We have decided to proceed with surgery to close Clara's PDA, patent ductus arteriosus. The surgery is called a PDA ligation. The last time I posted I mentioned hoping her vent settings would go back down, and as of today they have not really. I asked her nurse practitioner Friday if this would be her new norm on the vent, and she said yes. We still struggled with what we wanted to do, no parent wants to send their child to surgery, until we received a call Saturday with results of her echo cardiogram. The echo showed that Clara's heart chambers are measuring larger, so now the PDA was effecting her heart. Today it was easy to go ahead and choose the surgery. With the PDA blood is flowing back from the aorta into the pulmonary artery, over loading the heart and lungs. A ligation closes the ductus, reestablishing normal circulation.

The ligation is performed under general anesthesia with Clara on a ventilator. This actually is not heart surgery, the heart will not be touched at all. To reach the PDA the surgeon will make a small horizontal incision on the left side of Clara's back. He will collapse the lung to find the patent ductus and close it tightly with a tiny metal clip. Within a few weeks after it is closed, it will shrivel up and hopefully will never reopen again.

There are numerous risks and complications, none that I want to think about right now. All which we have been told about several times. The surgeon that we have met with has done pediatric surgery for 20 years and had done several ligations, and has had no complications. He said it is a surgery that he takes his time and goes slowly.

Clara could get very sick and unstable after the surgery as her heart and lungs recover. This could take days or possible a week. Besides sending her off to surgery, this will be the most difficult. Watching her get sick and waiting for her to get better will be unbearable for me.

How much better Clara ultimately gets, get off the ventilator or not, will depend on how much the PDA was contributing to her medical problems. It is impossible to tell in advance. We could be very surprised how much it will help Clara's lungs, or surprised how little difference closing it can make.


The surgery will be on Tuesday. It will take only 30 minutes or so for the surgery, but hours until we can see again. Please pray for Clara not only then but for the entire week as she recovers. Also pray that this surgery has a big impact on her lungs, and we can see some good results.

I don't know what is going to happen. I do have faith that God is will be with her, and with us. I will send out an update as soon as I can.