesia there is a good possibility she’ll come home on oxygen, so we’re just gonna take the tank with us this time so there’s no reason for them to keep us there.
Ah geez! How frustrating! I'm sure that you had been mentally preparing your yourself and logistically been making arrangements to be away from work and home for a while- and now you have to start that process all over again! I definitely agree though that it's good that Dr Cleveland wants to be very prepared and more confident of what his exact plan will be going in there and hopefully not have any surprises!
ReplyDeleteYou're still in our prayers. Good luck today with the CT and oxygen!
I'm sorry! I can imagine you've been mentally preparing for WEEKS! And you're right, on one hand it totally sucks but on the other it's comforting to know he'll be better prepared! THinking of you!!
ReplyDeleteSorry the surgery was postponed but I am sure it's for the better, like you said, it's good the Drs want to do more checking.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to get mentally ready for something and then switch things up.. BUT.. So good of Dr. Cleveland to want to be 100% prepared and ready. Gotta love that team... they know what's best. Anxious to hear how today went..
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