So, here we are.   Interesting night in that Alec began running a fever early in the night.   There was concern that the surgery would be cancelled or postponed until the fever came down.  The night nurse worked on bringing it down, and it did come down low enough for the surgeon to give the thumbs up.    Alec did OK last night and wanted to get up and move around the room a bit (slowly).  However, this morning he was a more upset and scared.  He cried quite a bit while in the holding room until we distracted him with watching TV on the iPad.   Finally, they sedated him because he was just becoming too upset.   

Currently, he is undergoing all of the pre-op stuff.  They will call us from OR when they're about to begin the incision.   And so the long wait begins.

We learned from talking with the surgeon (who by reputation and our opinion, after meeting her, is exceptional at what she does) that Alec had a MASSIVE collateral (essentially a large clump of vessels that pools and redirects blood flow in the lungs) close to the aorta.    The doctor who assisted yesterday's surgeon assisting said she'd never seen such a large collateral.   

Dr. Christian, today's surgeon, came by yesterday to meet us and was surprised to find out that Dr. Ammon (yesterday's surgeon) was still in with Alec.  So, she was able to go in and see up close what Alec's heart looks like (through the heart cath) and was able to see the collateral and then later described it as "God's little miracle" as to how his body compensated and provided a natural shunt where it was needed when he was an infant.   This huge collateral, although not an overly efficient way to get blood to pulmonary artery, preserved his life at a time when he needed surgery but likely didn't have access to the medical care he needed.  She confirmed what I knew all along and that is he never did have the first surgery that our cardiologist in Chattanooga kept telling us he HAD to have had to have survived. .. . .    So, in the end, it had saved him but it did need to be fixed and so we are thankful for God's provision that the collateral was discovered before the open heart today.   

Another teachable moment for me (Joan) in God's provision for Alec and for us.