Charlie had his cardiac cath last Thursday. He was in surgery for three hours, and then had to lie flat in recovery for four hours. Tied to a board. He was not a fan. Also, he's not allowed to have fentanyl anymore. As his nurse put it, he doesn't like breathing after he gets fentanyl! But by the time I took him home, he was his usual self, happy as can be!
The initial results from the cath are good. The surgeons decided that Charlie can have surgery to close his VSD! Yay! They closed his PDA while they were in there, and he's doing well with that. His pressures were very high, like we suspected (I don't have the exact numbers yet). He'll be on a new med now...Viagra! If we can ever actually GET the med - apparently, it's not common AND it's so expensive, that our insurance has to pre-authorize it.
Tomorrow morning, the cardiac team will be discussing Charlie's case. On Wednesday his doctor should call me and let me know what they decided. They may decide to let him have surgery soon, or they may decide to leave him on the sildenifil (Viagra) for a few months first, and see if that lowers the pressure in his lungs. They'll also discuss whether or not to treat him with O2 or nitric oxide, but I don't think it's likely. While Charlie was in surgery, they gave him both, and he appeared to do slightly better. I don't think "slightly better" is enough to put him on O2, since it can actually make his pulmonary edema to get worse. It's been worse lately, anyway, and he's up to three times a day for Lasix. I can tell he's doing better on this dose. Putting him O2 would cause more fluid in his lungs, which would need more lasix to remove it. Not a good cycle!
Because of one of the test results from the cath, Charlie needs to have a pulmonary consult and possibly a CT scan of his chest. It could mean something else is going on with his lungs, or it could just be an effect from the high pressures in his lungs for the last three years. So he has a consult on the 12th, with his sleep study the night before. Just another part of his Borderline Syndrome. :)
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