Hi Becky, It's Joe

This morning started out like a typical weekday.  David is off to work and I am trying to cram in as much sleep as possible before my three minions decide to seize the day.  Around 6:30 Zachary starts waking up so I go in and grab him and bring him back to my bed.  He is all smiles and giggles.  He then begins to roll over when I get The Whiff.  For those that have had to watch Zachary your nose wrinkles with the recollection.  What is The Whiff?  It is not just a tumultuous smell forces you to hold your breath in disdain.  It is the realization that Zachary's ostomy bag is now spewing forth its rancid contents.
Let the day begin...
While I was getting dinner ready around 5pm, the phone rang.  I have all the hospital number prefixes memorized and so I knew this was one of Zachary's doctors.  I knew I had to answer it even though the kids were screaming and going crazy in the background.

"Hello"  "Hi Becky, it's Joe."  My brain is thinking "Joe, who is Joe?."  Aw! It's Zachary's Cardiologist.
He began the conversation by explaining that a group of Zachary's doctors met and discussed Zachary's case this morning.  They discussed his airway, heart, lungs and GI abnormalities.  They determined that his airway looks good, he is finally starting to grow, and is tolerating his feeds (for the most part).
He then began to discuss the issue of the collateral pulmonary artery (this is the one that is feeding the bottom portion of one Zachary's lungs).  There are several options for this lung section.  Do they remove this portion of the lung when they do the next heart surgery or is this going to be such a delicate operation that it is better to do a separate surgery?
If they decide to do both operations together, then you have two potential problems.  First, recovery could be significantly longer and second if Zachary makes a turn for the worse, it will be more challenging to determine the root cause of his decline.  If the doctors decide that it is better to have two separate operations, you have the issue of having his chest opened twice.
Then he went on to say that it has been four months since his last heart catheterization.  (I didn't believe him that it has been four months.  TIME IS FLYING BY!)  He said they would like to get another heart cath and then explained they could do a catheterization of the artery that is attached to his goofy lung segment and place a coil to temporarily block the blood to that area and see how he does.  That would essentially be like taking it out.  You could say a trial run.
If for some reason, Zachary does not tolerate the coil, the doctors can take it out, but that lung segment would be dead.  This option seems like the best because if he tolerates it, they know they can just remove that portion of the lung when they do the heart surgery.
I then proceeded to ask when they were wanting to do the next heart procedure (Glenn procedure) and he said probably a week or two after the heart catheterization and they see how he does with the blocking of the extra artery.  Sorry, that's a lot of info that is medical and hard to explain.  That is a lot I know.
Here is our timeline as of now.  We are planning to have the heart cath done this coming Tuesday, November 4th in the afternoon.  At this time they will cath his heart and see how his heart is doing.  They will also cath the extra artery and place the coil.  This will be at least an overnight stay.  If all goes well, we hope to go home Wednesday or Thursday.

Remember how I said they would like to do Zachary's heart surgery a week or two after the heart cath?  Well, that means potentially the end of November or the first week in December.   We have been waiting for this and we need prayer.  The closer it gets, the harder it is to just enjoy this time he is home and healthy.   It has been especially hard for me as it is coming up on his 1 year birthday. We would appreciate more prayers!!   Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Joy - State of personal delight due to God's personality and not our circumstances!