Day Nine- Caer De La Lista Crítica

Melissa and I rolled into the hospital this morning to find Amelia comfortably settled in her own private room. Within about 10 minutes of our arrival, Mary walked in as well (she was downtown for an appointment and dropped by). We spent a few hours visiting with our little girl and discussing her current plan of care with the sub-Conclaves. I always suspected that that it was the nurses that keep the modern hospital running, and this whole experience has only served to confirm that. Since Amelia emerged from OR, I don’t think we’ve spoken an actual cardiologist more than twice. I suppose this is a good sign—Amelia has fallen off of the Critical List.

Amelia had an echo today. We were told that her patch (separating her left and right ventricles) is still leaking a bit, but this is normal and it will close over time. The test also confirmed that her pulmonary arteries are rather small, which means that she will require stents sometime in the next 3 to 6 months. But this procedure is not quite as invasive as what she went through last week. For now, our focus must be on Amelia gaining weight and getting home

The big question is now when Amelia will be coming home. Melissa and I would have preferred for A to have gained more weight (and escape the clutches of the NG tube) but, at the end of the day, there are other kids coming in and her bed is needed. It’s scary to think that there are other kids in worse shape.

I suppose that’s one of the sad things about Sick Kids Hospital—no matter how bad things are with your own child, there is always another child in worse shape. That’s life.