Wednesday AM - The pace of events over the last 48 hours has been overwhelming, to put it mildly. Actually it goes back to Friday Jan 5 when we were notified by the doctors at The Woman's Hospital that Adam was ready to be transferred. There was a lot of discussion as to which unit at Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) he would go to. We held off on the transfer until Monday. He was sent to a floor where they monitor his heart and breathing rate, oxygen level, etc, but the nursing care is not as intensive as an ICU. Advantages: we had our own room and were able to stay with him and hold him as long as we wanted. There was a comfortable pullout bed that made staying there tolerable. We never had to leave for nursing reports or any other reason. Heidi was jealous because the room was bigger and nicer than the one she had . Disadvantages: The nursing care was somewhat inconsistent, ranging from nurses who were just as attentive and hands-on as those at Woman's Hospital to nurses who only checked by for vital signs and/or when the call button was pushed. In all fairness, this level is geared more to the latter nursing care, but we obviously prefer and appreciate the former.

Heidi spent the night at the hospital with Adam while Grant and I were bachelors at home. I think I got a few hours of sleep, but Heidi was not so lucky. By Tuesday she was exhausted and was having to talk with several doctors regarding several different issues. This is one thing that we are having difficulty adusting to at TCH. At Woman's there was one team of doctors who handled almost everything, with the occasional cardiac or G/I specialist stopping by to consult. Here, there seems to be a different doctor stopping by every hour around the clock to discuss a different issue. Sometimes we're not sure who's running the show. But we keep reminding ourselves that this is the best children's hospital in the south, and one of the best in the world. We'll put up with bureaucratic procedures and redtape if it means getting Adam the best care possible. It's been a tough adjustment and we're still coping, but we'll manage. Oops, back to what happened. On Tuesday, Heidi was told that the surgery had been moved from this Friday to this Wednesday (today), and that a different surgeon would be operating. This caused some concern on our part as we had been told that the other surgeon was THE MAN to do the job. Our concern was short-lived when we found out that the new surgeon is the director of the cardiovascular surgery department, and that THE MAN had actually trained under him.

On Tuesday night, Heidi and I switched places, but we had our night nurse stay with Grant so that she could catch up on her sleep. I actually slept 4 - 5 hours at the hospital as we had a great nurse who was very hands-on with Adam. He was a good boy, and slept quite a bit. The surgery team came for him at 8:15. The anesthesiologist spent several minutes going over what they would be doing and answering my questions. We all then left for the surgery unit. I can tell you that watching him go into the surgery area was one of the hardest things I've ever done. So now, it's 10:55 and I'm in a special area reserved for families waiting for their children in surgery. There is a large open area, and individual private rooms off the main area. The cardiovascular staff is ubelievably helpful and supportive. I'm getting a report every 60 - 90 minutes on his progress. So far, so good. They are putting him on a bypass machine and at 10:50 they were sizing the tubing to connect to the major blood vessels. His vital signs are good, and the anesthesia was uneventful.

I will do my very best to keep this updated, as I know it's the major source of information for many people. Please be patient, and keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. Adam is a tough little fighter, and this is his biggest fight yet.