Natalie's Heart Cath

 
Tuesday the 24th of April we headed into Anchorage bright and early to catch an afternoon flight to Seattle.  Natalie was so cute.  She wanted to pull the suitcase with the wheels on it and she had her little pink Seattle Children's Hospital bag with her bunny's head hanging out of it.  Natalie was so excited to ride on an airplane and see the giraffes, elephants and fish at the hospital.  Thankfully, she didn't have any bad feelings from last time toward the place.

 We didn't have to wait long before they took us back to the surgical pre-op area.  She hopped right into her little gown.

Then we waited.

 She climbed on what she could find, joked around and watched Happy Feet 2 while a myriad of people in green scrubs came in and out of the room to ask questions and bring consents to be signed.  We were told that the cath would take an hour to hour and a half.  When the last few doctors and anesthesiologists started coming in and checking Natalie out, she became apprehensive.  When I put on the white jumpsuit and hairnet so I could take her back to the cath lab, she ran for daddy.  Then came the hard part.  I took her back to the cath lab and she was holding back the tears.  Thankfully, I was allowed to hold her as she was given the gas to make her go to sleep. 

Almost two and a half hours later, we got the page that the doctor was ready to talk to us.

We talked with Dr. Jones and then were sent to the floor to meet Natalie when she came out of recovery.  Because Natalie had so many clots form in her groin (on both sides) when she was a baby, they can't access her for a cath there.  So along with gaining access to her superior vena cava and pulmonary arteries through her right jugular vein, they had to go through her liver to be able to get into the heart to measure pressures there.  This brings along an increased risk of bleeding so Dr. J wanted her to spend the night in the hospital to be monitored.

As Natalie was wheeled into her room, the nurses said that she was the perfect patient.  Natalie's face was expressionless, but when she saw us, she scowled-not exactly the reaction I was expecting.  This time around, Natalie was scared.  She turned toward me reaching her hands out and the tears started rolling.  After that, every time a doctor, resident, fellow or nurse came into the room, she became stoic and hid in her pillow.

It wasn't until she had eaten two purple Popsicles and a Reese's Peanut Butter Bunny did we see this smile.  It was back...as long as Mom and Dad were the only ones by her bed.

Even though I was totally disappointed that Natalie had to spend the night in the hospital (or maybe that I needed to stay there and sleep on one of those wonderful couches), God blessed us with being able to room with some special friends.  Teagan is a little girl the same age as Natalie who has the exact same cardiac anatomy as Natalie.  I met Teagan's mom through a mutual friend the last week of Natalie's first hospitalization in March four years ago.  Unfortunately, even though Teagan was actually in the hospital at that time, we didn't meet.  I've talked with Teagan's mom on the phone several times and this time was able to meet Teagan's mom and dad in person.  It was such a blessing to get to know them.

Natalie wasn't too sure about the wagon ride the night of her cath.  But after a bit of Tylenol, she warmed up to Teagan and watched a TV show in bed with her.

 
Maybe it was the cute jammies that she was given by Teagan or maybe it was knowing that she was going home, but Natalie's silly side started to show again.  I'm glad that she did make a new friend.  They are both on the same track and we look forward to having someone to travel this road with.

Natalie and Teagan along with their moms