Brandon Walker Family

Friday, October 19, 2012

Cannon's Heart Surgery

Cannon's surgery 10-19-2012

Dr. A. Kaza is the surgeon. The medical staff is amazing here.

At 7:15 am we Took cannon into the operating room for preparation for surgery We were able to give him kisses and take pictures before they took him we talk to the surgeon and within an aesthetician. And then we told him goodbye and went to waiting room

8:45am The nurse just called and said that the Operation is going well They put in a pick line on his foot and that they have his chest open the next Step to hook up the heart-lung machine to continue the operation But everything is going well.

9:45 am the nurse called and said they have him on the heart and lung bypass machine Everything is still going well have his heart open and resealing the hole From the first operation. Balloon atrial septostomy. Brandon is pacing back and forth.

11:45 am the nurse called and said they Have his arteries switched he's doing very well they are taking him off the Heart and lung machine's heart and lungs are working on their own they have good blood flow through the veins all they have left do is some reconstruction work and take a picture of the heart to check for Leaking

12:15 pm dr. sue called and said they did the scope and took the picture. Everything looks perfect. Everything is sealed up. and then the next step is to close the chest and finish the operation Then off to the PICU For Recovery

1:33pm dr. Kaza came up to us and took buddy, and both dad's in another room. He said everything went perfect. The surgery went well. All the reconstruction went well. We are still wanting to watch him pretty close for the next few days. No surprises though. No bleeding. They think they should be able to close his chest on Sunday. Eco cardio gram showed that all the valves, and chambers and arteries are working normally with the blood flow in the right place. The heart is beating on its own with no assistance. He is on a respirator for now. His chest is open. He will have chest tubes, lines to his heart for a pacemaker... But not turned on because his heart is beating on its own.

Sedated state, but bring him out enough to make sure arms and legs are moving and then re-sedate him.

Daddy and mommy are now breathing.

2:15pm we get to go see Cannon in the PICU. He looks great. Lots of tubes and bandages, but looks great!

Pictures will be posted soon

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Birth of Cannon

Yesterday morning, Brandon and I went to the hospital to bring our newest addition of our family into this world, little Cannon. He was a scheduled c-section. We did all the paper work, got ready for surgery, and then headed in. The surgery went well. They held up baby cannon at 7:41am and I could hear him make some gurgly sounds. Brandon left with Cannon while they finished stitching me up.

Brandon said he was following them, and then all of a sudden they said, we can't find a heart beat and started doing chest compressions on him and headed for the NICU. They told Buddy to go take care of his wife and that everything was going to be okay. Brandon came back in the room with me and the second I saw him, I knew something was wrong. He had tears in his eyes. He said, "they just took Cannon to the NICU. He stopped breathing." The nurses said, he will be ok. They took me to my room. My legs were still completely numb. My nurse came in and asked me if we were LDS. I said yes. She said, your baby won't be coming in here with you. He needs to be life-flighted to Primary Children's Hospital. They believe that two of the ventricles in his heart are reversed. Know as: Transposition of the great vessels (TGV). She asked if we Would you like to have him given a blessing? There wasn't going to be enough room in the NICU for my bed to be wheeled in, so they lifted me into a wheelchair because I couldn't feel my legs and wheeled me into where Cannon was. Brandon and his Dad gave Cannon a blessing. I was not able to hold him, but I was able to put my hand on his chest.

They then took me back to my room while they prepped him for his helicopter ride. After they prepped him, they brought him back in my room so I could see him one more time.

Then they took him. I watched from out the window of the life-flight taking off. Brandon was able to go to the launch pad and help them get him in the helicopter.

So here is cannon's heart:

Transposition of the great vessels is a congenital heart defect in which the position of the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart - the aorta and the pulmonary artery - is switched (transposed). This defect is classified as a cyanotic heart defect because the condition results in insufficiently oxygenated blood pumped to the body which leads to cyanosis (a bluish-purple coloration to the skin) and shortness of breath.

This is what it is suppose to look like:

When he got to Primary Children's, the oxygen levels in his blood were 20 and they need to be at least 70. So they got him on a respirator to help his levels get up higher. They did a minor surgery where they went in through an artery in his leg and went up to his heart with a little balloon to open up the camber to let oxygen into the other chamber. Brandon and his Dad went to see Cannon and be with him. That surgery went well. After the surgery, his levels went from 20 to 80. We are so, so happy.

Brandon and Dad came back to Ogden Regional that night to be with me. I have to be in the hospital for a few days because of the c-section.

The next morning, today, the Primary Children's called us and told us that we had a few scares last night. Having a hard time getting little Cannon to regulate on the ventilator machine. They got everything under control though. He's doing better now. His oxygen levels are 90.

Brandon went back to Primary Children's to be with Cannon. Here are a few pictures of him this morning.

The Doctor called and said that we are going to have open heart surgery on Cannon tomorrow at 7am. They will be stopping his heart and putting him on a bypass machine. They will then swap the two arteries. After the surgery, they will have to keep the cut open because he will swell a lot. So they will have an open bandage for a couple days before they can close it. Please lots of prayers for our baby boy.

We are having a family fast tomorrow.