We here at the GFL have had a major anniversary to celebrate today. Today, our youngest son Atticus, is officially one year post-Glenn today!!! Now, I know some of you may be scratching your heads thinking, "What the heck is that supposed to mean and why is it something to celebrate?" So allow me to explain.
I've mentioned before that Atticus is our special little guy, he even has his own website if you want to follow/catch up on his story by clicking on the link in the left column. He was born with an extremely rare heart disease known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome--which basically means that the left side of his heart didn't develop properly and doesn't work. This disease is 100% fatal if left untreated. The babies die within 2 weeks of being born. They basically have two choices, 1) a series of 3 open heart surgeries that sort of reroute the blood flow to and from the heart to the lungs/rest of the body or 2) a heart transplant. Obviously, they'd rather work with the heart that these babies already have (vs risking rejection with a transplant) and so the 3 stages of surgeries are known as the Norwood procedure, the Glenn procedure, and the Fontan procedure. And thus, Atticus is one year post-Glenn today, and now you know why we are celebrating!! :)
Atticus is certainly our little miracle, and while he still has at least one more OH surgery to go, I'd like to take today to just be thankful that he's survived a whole year since his last one! For those of you who might not know Atticus' whole story, I encourage you to take a peek at his Caring Bridge page. His first surgery was at one week old, another the next day, a Cath procedure that went terribly wrong causing brain bleeds, seizures, the near loss of his leg, the actual loss of part of his ear lobe, exploratory intestinal surgeries, etc, etc, etc!! And one of the major turning points for Atticus' 160 day initial stay in the hospital was his Glenn procedure. He wasn't an ideal candidate for it; his pressures in his heart were too high, he'd never been off the ventilator, he'd needed lots of blood product already, they weren't sure if the blood thinners would cause another brain bleed, etc. But he was also stuck. His surgeon, Dr Hsia (pronounced Shaw), said that it was sort of a "Catch 22". His pressures were too high, etc, but they would never get better unless Atticus had the Glenn. So we had to make a decision to take the chance and go ahead with the procedure. Normally, the survival rates on the Glenn are fairly high (85-90%) but with Atticus' complications, his chances were more in the 65-75% range which scared the living daylights out of me. But thankfully, Atticus soared through his surgery with flying colors. Dr Hsia even made a few other repairs that he had needed to do while in the heart. With the pressures in his heart finally able to come down, it sent a ripple effect through Atticus' body which led to letting other areas of his body to finally be able to heal, and almost exactly 2 months later, we were taking Atticus home!!
I thank God for His healing hand on Atticus, for watching him and protecting him through that surgery and all the many other complications he went through. Thanks again to all those who were involved in Atticus' care-his surgeons, his nurses, and his multitude of other doctors/specialists. Thanks to all those who visited us, called us, helped us in SO MANY ways, those who prayed for us, and those that sent their thoughts and love. Thanks to all that have continued to help us and think of us as we continue to get stronger each and every day!
So take a moment, lift up your beverage (be it alcoholic or not), and toast with us here at the GFL, "To Atticus!! May we celebrate many more of these anniversaries together!"
