Heart Cath today
Hailey has been doing very well the last few months. She was able to get off the ventilator at night. We are hoping to get the trach out this summer. She still has to be able to wear a cap on the trach (simulates not having a trach) all day, wear a nasal cannula (oxygen tubing on her nose) at night, pass a sleep study wearing the cap, and pass a bronchoscopy. So, we still have some things to do.
The last time we met with cardiology, about a month ago, they did an echo of Hailey’s heart and found that the pressures in Hailey’s heart were too high, possibly because her pulmonary arteries have become narrow. High pressures in the right heart ventricle cause the heart to have to work really hard and that side can become enlarged and weakened over time. Today we are headed to Primary Children’s hospital for a heart cath to try to correct this. A heart cath involves threading a thin tube up through veins in the groin (or the neck) to the heart. They will try to balloon any narrow places in the arteries. This opens the arteries and allows blood to flow more freely so that the heart doesn’t have to work so hard to get blood into the pulmonary arteries.
Sometimes when arteries are ballooned, the sudden rush of blood into lung tissues can cause bruising or swelling so they will keep Hailey overnight to watch for that. We appreciate all the love and prayers in our behalf.
The last time we met with cardiology, about a month ago, they did an echo of Hailey’s heart and found that the pressures in Hailey’s heart were too high, possibly because her pulmonary arteries have become narrow. High pressures in the right heart ventricle cause the heart to have to work really hard and that side can become enlarged and weakened over time. Today we are headed to Primary Children’s hospital for a heart cath to try to correct this. A heart cath involves threading a thin tube up through veins in the groin (or the neck) to the heart. They will try to balloon any narrow places in the arteries. This opens the arteries and allows blood to flow more freely so that the heart doesn’t have to work so hard to get blood into the pulmonary arteries.
Sometimes when arteries are ballooned, the sudden rush of blood into lung tissues can cause bruising or swelling so they will keep Hailey overnight to watch for that. We appreciate all the love and prayers in our behalf.
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