Surgery #3 on the calendar

The possibility of a surgery this summer has been bouncing around for some time now, but it is now a confirmed plan and we have a set of dates. James will have the Fontan heart surgery on July 7. Leading up to that, he'll be in the hospital on June 16 and June 18 for pre-op bloodwork, consults, and a catheterization, plus another day of prep tentatively scheduled on his birthday...

The Fontan on July 7 is part 2 of the Glenn procedure he had in 2013. His Inferior Vena Cava (which carries blood returning from the lower body) will be redirected to flow directly to the lungs, bypassing his heart. The Glenn procedure previously connected the Superior Vena Cava to the lungs in the same way. The goal is to reduce the amount of work his heart has to do - it will only need to pump blood out, but not back in again. Once the Fontan is complete, his oxygen levels are expected to rise to over 90%, a big increase from his usual 80%.

The catheterization on June 18 is an inpatient procedure to test and visualize exactly how his heart is functioning. This will help his doctors prepare for the surgery. It's not very risky but it is an invasive procedure so this will keep James out of school for a couple days and we'll be hanging out at the hospital hoping for no complications.

Our old surgeon has relocated, so our new surgeon is Dr. Paul Chai. We're sticking with the hospital and team we know, so James will be back at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in Manhattan for both the catheterization and the surgery. He'll need 1-2 weeks in the hospital to recover after the Fontan, followed by about 6 weeks of at-home recovery.

We'll post updates here as he goes through this summer obstacle course. Prayers and well wishes are always welcome.