Linden will be having surgery soon.

It looks like Linden will be having her 2nd open heart surgery before her first birthday.

We had a cardiology appointment yesterday and unfortunately it wasn't the best news. I had a bad feeling when Linden was weighed and she had lost around 2 lbs in a month. That's never good. Dr. B. walked in and said the usual "Questions, comments, concerns?" and I answered back that I simply don't like the way Linden is looking nowadays. I mentioned how her eyes are a purplish red underneath and she's kind of sluggish and tired looking, too. I said how Joe and my mom noticed it because they're not around her 24/7 like I am. It was a drastic difference when she was put on Enalapril and Digoxin, too. She just simply isn't herself. After I finished explaining that, Dr. B asked me how old I was. I thought it was a weird question, but I answered "24" and he said "You're a very good mama" and then he handed me his Blackberry and told me to read the email from her cardiologist in Boston (where she had her first surgery, AV Canal Repair). I started reading and saw "It would be in Linden's best interest to schedule a mitral valve repair as soon as possible" and then everything else after that was a blur. There were lots of medical terms that I just didn't understand.
Dr. B was unusually stone-faced while talking to us about the risks of surgery. He said that he has only had two patients, including Linden, in his whole practice who have had this complicated of anatomy, and the other patient did not survive. I felt a huge lump forming in my throat when he said that. He said that in another 6-9 months her heart wouldn't even be good anymore. I felt all of the blood rushing to my feet at that moment. It's like I couldn't believe that we were talking about my baby, my sweet Linden Caroline. It's a risky surgery as the wall behind where the surgery will be taking place is close to the circulatory system. Here is a very good website describing the surgery she will be having.

Dr. B from Boston will be calling me sometime this week to schedule a date.

I'll be posting updates about everything going on with us on this site instead of calling everyone one by one.

Thank you for your support and prayers during this time.

Bianca

~Thought for the day~
Well-being, my own and someone else's, will be fostered by my actions today.