Update on Truman's Surgery

Truman's heart surgery will be performed at 6 a.m. on Monday, August 14. The entire procedure, including set-up, takes about an hour. We've been told to expect a couple of rough days after the surgery as Truman will likely go back on blood pressure medication and will be a very sick little boy for a while.

This morning (Sunday) while a follow-up echo was being performed on Truman's heart, his neonatologist asked to see a sonogram of his head as well. We received preliminary results this afternoon. It appears that Truman has suffered a brain bleed that is somewhere between grade II or grade III. Sometimes these bleeds resolve themselves and result in little to no long-term effects. Others result in long-term cognitive delays ranging from simple learning disabilities to mental retardation. Cerebral palsy is also a possibility. A full sonogram of his brain will be performed tomorrow. The official medical term for the condition is intraventricular hemorrhage, or IVH. Fortunately, despite the bleed, he has shown no signs of severe brain trauma.

We also learned today that Truman had a high white blood count in today's blood labs, which could be a sign of a infection beginning. A course of antibiotics was started to help him get over any infection.

Needless to say, today has been a very rough day. We were told to expect some bad days and some setbacks over these first few weeks, but it hasn't made it any easier to deal with.

But not all news today was bad news. We learned that he gained two ounces yesterday and that his blood gases and blood pressure continue to look good. He also remains very stable and physically alert and active.

Thank you all for your continued support, meals, kind words, and prayers. We appreciate them all.

--Kara