Ligation tomorrow

No new pictures today, just an update. After Xavi's weekly echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart), the doctors came to the consensus that he does need to have the duct outside of his heart surgically closed. He had two rounds of medication and that helped make the duct smaller, but it didn't finish the job. After a week on CPAP, Xavi is still doing well, but is having to work harder and his lungs are more wet (from the blood that flows back to his lungs through that open duct instead of back out to the rest of his body) and he is more tired and still has no reserve to tolerate any extra stimulation.

All of these factors, combined with a slightly enlarged heart, made a convincing case for doing the ligation. A surgeon from U of M will come to St. Joe's tomorrow and do the surgery at 7:30 a.m. Xavi will have to go back on the vent and it may be some days before he's strong enough to come off it again. He'll likely look and act more sick for the next few days as he recovers from the surgery, but once he recovers he should be able to do much better. Camilla had the same surgery and improved by leaps and bounds afterwards. Other parents and all of the nurses and doctors have said the same too: the ligation can be the big hurdle for these little ones, and once they are over it they really take off.

Thanks in advance for all of your prayers for Xavi and the surgical team tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes.