Tuesday was the catheterization and Wes was amazing. We arrived at 9:15am for our 9:30am appointment and set to waiting. Dr. Levine, his cardiologist at BCH, met with us while we waited. She shared that the echocardiogram on Monday suggested that the pressure was a result of narrowing at the base of the condit and at the left pulmonary artery branch – basically at two connection points instead of all along the length of the conduit itself. Theoretically, if those two spots got dilated, maybe with the addition of a stent, we could get more time with the conduit than originally thought.

At 10:15am Nurse Erin (she’s wonderful) took us back to our room in the cath lab. The previous case was going long, and we ended up waiting until 1:15. We read, watched TV, and listened to music. Wes hadn’t had anything to eat since the night before, and nothing to drink since 7:30am. Despite plenty of reasons to break down and throw a fit, he once again hung in there, mentioning maybe twice that he was just really hungry.

At 1:15 they were ready to prep him and they took him back at 1:45. Dr. Levine came in at 4pm with an update: they got great pictures and measurements, but the configuration of the conduit in relation to the coronary arteries prohibited dilation or installation of a stent. The great news is that his heart muscle looks strong and healthy. However, without a safe option for dilation we will need to address the pressure issue through a conduit replacement surgery. We knew the surgery was there in the future, it’s just coming sooner than we had originally thought. Oddly, though, when it comes is pretty much up to us, just recommended within the next year. HIs right ventricle pressure is at 3/4 of his systemic pressure when it would be 1/4 of the systemic pressure in a normal-functioning heart.

Anyway, back to the heart of the story, Wes did great. He was cheerful coming off the anesthesia, if a little confused and forgetful. We got to tell him the joke on his popsicle stick every 20 minutes for a couple hours and it was new to him each time. The purpose of the IVs in each hand got revisited on the same cycle. By 7pm or so he was eating and continued to eat… and eat… and eat. For about an hour and a half. Slow and steady wins the race when you’re making up for lost time (or meals in this case). Nurse Mel (also really wonderful) on the night shift took out one of his IVs and got him up and walking around.

We had a relatively easy discharge on Wednesday morning, and were on the road home by 9:45am. His incision is looking great and he moves more and more smoothly. We couldn’t be prouder of him. He could have, and would have had every right to, fall apart dozens of times. Instead, his resilient spirit saw him and us through this trip. He is one of a kind.

For now we sit tight, follow up with our local cardiologist, and plan for another trip to Boston in 2021. Thank you for all of the love and support – Wes is lucky to have so many people love him.