The first night after Jacob's Norwood surgery, his blood pressure dropped dangerously low and a team of cardiac doctors was called from their beds at home to come. They managed to get him stabilized again, and a series of new tests revealed that Jacob's reconstructed archway had developed a kink. This meant an emergency open heart surgery, just one day after his first open heart surgery. Our whole family was devastated - this time the risk was lower but it was still risky. The surgeon explained to us that there were two options, and he would try the less invasive option first. If that failed then he would again have to cool Jacob's body temperature and he would likely need another blood transfusion with the second option. Once again Jon and I walked our hearts to the operating room, feeling completely devastated. We sat in the waiting room crying and praying, feeling defeated, for 2 hours...and then the surgeon walked out with a smile on his face! The team had been able to take the simpler approach and Jacob had had basically the equivalent of a "tummy tuck" done on his archway and secured with a few stitches. I cannot describe the elation I felt at that moment - and the thankfulness to God was overwhelming.
Now, 1.5 days post op Jacob is doing alright. They are having issues with his blood pressure and oxygen levels, but we are hoping that the ups and downs soon turn to all ups. In the meantime, whenever I sit by his bed I sing him my version of an old chorus that my Mom taught me:
Lord send your angels to watch over Jacob
I'm so afraid of the night
Lord send your angels to watch over Jacob
Wrap him in your loving arms
This has become my mantra. I'm heading back to Sick Kids now for another day with my sweetheart. Jacob's Grammy and Pop arrived in TO yesterday so now he has two more people to sit by his beside and be with him. Welcome Grammy and Pop!
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