Chicago in October!

We headed last week back to Chicago.  Dr. Donaldson did Macy's procedure.  I believe this was the 4th time he has operated on Macy.  When he came in to talk about her case beforehand, he said he had talked in depth about Macy's case at a conference on Tuesday.  We were under the assumption that this was going to be done in true venogram style (through a vein in her neck).  Nope.  It was decided that they would attempt to access her Rex Shunt through her right side of her chest/abdomen.  He said that the only other option was to try to go through her left side (through her spleen), but that he didn't think there was an chance of being successful.  As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure how successful he would be doing option 1. 

So they went through her right side, snaking up into her portal vein area.  He was able to get right into her Rex Shunt, and inflate the balloon 3 times to stretch the vein.  He said the gradient went from 3 to 11 from before to after the ballooning.  It took at little over 2 hours to complete.  Following the procedure, Dr. Donaldson and Dr. Superina came to talk with us, and were very excited at how well it went.

When they came to get us from recovery, I had to go back alone since we had McKenna was with us.  Macy was already awake, snacking on a popsicle, and gave me a great big smile.  She asked for 2 things.....1.  Where are Dad and McKenna?  2.  Can I have some Buffalo Wild Wings?  When I said no to Buffalo Wild Wings, she then asked for some tomato bisque soup, lol.   We made her finish a popsicle and some keep down some water first, but we did get her some soup. 

McKenna and Jeremy were able to join us soon after, and in a couple of hours they sent us back up to our home floor.  We were happy to recognize some faces from out last long stay.  When we first arrived though, they tried to tell us that Macy was on "no contact" because of a test they ran back in April following her Rex Shunt surgery.  They had done a urine test due to a slight fever and elevated heart rate, and it came back with a bacteria in it.  However, it was not a clean catch, and she was also having loose stools that time.  So they talked about the validity of the test, and sent us home.  It was never discussed again.  However, during this stay they said it was on her record that she had to be
"no contact" for any stays.  I was like UM, NO!  That would be that she could never leave her room, and anyone who came in had to be gowned.  Within 30 minutes I had that removed from her record. 

So, we headed to BINGO from the 20th floor to the 12th floor.  The girls had a blast!  We did lots of walks around our floor and into the family room.  We really didn't need to stay the night in my opinion.  No one really paid attention to us the whole time we were they, lol. 

Macy had an early ultrasound on Friday morning, as well as some labs.  Her ultrasound looked fantastic, and the Rex Shunt was very uniform all the way through versus the narrowing it had in the middle before.  This is great news!  They said there are chances it could narrow a little bit again, and sometimes they have to repeat the ballooning.  We are hoping that was the only one we will ever need!

So we were sent off with great news!  A successful procedure, and no more Coumadin.   Macy was so excited that she could start eating foods full in vitamin K again.  She absolutely loves broccoli and salad!  They changed her to Plavix.  Plavis is a medication that makes your blood slippery.  It more like taking a daily aspirin.  So we have less restrictions.  Yay!  We head back in a month for more labs, another ultrasound, and a visit with Dr. Superina.

We are really feeling blessed, and I am so excited to see how this fully functioning shunt benefits Macy.  Thanks for checking in on us, and for all your continued prayers!