Cardiac Catheterization Date Set

Levi is scheduled for a diagnostic cardiac catheterization on Friday, February 7, at OHSU in Portland.  The day before, we'll meet with the interventional cardiologist who will be performing the procedure.  

Levi at the headwaters of the Metolius River

The cath will tell us, more precisely than an echo, what the pressure gradient across the aortic valve is.  We're hoping it's much less than what the echo showed last month!  If that's the case, then it's possible that surgery for the subaortic obstruction can be put off for awhile longer. The results from this cath will be sent to Dr. Hanley at LPCH and then we'll know more.

Levi will be sedated during the cath, and once it's finished he'll need to stay flat and won't be allowed to bend his leg for several hours. That should be interesting! I'm hoping he's pretty groggy for a lot of that, otherwise it could be very difficult to keep him down and still.  He'll also need to spend the night in the hospital.

Because of the invasive nature of this test, I'm a bit nervous.  Complications are rare, but real. I'll be very glad when it's over.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!