Cardiac Catheterization No. 3

I write this post from the PCTICU of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix Arizona. My not-quite-2-year-old daughter has been in the 'cath lab' for the past 3 1/2 hours. We held her hand while they put her under anesthesia around 9:20am this morning.  I was right there with her this time. Ususally it is just Todd, but this morning, I was there too.

This is the second time I've held her hand while they put her under and it never gets easier. Watching your baby struggle then slowly (or quickly) watching them fade away into a sleepy dreamland.  Todd and I both walked away choking back tears.

She is in the cath lab today because at her last cardiologist appointment, Dr. Pophal and Beth said that the blood flow to her left pulmonary artery was at 30% and the bloodflow to her right pulmonary artery is 70% (when it should be 50% and 50%). 

Last June Dr. Pophal took her to the cath lab to balloon angioplastly her LPA to help this exact same problem, and it temporarily helped, but over time it has shrunk right back down to where it was before the procedure. So, today, Dr. Popal is going to implant a stent into her LPA to keep it open. She's been in there for four hours now. I hope that everything is okay. I will post more when I know more.