Many of you have been asking what the latest is on Lydia, so I thought I'd put a few words on the blog. No photo's today, giving the girls a rest from the camera!
Helen & I met with the cardiologist registrar earlier today and he put our minds at rest about her condition and the operation she needs. Basically, the latest heart scans show that her heart appears to be "structurally" OK, with all the valves and chambers in the right place and the right size. Her problem is in the aorta, where she has some spare muscle tissue partially blocking this critical artery, meaning that her heart has to pump harder to get the oxygenated blood out to her body. They initially gave her some drugs in an attempt to open up her baby vessel to relieve some of the pressure in her heart. This hasn't worked, but the drug (which is basically a muscle relaxant) has had the effect of reducing the blockage itself. She will now need to stay on this drug to keep the blockage in her aorta as reduced as possible until she can put on enough weight to undergo surgery to remove the blockage. She is currently just over her birth weight, at 1.13Kg and she needs to get to be above 2Kg for surgery in Bristol, or more likely, up to 2.5Kg.
She still has a hole in her heart as well, but the cardiologists don't seem to be so worried about this, as it will either heal itself, or can be treated by further surgery at a later stage.
She seems happy in herself and is quite chilled-out when we change her nappy or give her a wash. The nurses took her off her oxygen for an hour yesterday and her saturation levels stayed at 100%, which is also encouraging progress.
Phoebe continues to impress us with her progress and the cardiologists confirm her heart looks OK, which is great news. She is off her oxygen for 6 hours at a time and seems to be taking this in her stride. She is also on 2-hourly feeds and is up to something like 28mL of milk each time!
The boys are enjoying their week off on half-term and mum & dad have no idea what day of the week it is, or even what month we're in!!
I'll try and get some more photos uploaded in the next couple of days.
Thanks so much for all your concern, prayers and support at this tricky time, they are VERY much appreciated.
