Surgery Day

The big day has arrived. Sophia rolled out of bed hungry and thirsty. She was able to drink until 9:00 but alas, no breakfast. She spent the time playing on her new iPad, while her parents skulked down the hall to eat eggs and yogurt. Then it was off to the hospital, which is about six blocks away. The Yawkee Family Inn where we are staying is two blocks from the small river that separates Brookline from Boston. Another four blocks and we were at the Boston Children's Hospital, where the banner proudly displayed the hospital's recent #1 ranking (including #1 in cardiology) from U.S. News and World Report. Seattle was also very highly ranked. We are very fortunate to have such good care facilities available to us.

Yea! Another surgery!

Sophia was rolled into the anesthesia room about an hour ago, and her parents are now in the waiting area, blogging (me) and meditating (Astrid). She was in fine spirits when we left her, as you can see in the picture on the left. There will be several milestones throughout the procedure today: when she is placed under anesthetic; the initial incision to start the surgery; being attached to the heart-lung machine so that her heart can be stilled; following removal of obstructing heart tissue and a "lengthening" of the patch that provides a "wall" between the ventricles of her heart by Dr. Del Nido; going off the heart-lung machine to test the results. I probably got some of that wrong, but Astrid will correct any mistakes when she "wakes up."

That's it for now; we'll keep you posted as to the other day's events. Please keep our girl in your thoughts today! (Just got the call (1:50 our time) that the incision has been made, the surgery is underway.)