Isaac had a heart catheterization, a little over a week ago, on June 21st. This was to close the fenestration in his fontan heart surgery from 2006. The fenestration (a hole) was created on purpose, to control heart pressures after his last heart surgery. The fenestration was supposed to close on it's own, and it didn't. We decided after we talked it over with Isaac's Cardiologist recently, that we would go ahead and let it be closed, which would allow Isaac's oxygen saturations to increase from the 80's to the 90's. When we arrived at the hospital, we were told to go to Cardiology where Isaac would start with an Echocardiogram, after that, Isaac had fun playing video games for a few hours before his heart cath. When it was finally time to go to the cath lab, Isaac was very scared and started to cry uncontrollably. The Anesthesiologist soon put Isaac to sleep which calmed him down. Isaac was in the Cath Lab for about two hours, during which they implated this device in the picture above, (Amplatzer Occluder) to plug the fenestration.
When Isaac awoke, he was miserable; he complained that his leg hurt really bad from the Catheter, and his throat from being intubated. It took several hours of vomitting and crying to finally get some rest. It was really difficult to lay flat for so many hours recovering. Isaac was anxious to use the bathroom after waiting so many hours while laying flat, being filled with IV fluids, and a urinal was not acceptable to him. At about 2am Isaac was ready to leave the hospital, and go home straight to his own bed.
As Isaac healed, he noticed he had more energy, and could run faster. Although Isaac hated having a heart Catheterization, it was all worth it in the end. hopefully Isaac can have a very long break before having any more surgical procedures of any kind.
