Cath is done, plus a schedule change

Loooong day yesterday! Finally I have a chance to share an update: James went in for his cath in the morning and was pretty cheerful during the prep. He even got in a nice nap on my lap while we waited for his turn to come. He had some cute little tiger scrubs to wear.

The cath was meant to be diagnostic - take a look and see if there are any complications to consider. However, if complications are found, the cath can also be a way to immediately address them. Long story short, they did find a complication (a vein dumping blood into his heart when it shouldn't) so they took the opportunity to plug it up yesterday and have it fixed before the surgery. This meant James had to stay in the ICU overnight, so Peter stayed with him and they are prepping to go home sometime today.

James did great though with recovery so far. He was in the ICU around 4pm, waking up from anesthesia, and within an hour had his eyes open and was asking for water. We're so thrilled that he can communicate now, and despite the trials of the day, he reached right for his words to tell us what he needed. By dinnertime he was alert, only minimally cranky, and playing with the iPad.

He's waiting for the results of his echo this morning, and will be discharged and resting at home before long now :)

Oh, and about that schedule change: new date for the Fontan surgery is July 14. Several more urgent cases need to be dealt with first, so James got bumped back a week.

busy week

We are moving! James goes into the hospital on Thursday for the pre-surgery cardiac catheterization, and we are bookending that day with lots of moving. On Friday, when he returns home and recovers (he'll be groggy and swollen) he'll be hanging out in his new bedroom.

I think this surgery means we will finally cave and buy him some sort of iPad. He loves preschool apps, and the recovery period - both in the ICU and at home afterwards - will keep him stuck in bed for awhile, which will be very hard on him. He likes to play alphabet and spelling games in the iPad, so he actually is learning a lot from his technology addiction.

Elise is 5 months old now, and she and James are starting to play together, in small ways. She is becoming more interested in grabbing onto toys and exploring them, so James will put his toys in her hands. Also, she normally wants a lot of attention specifically from me (because food), but recently it's been making her happy to hang out with James and watch him play.