Courtney Update - Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Here is a reverse chronological review of today's activities concerning Courtney's surgery.


11:00 PM

We met with the surgeon about 9:00 and got a detailed report on the surgery and what to expect when we saw Courtney in the PICU.  We did get to see her about 10:00 and for a very, very, very critical sick child, we were amazed at how well she looked.  Well, once you got past the paleness (loss of blood), her chest being open, and tubes coming out of her like some science fiction creature, she really did look good.  I stole that part from Jenn's Facebook post.  LOL

We know that she has a long road to recovery and still has to get her lungs and kidneys functioning on their own, but our little fighter is still here and still fighting and we have friends and family all over the world praying for her. 

After a very long day, we are going to try to get some rest tonight.  I will update more tomorrow about her status and plan of care once we have had some rest.


8:30 PM

The doctors have decided to leave her chest open because of significant bleeding issues and will put her on the VV ECMO.  We hope to talk with the doctor within the next hour and then see Courtney in her new room on the cardiac side of the PICU. 


6:30 PM

The bleeding is more under control and they will probably end up not closing her chest.  They are discussing whether to put her on VV ECMO, which means her heart will do its own work but the ECMO machine will act as her lungs to allow them to recover.


5:00 PM

Courtney is doing okay, but her chest is still open and they are monitoring and managing her bleeding, but this is expected.


3:20 PM

The heart valve has been successfully replaced and she is off the bypass machine.  Her heart and lungs are functioning on their own right now, but they are evaluating whether she needs to go back on ECMO or not.


1:45 PM

Courtney is now successfully on heart bypass machine and the ECMO tubes have been removed.  The doctor is now working on replacing the infected heart valve.


12:15 PM

The doctors said that they now have access to move her to bypass, but have not yet moved her from the ECMO machine to the bypass machine.


11:00 AM

We just got our first update.  It took a long time for the anesthesia team and the doctor to complete their prep work.  So as of 10:38 they were just starting to work on her chest to get her on by-pass.


9:00 AM

This morning we were told that the surgery is actually scheduled for 9:00 instead of 8:00.  They took her from the room about 8:45 or so and we are in the waiting room now.  We know it will take a while to get her down to the OR and get things setup.  We should hopefully get updates every hour to hour and a half.


Thank you for your prayer support.