Shep's Surgery is Scheduled for Monday, 1/11/10

The day is finally upon us. When Vicki and I first found out about Shep's heart condition we were told that his surgery would not take place until he was four to six months of age. However, on Monday, Shep will be just shy of three months old. Let me explain the reasons why we pushed up the date of his surgery. First, and most importantly, we did not push up the date for medical reasons. Shep continues to do well and could have easily waited the four to six months that was originally approximated. We made the decision because of a unique opportunity that arose.

Vicki and I were lucky enough to get on the schedule of one of the best pediatric cardiothorasic surgeons in the country. Dr. Richard Jonas, is the gentleman who will be fixing Shep on Monday. As a result of this change in surgical teams, Shepherd will no longer have his surgery performed at Fairfax Hospital where he was born, but instead will have it performed at Children's Hospital in D.C. As I have stated before, the care we have received at Fairfax has been amazing and the surgical team had a great reputation. However, Dr. Jonas is the best and we would be remiss if we did not utilize his expertise.

The change of surgeons leads us to our second reason for being able to push up the date -Shep's progress. Shepherd has done an amazing job both in the NICU and here at home. Since he has grown so quickly and is eating well, there is really no reason to wait. Dr. Jonas operates on babies far smaller than Shep and by operating now we can begin the recovery process that much sooner. Often it is the recovery, rather than the surgery that proves to be most difficult. The good news is that because Shep has been able to do so much on his own (eat, poop, regulate sleep, maintain a strong immune system) he will likely recover at a faster pace.

The changes to Shep's plan all came about during the Christmas holiday and we have spent the last few days getting ready for the week ahead. Last Thursday, Vicki and I sat down with Dr. Jonas and went over the procedure. Then on Friday, Vicki took Shep to the hospital for all the preliminary testing (all of which came back normal). So now we wait for Monday.

We have to get Shep to the hospital on Monday morning around 6:00 Am. Shepherd will go into surgery around 7:30 and the procedure will take approximately four hours. The surgery will be performed just like an open-heart procedure in an adult. I mentioned in one of my first updates that Shep has a VSD and subpulmonic stenosis. He also has something that is called double outlet right ventricle (DORV) (check out the picture below to get an idea of what Shep's heart looks like). During the surgery the doctor will go in and sew a patch over the VSD and close off the double outlet, so the aorta only gets oxygenated blood and the pulmonary artery only gets deoxygenated. Finally, the doctor will shave off the excess muscle around the pulmonary valve, allowing more blood to flow to the lungs. Vicki and I will get updates throughout and when Shep is finished he will be moved to a special cardiac intensive care unit. Shep will likely spend the week after his surgery recovering in the hospital. It also is worth mentioning that children tend to recover much faster than adults. Because Shep's bones are still forming he will have far less discomfort and will be moving around much more quickly than the typical adult patient.

So that is where we are at. Everyone is very optomistic and Shep is expected to make a full recovery. Remember, he has been training and preparing for this day his whole life. When I go into the boys' room Shep has the theme song from Rocky playing and he is doing cardio, lifting weights and drinking milk all at the same time. Our little guy is going to kick ass on Monday and Vicki and I will be oh so happy to put this behind us. As always, I thank you all for your positive energy and good thoughts. I will send updates as soon as we know that Shep is out of surgery and is doing well.

-The Brittons