After much anticipation Truman's surgery day came. They kept giving us general information like "it will be sometime between Thursday and Tuesday" then it became maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. After that they told us ... well it looks like it will probably be Thursday. Then all the sudden Kaiti went up to visit Truman on Tuesday and there were lots of Doctors and medical staff around Truman's bed. Finally a concrete answer. His surgery is going to be Wednesday. The Surgeon - Dr. Burch came and talked with us and gave us the low down on what exactly was going to need to happen. It is a lot of details and if anyone wants the full story just ask Marc. And that was Tuesday.

Then Wednesday came bright and early. We headed up to the hospital with a lot of anxiety and excitement because we knew that this was the step to allow Truman to get better. (and be able to eat sometime) They wheeled Truman downstairs at about 7:45 and the anesthesiologist came
and talked with us. We saw Truman off to the OR and went and waited. And waited. ..... And waited. They were kind enough to give us updates about every hour - like ... Everything is going good, the surgery just started. ... you will probably be able to see him in about 2 hours. Lots of little blips of info.

The Surgery:

So after the surgery Dr. Burch came and told us how it went. He said his numbers were great and the surgery went well, but not as perfectly as he would have liked. Since they had to go into the front they fixed both of Truman's defects at the same time. The reconstruct of the Aorta went great. His Aorta is a litte bit small for his size, but it should be just great. The problem they ran into was when they were fixing the hole between his two lower chambers. The Doctor had felt that there was enough tissue in there to close the hole using that because it is faster and Truman wouldn't need to be on the By-Pass machine as long (which makes them puff up from gaining liquids. The By-pass machine basically works as artificial lungs and heart and takes about a liter to prime. Babies have about 0.4 liters of fluid in their whole body. So they tend to absorb a bunch of fluid from the machine, but it does make the surgery possible.) as if they had to use a patch. Well after they checked the fix to see if it leaked, it did leak more than they wanted. So they put little Truman back on the By-pass and went in and added a patch. the patch is about the size of a teardrop shaped pea. Truman's little heart is about the size of a good size strawberry, so the hole wasn't a teeny pin prick. So the second time on the By-Pass machine puffed Truman up some more and the doctors didn't feel safe closing up his chest just yet. The surgery was a success.

So Truman is recovering in the PICU - It is a lot bigger, brighter and more busy than the NICU. His chest currently has a patch sewen across it so that there isn't any extra pressure on the heart. The nurse said it was clear and you could actually see his little heart beat inside of it, but there are lots of sterile dressings on top of it to keep is safe. about 4" worth. They said today that he is doing great! His blood pressure and heart rate are great, they turned down the respirator 1 setting and it looks like they will be able to close his chest tomorrow, which was originally going to be Saturday. It is still a long road ahead, but it is progressing and we can't wait to see all the tubes come off as He gets better.

We are so greatful for the love and caring of friends and family. We can feel your prayers and hope that they continue. As Danny said on friendnew.net "GO TRUMAN!"