Waiting to Worry

Aidan has not weaned off of oxygen and air pressure as much as the doctors would have liked. Therefore, the doctors have scheduled an echo cardiogram on Monday to determine if he needs his "PDA surgically ligated". This is fancy talk for surgically closing the hole in his heart. The doctor spent a lot of time talking with me about both sides of the medical argument surrounding this surgery, but basically:

• On one hand, proponents of the surgery point to evidence that after the surgery is done, improvement happens more quickly because there is less strain on the heart."Get in, get out, get him better."
  
• On the other side, research also shows the PDAs close in their own more often than not. "If it is not causing him imminent danger, why submit to the inherent risks of surgery when it will probably resolve on it's own?"

Should the surgery be determined necessary, it would also mean another transfer, either back to UNC or to another hospital. You might remember me saying on October 11th when Aidan was transferred from UNC to Rex:

"Rex does not have neonatal cardiology surgical capability, so after reading the ultrasound, [UNC neonatal cardiologist] must be pretty sure Aidan's heart will not need surgery!"

Oops.

So, we're anxiously waiting for Monday to see if we should worry.

You know, more so than usual.