A good 3 or 4 weeks after Bella’s 2nd heart surgery to redirect the oxygenated blood into her lungs from the heart, what was supposed to be a Glenn but they did a Hemi-Fontan instead, we head back into the OR for her 3rd open heart surgery. This time to repair a leak they found in the cath lab from the 2nd surgery. They called this a “baffle leak,” the tissue they put in during the 2nd surgery some how got a tear in it preventing the oxygenated blood getting to the lungs like it was supposed to.

This surgery though should hopefully not be as long as previous ones, but anything is possible. Again we wait for the usual updates during the surgery but as usual she did great and pulled through like a champ for the 3rd time. And before we knew it, she was back in her room and we began the recovery process yet again. All these procedures I was getting used to the routine finally of how things go. Also finally learning what to look at on the meds and oxygen and what questions to ask when the doctors round each morning and evening.

Within the week she is doing great, pain meds are being weaned and oxygen levels looking much better. After 2 weeks we finally went up to the main floor, out of the PICU, to recover and work towards going home. Before we knew it she was doing well and completely off of oxygen and they were getting us ready to go home. Mostly getting supplies ordered as far as formula and meds went. We would keep the oxygen supplies just in case we needed it at any point. Fingers crossed we wouldn’t though!

Finally, towards the end of June, after 2 months in the hospital this time we were on our way home! This time we should be home for a nice long stretch since her next surgery shouldn’t be until she’s 3 or 4 years old. We’ll of course have the usual monthly cardiologist appointments and GI appointments plus her pediatrician appointments too, but as long as we didn’t need surgery for awhile we were happy!