Open Heart Surgery.

Open Heart Surgery 

  Boy, that is one scary title. Open heart surgery... Open heart surgery. Being 33, just days shy of 34, those are words I had heard, but never prepared for. You read it, you hear about it, you may even know someone who has had it, but it doesn't hit home until its YOUR 11-year-old son. 

  Hunner was born with a complex heart. One that is near backward and placed incorrectly in his chest. Missing pulmonary vein, a sizeable VSD/ASD. For 10 years, we have waited and watched, we have had countless cardio appointments, procedures, and diagnoses.  It was not until his cardiologist realized that Hunner's ASD had grown from 8mm to 12+mm in a year, that we knew this was not going to go away on its own and as Hunner grows so does the list of issues with his heart.  

  Vanderbilt. We wait so impatiently for his MRI appointment, counting down the days until August 16th, 2019.  We pack up and head to Nashville for an MRI and a little mini-vacation. The MRI went off without a hitch, Hunner had to be put to sleep to ensure he would not move during the test, he wakes up in the recovery room, drinks his sprite and eats Cheetos. One fewer mom worries and boy I know those all too well.  Now to wait, wait for the results, expect to hear if surgery is in our future.  Time moves so slowly when you have to sit, sit, and wait. 

  August 22nd, 2019. Oddly enough, the day of my tumor removal. We get the call, the call we have been waiting for, yet silently avoiding. The MRI confirmed everything we had expected. Surgery was coming, but when, we did not know. So now, we have the information, but we still sit and wait. When would the call come, when would we know, what do we do next? 

  August 26th, 2019. The phone rings, area code 615...This soon...This quick... My heart sinks... The lady on the phone tells me Hunner's surgery has been scheduled... September 19th, 2019. Wow! I know what you are thinking, that's in like 3 weeks. How does one mentally prepare, pack up and leave home, and make sense of life in just 3 short weeks? I can not tell you how we did it, but we did. We planned we fundraised, we prepared, and we packed down our little car on September 17th and headed to Vanderbilt for pre-op and surgery. 

  September 18th, 2019. Pre-op day. Hunner wakes up with sniffles. Allergies we presume. We head to the hospital to begin our long day of tests, doctors, and tours. We make it through the echocardiogram, EKG, height, and weight, then we are lead to the next room, for the next round of tests. The nurse listens to Hunner's chest, and she isn't happy with how it sounds. She orders a nose swab and sends us for lunch. We eat quickly and rush back to the room. It isn't allergies, it is a cold, and in the OHS world, a cold is a big no-no. They tell us that surgery must be rescheduled for no less than 6 weeks away....6 more weeks of waiting, six more weeks of worry, six more weeks of trying to keep this boy healthy. 

  Now we are back to counting down the days until surgery, November 5th, 2019. We keep Hunner home, away from the world, we shelter him. We sit, we worry, we wait.