I will Rejoice

This is the Day that the Lord has Made.  I will Rejoice!  This has been our go to verse throughout our hospital stay.  I've had it written on the white board in the hospital room.  Precious friends text it to me to start my days off right.  Ironically, on the day that I wrote it on the board, my friend Erin saw a friend's friend post it on her facebook page, and on that very same day, the Nevil family posted a picture of Lauren's coming home banner that had the verse typed as the memo!!  Amazing reminder signs from God.  Today, Nicole (who somehow manages to have her cell on during church and ready to record-- 2nd week in a row- haha!) recorded the choir singing this song and texted it to me!  So grateful for the gift of today!

We ask for prayers for little Caleb.  He's been having de-satting episodes for the past few days that started being consistent around 4 this morning.  The doctors put him on oxygen (after not wanting him on it for the past few days)-- and want him to be watched very closely that he doesn't go over 85% saturation as that is bad for his flow on the other end of the spectrum due to his shunt.  After ruling out most possible causes for the de-satting episodes, they have decided that he needs to have a cardiac catheterization to try to figure out the cause.  He is the third case tomorrow (Monday) so I suspect it will be in the afternoon.

Cardiac catheterization is a specialized procedure in which a long, flexible tube (catheter) is inserted into a vein and guided into the heart, allowing a close look at the structures inside.  It is done to obtain diagnostic information, such as pressures and oxygen saturations in various parts of the heart.

A thin, flexible tube (catheter) is inserted into a blood vessel, most often in the groin area (the crease of the leg where it bends when sitting). The catheter is guided up the vein towards the heart. The cardiologist uses x-rays, called fluoroscopy, to help visualize the movement of the catheter. The catheter enters the right atrium - the top right-hand chamber that receives oxygen-poor (blue) blood from the body. Eventually, the tube will be guided into the right ventricle, the pulmonary artery, and perhaps the right and/or left pulmonary artery branches.

While inside the heart, several things are done to help evaluate the heart structures, as well as the pattern of blood flow inside the heart, including the following:

Blood samples are drawn from each chamber and each blood vessel, and the oxygen content is measured.

Blood pressure measurements are made inside each chamber and each blood vessel.

Contrast dye is injected into the catheter and, as it flows inside the heart, x-ray films are made of the path the dye takes throughout the heart.      (for more information, see :http://www.chop.edu/healthinfo/cardiac-catheterization.html  )