The Big Day!

What a day this has been. It has been full of hidden blessings. The surgeon described the surgery as "Challenging" so let me describe some of the challenges he was presented with.

Jesse has one big valve across his heart, rather than two separate ones. This big valve has multiple "leaflets" that close and open. The surgeon's job is to separate these multiple leaflets into two separate valves - one on each side of the heart. To complicate matters, one (or more) of the leaflets had a "cleft" (split) in it, so he also had to correct the cleft. The problem is that if he stitches it too much, it can be hard to close, but if he doesn't stitch it enough it will leak.

Another issue is that these leaflets open and close by little strings that attach to them - similar to parachut strings. There were many of these strings, which he had to work around carefully to not damage them or have them in the wrong place.

To further complicate matters, the ventricular (bottom) hole in Jesse's heart was much more severe than was expected and there was an additional small hole in the very bottom of the septum that they were unable to close without causing damage to his heart.

Not to be outdone, Jesse had not only an extra chromosome, but also an extra "Superior Vena Cava." This made Jesse more at risk for "heart block" which means something like there was a greater chance of the heart not restarting up again with a good rhythm after the surgery.

Jesse was showing signs of "pulmonary hypertension" - elevated pressure in his lungs - prior to surgery and they were really having to watch for damage to Jesse's lungs.

Finally, when they began to close up Jesse's chest following surgery, he had a drastic drop in blood pressure which concerned them.

Now - why do we share all of these "bad things" - to show that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

Jesse's surgery was successful. The pressure in his lungs is normal at this time. There is minimal leakage in the valves. His heart is beating without a pacemaker. His blood pressure returned to normal. To God be the Glory for the mighty things He has done!