Cath This - Cath That

In a few minutes they're going to take Liv to the cath lab.  The object is really to be diagnostic and confirm what everyone already suspects and that's just to absolutely rule out the 1% chance that there is something  wrong internally with the heart that's causing her right ventricle to deteriorate.  Assuming they don't find anything to intervene, the data and pressures gathered is still going to provide useful towards listing her for the correct heart.  If in the off chance they find something wrong and can make a change, her heart is so enlarged at this very moment, that it is also unlikely that it would go back to it's pre-Fontan function even if we identified the root of the problem.

It is a risky procedure to do this given the nature of her heart.  Anesthesia is always risky for the healthiest of people, riskier for a child, riskier still for one who's had multiple rounds of anesthesia and riskiest yet that she has compromised heart function.  Have I emphasized that this is risky?  So anyway, to reduce the risk, they are going to try to do the cath with Liv under a twilight sleep instead of completely out and intubated.  If she doesn't respond to the meds, then they will have no choice but to knock her out completely and intubate.  I do like that she would only be slightly under actually since she has such violent nausea post-procedures anyway, but we'll see how this goes.

For all you heart families out there - they are going to go in via her vein and artery in either leg to get a look at both the left and right side of the heart.  Meaning she'll have two access points but that shouldn't be horrible.  While they have her out, the team will also put in a picc line to get better access and get rid of her peripheral IV's which go bad in days anyway.

This is a big hurdle and once it's behind us, I will most certainly feel better