Probably looking at PDA surgery....help

buenaestrella77

It's our 7th day in the NICU and I had my first breakdown. I held on strong while the nurse was explaining to me that my son is looking at PDA surgery b/c the tube (?) is wide open. She gave me a very good overview and was very sweet and compassionate in her delivery, but the fear over came me. 

Do any of you have any experience with this?

We'll have the official report from the cardiologist tomorrow then meet with the surgeon who I hear is very good.

I would greatly appreciate any insights.

Please keep my little Elijah in your prayers.

Thank you. 

here4u

Good Luck!  My NICU gave us a pamphlet with a diagram which I felt was very helpful.  My DD was thisclose to needing the surgery, but they tried another round of the medicine, and it closed on its own.

njdcgirl

My little guy just had this done last Thursday (at 10 days old).  We were really scared too, but it went fine.  At our NICU, it is very common surgery, and the cardiologist said the two major risks (of bleeding and infection) were both less than 1%.  The surgery itself is very quick - less than 30 minutes.  Also, I posted about this probably about a week ago if you want to look for those responses too.  

Our son handled it all well, but they had warned us he might get a little worse before he got better.  The first 24 hours were a little up and down - his blood pressure went up, then back down again.  We're still trying to figure out the best way to regulate that (it was an issue before the surgery - it's a little lower than they  like.)  Otherwise, the scar is very small, he's off the pain meds (took about 3 days for that) and he seems to be recovering well.

Good luck - I'm sure Elijah will be fine.  You'll be in my thoughts.

oct72006bride

My daughter had the surgery at 27 weeks (born at 24). The doctors told us it was the MOST common surgery they do on preemies and it's very very rare that something goes wrong... if you can, try not to freak out when they go through the list of scenarios when you sign the surgery documents, that freaked me out. My daughter improved dramatically after the surgery, everything became much more stable... then we just had the waiting game of getting big enough to come home.

Best of luck to you.

KellyMichelle

My son had PDA surgery.  Any surgery on your baby is scary, but this is a very simple procedure.  DS's surgery was less than an hour from start to finish.  He was on pain meds for a few days and his sats begin to improve almost immediately.  He didn't have any problems with the surgery and now at 4 he has a barely visible scar along his shoulder bone.

I will keep Elijah in my prayers. 

susanc07

oh, buena.  i'm sorry.    like PPs said, PDAs are sooo common in preemies and the risk associated with it is low.  they call it surgery but it is actually a very minor procedure. and he will feel much better overall when it's done.  try not to worry too much.

GL - i hope everything goes smoothly.  you're all in my prayers. 

SkypekWithoutAC

I don't have any experience, just wanted to offer some *hugs*

Denesdia

My LO had the PDA surgery at 29 weeks (she was born at 25 wks.) and I was more traumatized than her, I think.  It was the least of her surgeries in the NICU.  Good luck!

dmblack

My DD had this at 2 weeks old.  They tried 2 rounds of drugs to get it closed with no luck.  While its scary as a mom to think of surgery on your little one.  My DD did wonderful.  Within 24 hours after the surgery she was off all of her blood pressure meds.  She did great after that.  The surgery is very common in preemies and it only takes about 45 minutes.

LWilli35

Here's a link to a PDA post from earlier.

STBSto

We did a 3rd round of enocine (sp) which is very rare and it closed on its own but it was a slight opening after the first two rounds.  Ask for the diagram, it helped us a lot.