Monday, March 16, 2009

Success. . .Depending on Your Definition

Lynnea's surgery is complete. She's still alive, so from that perspective, the surgery was successful. Dr. St. Louis was able to open up the area of the aorta that was obstructed. Unfortunately, there were some complications. In all fairness, these complications were not entirely unexpected, but disheartening nonetheless. For this procedure, Lynnea had to be placed on the heart-lung bypass machine again, which we knew going into it. When they tried to take her off from the bypass machine, it became clear that her heart was not going to be able to handle the work of pumping blood to her entire body on its own. So, for now she is on an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine. Essentially, this is a heart-lung bypass machine that can be used outside of the OR. Because of this, her chest will need to remain open. She will be on ECMO for up to 10 days to allow her heart to rest and hopefully heal, but we were told by Steve (Dr. St. Louis' nurse) that generally, if the heart isn't able to function on its own after 2-5 days, it most likely will never recover enough to pump effectively on its own.

Obviously, we still hope that Lynnea's heart will recover on its own, but if it doesn't we will have to look at other options, and it looks like there aren't many options left for her, other than a transplant. Some people have asked us why a transplant wasn't done right away when we found out the extent of her heart defect. We were told at the time, that trying to do a heart transplant in an infant isn't a good idea unless there aren't any other options -- this is mostly due to the difficulty of getting an infant heart, and the fact that transplanted hearts in infants tend to only last about 10 years, making another transplant inevitable before they reach adulthood. In Lynnea's case, getting a compatible heart for a transplant is further complicated by the fact that her blood type is O Negative, which is rare. Right now, we are happy that she is still alive, and we pray that she will still make a recovery one way or another.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, my. Thank goodness for the success you had, but I'm sure the complications must have you beside yourselves. We continue to hold the Callison family in our thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

We are thinking of you and praying for you little angel. Dear Lord Jesus give this child and her family the strength through these difficult times, hold this child in your arms and heal her little body.

Lots of Hugs,
Stacey Elsenpeter
mother of Zachary
www.help-zachary.com

Anonymous said...

My heart and prayers go out to you all. One thing you have to say is (What a fighter this little Lynnea is.) God bless you all and May God hold her in his hands until she is well and can go home to stay with Mom & Dad and Big Sis.

We love you! Aunt Joanie and Uncle Jack.

Anonymous said...

Both of your daughters are beautiful. I'm praying for strength for your family and that little Lynnea's heart to be healed.

Kelly Downie
C.O.L.E. Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.com

Anonymous said...

I just learned of sweet Lynnea's journey. I PRAY that she will be OFF of the ECMO SOON!!!

I pray that God will give your strength and peace!!!

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

ULove in Christ,
Cole’s (Caring Openly, Loving Eternally) prayer team
www.colesfoundation.com
Sandy Daron
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Family-Lifestyle/Parenting/Momfidence-Stop-Kiss-and-Listen.html

HTTP://ironwoodglobe.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=28932

Anonymous said...

We are sending prayers for little Lynnea's heart to start working on its own.

COLE Prayer Team - www.colesfoundation.com

www.caringbridge.org/visit/rileycook

Hugs of love, Andrea

Anonymous said...

We are still praying for Lynnea!! She has been through so much, and she has proved to all of us that she is a fighter and is hear for a reason. We will continue to hold Lynnea and your family in our thought and prayers. I hope your ok with me giving your website to C.O.L.E.S Foundation. they have been wonderful through our difficult times and right now we are all praying for Lynnea.

Stacey Elsenpeter
www.help-zachary.com

Anonymous said...

Praying for recovery of your precious little girl. May the Lord bless you and give you strength for whatever is ahead.

Mandy
C.O.L.E. Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.com

longmom said...

Know that I am praying.... May God give you His peace today!

C.O.L.E. (Caring Openly, Loving Eternally) Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.com

PG said...

Just a short note to let you know that I am thinking of you and praying for you. My daughter too was on ECMO and I understand how scary and uncertain a time it is for you and your family. Trust in the Lord our God and in the many prayers that are coming to you across the miles.

Pauline Geoghegan
Coles Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.com

Unknown said...

Praying for Lynnea and the rest of your family. God Bless.
C.O.L.E. Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.com