Clara Judith Sherwood

Clara's PDA has reopened and they need it to close ASAP in order for her to grow and not start to decline. So Krystal and I met with several doctors, surgeons, and nurses and we discussed our options. Needless to say all courses of treatments have pro's and Con's. After about 2 hours of meetings and discussing among ourselves, we decided to have the surgeon go in and put a metal clamp to close the PDA ( http://photos1.blogger.com/img/165/2984/640/PDA.jpg ). The valve will be closed after the procedure but the fact that they have to operate is risky. The surgeon said that she is strong and should do well. We could have opted to go the medicine route but we felt that if thing did not go exactly right that the con's were too great.
The procedure is going to be done at 8 am on Thursday and because of the forecast of ice again Krystal and I decided to stay in Charlotte near the hospital. We will go in early to spend a few hours with her before the operation. They have warned us that the next 48-72 hours will not be pretty but she should start to make major strides after that. She will be put on the ventilator again and may stay on it for a week or so. We will not be able to hold her until further notice and have minimal contact.

On the positive side I did get 45 minutes of Kangaroo Care with her and she started whaling very load when Meghann was putting her back. That's my Girl! I promised her that if she did well tomorrow that we would introduce Sam and Molly to her thru pictures and would leave them with her in the isolette.

I will try to post good news as we get it, so stay tuned.............

Happy Groundhog's Day & Cheers for now
Bill Murray