Tomorrow is a big day for all of us. Hazel is scheduled for heart surgery in the afternoon. Her PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus ) has not closed or gotten any smaller and will need to be tied off. The doctors tried to use medicine, but it is 2mm and it should be 0.7mm or less for her size. It is causing blood to flow in wrong directions and putting strain on her heart and lungs. Left untreated, it could compromise other organs.

The PDA ligation is not open heart surgery, and from what we’ve been told should be a fairly quick procedure measured in minutes instead of hours. One of the top cardiologists, a very experienced doctor, will be performing the surgery because of how small she is. The surgery will be done with tiny instruments passed through the ribcage, and the opening will be tied off. For this surgery she will have to be moved from the relatively controlled environment of the NICU and brought down to the operating room. The risks for surgery are about the same as any other general anesthesia surgery, but we are worried because of how fragile she is.

We ask for prayers that the surgery will go well and without complications, and that she will recover nicely without the hindrance of the poor blood flow. Sometimes babies who have this surgery will dramatically improve, and we are hoping for that.