Monthly Archives: October 2006

We have movement. They took her off the paralysis and her little toes have been moving.  Must feel good to wiggle after three days of nothing. Her numbers went up a little bit at first but seem to have settled … Continue reading →

Ellie had a great night last night. They gave her diuretics to get excess fluids out of her which reduced some swelling and brought her left atrial pressure down. The left atrial pressure was down to 10 or 11 (where … Continue reading →

We’ve spent most of our time in the CICU watching a monitor showing Ellie’s vital signs. It displays a constant readout of her heart rate, blood pressure, the pressures in her right and left atria, her oxygen saturation and body … Continue reading →

Hey everyone. Not much new to report. Ellie has been kept very sedated and paralyzed all day. They are just trying to give her heart time to work and the left side time to stretch and grow before they bring … Continue reading →

Ellie did pretty well overnight. She had one other incident where her temperature went up which brought the doctors around and the ice packs back. They say it’s not unusual for a patient’s temperature to go up in the ICU … Continue reading →

When we first saw Ellie this afternoon she was already starting to wake up. She was coping so well that the doctors were thinking about cutting back her sedative and maybe removing her breathing tube sometime over the night. She … Continue reading →

Dr. Pigula just came out to talk to us and Ellie’s doing well right now. He says that the two new valves (including the mitral valve) are performing well and aren’t leaking. Her heart is coping well with the fix … Continue reading →

We just got word that Ellie is off the heart/lung bypass machine which means the surgeon has completed the repair and her heart is pumping blood on its own again. They should start wrapping things up soon and we’re expecting … Continue reading →

The anesthesiologist just came out and talked to us. Ellie is on the heart/lung bypass machine now which has allowed the surgeon to open up her heart and get a look at things. They say the left ventricle is big … Continue reading →

We arrived at pre-op at 6:30 this morning on an overcast and drizzley day in Boston. The Anesthesiologist-in-Chief, Dr. Paul Hickey, is looking after Ellie in surgery today so she is in good hands – and he’s a Yalie! He … Continue reading →