It’s Go Time

Well everyone, it’s finally Fontan time. Earlier today we took Nolan for his scheduled pre-op appointment. We dressed him in his own green surgical scrubs and doctor kit and he was looking majorly adorable:

  
As you can imagine, Nolan doesn’t do the best with doctor’s appointments anymore. I mean he’s super happy to go to the office and super happy to see everyone, but the minute they slap a blood pressure cuff on him, he is DONE. And an EKG? Forget it. So we tried to talk up the appointment as much as possible: I had him squeeze my arm like a bp cuff, packed stickers that he can put on me while getting his EKG stickers put on. Even our oldest son came along to help and be a good big brother. 

The staff at Levine Children’s Hospital- as always – was awesome. They decided not to do the EKG until surgery day when he got his versed and was calm. So they let him play, did a nose swab for MRSA, and had us sign a bunch of papers. I went with him for his chest x-Ray and he did awesome. He didn’t fuss and thought it was fun. Then came time for the biggie: blood work. We sang the ABCs over and over again and the phlebotomist got it on the first shot! And Nolan didn’t cry or fuss once! That lady was a total boss!

So tomorrow, June 16th we’ll get to the hospital at 7am for Nolan’s scheduled Fontan procedure. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers: thanks so much to all of you for your emails and comments. They’re always much loved!

If you want to keep up on Nolan’s updates over the next several days, please like and follow his Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SupportTeamNolan

Now Wait Just a Minute…

So as you know from reading this blog, Nolan was scheduled for his Fontan Procedure on Monday, June 6th. Weeeell…so much for that. Turns out Nolan had a small (thank God) bout of the poops which gave him a bit of diaper rash. And that, my friends, led to the next installment of “let’s postpone the Fontan.”  When I got the official cancellation, at first I was like:

  
And then I was like:

  
And then finally I was like:

  
Sigh. 

So it goes. It’s alright though: the nursing team said that even a diaper rash can cause dangerous issues if they need to put a line anywhere near his groin area. They said it’s a risk they never take. And I can definitely appreciate that. 

The hard part is the lead-up to the surgery and all the preparation, only to hit the brakes. Now we have a little time: Nolan’s new surgery date – God willing – is Thursday, June 16th.  Until then we can hope he stays healthy!