Ashlyn had her PDA surgery-she is OK



Ashlyn reintubated right before surgery



Another crazy day in the NICU.....Ashlyn had her PDA surgery today at around 3:15pm MST.

Sara called and said she needed some moral support. I knew I wasn't going to be allowed into the NICU (due to my strep throat), but I knew Sara needed me down there. I arrived and Sara came out of the NICU doors in tears; She was saying she had to sign all these consent forms, and that she had watched the doctors get Ashlyn ready for surgery. In some ways, I'm glad I wasn't in there.



Ashlyn not happy about going into surgery

 I waited in a "parents room" while the surgery happened; Sara was inside the NICU and sat near Hanna. The surgery only lasted about 25 minutes, which is pretty amazing.The doctors came out and found me in the room and delivered the surgical report.

The surgeon, Dr David Fullerton is an old pro. 31 years in practice and he has won numerous awards etc.....its good that we got one of the best docs. Her surgery went well. The doctor tied off her PDA duct and it said it was "the largest duct opening I have seen in 30 years of doing this". I'll give Ashlyn a medal when she's older for having one of the largest PDA's in history. Unreal.



Blurry surgery shot

He also said he is slightly concerned she may have an aortic coarctation, which may restrict blood flow to the emtremities. He said they were not too worried about it, but something he noticed while he was in there. As I have learned, any time they start talking about something, there is a reason behind it. I'll do some homework on that later.

The most unusual part of the whole experience, is what the nurses and Sara reported about Hanna's behavior during Ashlyn's the surgery. Apparently, Hanna became very agitated when they took Ashlyn out of "their" room for the surgery. During the surgery, Hanna was very restless and upset; she started triggering her alarms, had a bunch of desats in a row, and was twisting and turning and uncomfortable. After the surgery ended, Hanna relaxed and went right back to sleep, like she normally does.

They say that "mirror" twins like these two girls can "feel" things about their twin, and it seems that it might actually be true. We had heard about unusual phenomenon like this, and this may be our first "strange twin" moment. Very interesting.

Subsequently, they took an echo (echocardiogram) and an xray and are initially very pleased by the results immediately after the surgery. As you can see below; The picture on the right is before surgery. Note the very large heart size, the white cloudy look of the lungs (which means poor air intake/uptake).

The picture on the left is about 15 minutes after surgery. You can see the staples in her side, where the incision was. Her heart is noticeably smaller (working less hard), the lungs have re inflated (as evidenced by the darker lung picture). First look reveals a big improvement!

Before on right, after on left-note staples

The next 24-48 hours are once again critical. She is listed in "critcal" condition in the NICU, as the first 24 hours after heart surgery for ANYONE, much less a 2.75lb, 3 week old baby is sketchy. Please keep our little Ashlyn in your thoughts, prayers, in these critical hours over the next day or two. The poor girl has already been through more at 3 weeks than many people go through their entire lives, and she sure deserves to catch a break.