Porter's Special Little Heart

Porter had another echo at Rush Copley yesterday afternoon. This is becoming a routine procedure for him and us...and the nurses are becoming quite attached to our cute little man! :) The echo was done at 2pm and by 6pm our WONDERFUL peds. cardiologist Dr. Neuberger was calling us at home, from his home. He had the pictures sent to him at home as he was out of the office yesterday. He called to tell us that the echo images were concerning because the pressure had increased in his heart, which makes his heart work that much harder than it already is. Dr. Neuberger had already contacted the Director of peds. cardiology and the surgeon that is operating on Porter as we speak and they both agreed that the procedure should not wait. So unfortunately, our dinner that was being prepared was thrown in the garbage, we packed all three of us up, and headed up to Park Ridge to Lutheran General Children's Hospital.

Last night starting around 9pm Porter was given a medicine to open a different valve in his heart that would allow for the procedure to be easier for all involved, Porter and the surgeon. This medication does have a serious side effect of limiting his ability to breathe. Eric and I were both able to hold him as the medication was being given, until they put in a breathing tube at about 2am. Momma and Daddy were happy to have snuggle time with their boy, as he is an excellent snuggle-bug! He was sedated for the rest of the night and monitored very closely. Porter went into the cath-lab at about 9:15 and will undergo a 2 hour procedure to open the "sticky" valve. We are hoping that within 4 to 5 hours after he is done with the procedure the breathing tube will be taken out and we will again be able to hold and snuggle our little man. We are expecting to stay for the next couple days, where our little Porter will be spoiled by nurses who all think that he is just the cutest!

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers...we have been praying over-time since last night. We will send another update when Porter is out of surgery and we are settled once again on the way to recovery.