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06/04/2002 Archived Entry: "Lights, Camera ...."
I spent most of yesterday's business hours attempting to get a referral for today's appt. with Dr. Lewis. When we left the house this morning, we still didn't have authorization from the insurance agency. When we arrived at Georgetown Hospital, the nurse told us everything had just been taken care of, and started filling out forms to make Dr. Lewis my primary care OB. This came as a surprise, since Geoff & I hadn't actually made that decision yet.
But it makes sense. Since Dr. Lewis is going to be the one actively taking care of my complicated baby, it's silly to keep seeing Dr. Match. His office was mostly just there to fill out referral paperwork; switching to Dr. Lewis will eliminate that.
So this afternoon I need to call Rhonda and Dr. Match's office and let them know about the change.
When we saw Dr. Lewis, he started out by telling us the reason he wanted us in today was to talk about tomorrow's procedure. Geoff and I both stared at him -- "Tomorrow??"
So it's happening tomorrow.
At 11am, we'll arrive at the hospital. We'll talk to the anaesthesiologist, then I'll be hooked up to an IV and an epidural, and taken to the operating room. Dr. Lewis didn't think Geoff would be allowed in the operating room, but we can talk to the anaesthesiologist about it tomorrow.
The entire procedure, which probably won't begin until 2pm, will take between 2-4 hours.
They'll use a needle to inject a paralytic agent into the umbilical cord -- that will make her motionless for about an hour, and then begin to wear off. They'll also take a blood sample while they're in there. Then they'll use a different needle to put the catheter between two of Baby's ribs. While they're doing that, they'll aspirate the fluid, and the lab will test a sample to see what type of fluid it is, and whether there's an infection present.
The catheter is a small rubber tube; as they withdraw the needle, the end inside of her chest will curl up to act as an anchor. The outside part will stay straight. The idea is that the pressure inside her chest will force the fluid to drain, and then her lung will puff out to fill the now-empty space.
There is a 30-40% chance that this *won't* happen. If her lung is unable to decompress, she probably won't survive after birth. This operation is her best chance of survival though, because if her lung CAN decompress, they won't have to aspirate the fluid after birth -- they can put her directly on a respirator if she needs it.
You may not see another update until the middle of next week or so, because I'll be on bedrest until then. We'll go back Friday for a sonogram to check on her, and then we'll have another on Tuesday. After that, we'll probably have them once a week.
My mom is probably going to come over tomorrow night, and maybe stay here Thursday.
Most of the folks reading this have our phone number, so you can call if you want to ... otherwise, if you have questions, please email Geoff.