The Burlingames

I forgot to mention last night that Eli had the hiccups yesterday afternoon. It was kinda funny, because they’re a full-body thing with him. After seeing that, it’s no wonder we could feel them so strongly when Megan was pregnant.

Eli’s surgery is scheduled for Friday morning. The current plan is that he’d be prepped, starting about 7am, with surgery following at 9:30. The cardiologist said it’s about a 4-5 hour surgery. We would appreciate any prayers happening then and during the days leading up to it.

For those who may not know exactly what is wrong with Eli, he has hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The left side of the heart is highly underdeveloped and is, functionally, useless. This is not a problem in utero because a duct within the heart allows blood flow through to the body. After birth, however, the duct begins to close, cutting off blood flow.

Treatment is usually done in three stages, with the first surgery coming a few days after birth, the second at 3-6 months, and the third at 18-36 months. Some patients end up needing a heart transplant later in life, while others do just fine without. The cardiologist said he hopes that, by the time Eli reaches adulthood, some new treatment may be developed (perhaps a mechanical heart or some other crazy thing being dreamed up in the bowels of Medtronic and similar companies). We’re still placing our faith in God, knowing that he has Eli’s best interests in mind.

Eli was, once again, very well-behaved today (from both a behavioral and a medical standpoint). We were able to coax a few smiles out him this morning, and I’m told by Megan he was pretty active this evening when she went to visit. I am back at work this week, so my visits are limited to mornings for the time being. Here’s pretty much what I saw this morning.

I love watching his little tongue through the pacifier; it’s very entertaining. You’ll notice the IV is back in his scalp. One of the arm IV’s was getting irritated, so they put one back on his little noggin.