was his surgeon. Surgery was very quick, only lasting about 2 hours (although that was the longest 2 hours we ever spent). Matt did very well through the procedure, and we were able to see him about a half-an-hour after he came out of surgery.
He stayed in the CICU for 3 days after his operation. We were able to see him and spend as much time with him as we wanted. I cannot praise the staff in the CICU enough. The postoperative care is critical to recovery. They also took the time to explain everything to us and answered all of our questions.
We were thrilled when Matt was able to
leave the CICU and come to his room on
the floor. We got to know a whole new
set of wonderful nurses who took splendid
care of Matt and his parents!
Our stay at Nemours, located in the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, was the best there is to offer. They put this facilty together with the needs of the entire family in mind. You get your own room where both parents are allowed to stay. The rooms are large with 2 adult size beds and meals that are brought to the room. The hospital also provides a wonderful social worker (Judi Ruley) who helps you through the process, introduces you to resources, helps you with transportation, and in general, makes your stay as stressfree as possible. This is in addition to the best physicians, nurses, and support staff around for heart defects. I highly recommend Nemours!
Nine days after surgery, we were released from the hospital. However, since we lived so far away, they wanted to check him after a few days before we headed home. So we went across the street to the Ronald McDonald house. That place was also a tremendous blessing. After 3 days, Matt had a check-up with Dr. Ken Murdison, a pediatric cardiologist at Nemours. He said that everything looked fine, except that the hole that was created between the two atria during the surgery was a little smaller than they liked to see. It was adequate for the time being, but there was a possiblity that it could start to close up before Matt was ready for the second surgery (around 6 months old). If that happened, we would have to come back to Delaware for an additional heart catherization procedure in which they would balloon open the hole. We took a wait and see attitude. Until Matt's second surgery, he would be on 2 medications: digoxin (makes the heart beat slower and contract more efficiently) and lasix (a diuretic). We were free to head back to Louisiana. We were gone for a total of 12 days.
