Samuel Update

Praise the Lord with us in the successful outcome of Samuel’s ablation this afternoon! Samuel did remarkably well leading up to the procedure; full of smiles, goofiness and no fear at all. The doctor thought it was so cute how fascinated he was by the Cath Lab and how he really liked their blankets. Samuel was promptly wheeled into the Cath Lab at 2:00pm and we received word at 4:00pm that all went very well.

About 5:00pm we were able to go see Samuel in the Cath Lab so he could hear our voices as he was coming to. The intensivist who was keeping Samuel sedated said his job was very “boring” since Samuel responded so well to the sedation and his blood pressure and vitals remained at an optimal status the entire time. This was something that may not have been the case if he underwent this procedure last Friday with a fever. The electrophysiologist said that was an important factor since his hands were full trying to locate the problem and perform the ablation, which was in an unusual and challenging location. The procedure thus took longer but we praise the Lord for the elimination of the problem.

The doctor did not see any SVT while trying to induce an episode after the ablation so he is very confident there will be no further problems. In Dr. Woelfel’s words he said: “I am glad this was not my first case and I’m really glad it was me who performed the ablation.” (His colleague was willing although hesitant to perform the procedure on Friday in his place). We can clearly see how God has worked through every detail of this trial for us. Samuel and Dr. Woelfel both needed to be in optimum health for this successful procedure so we praise the Lord for His watch care over the situation, even if it was a longer weekend for us.

The hardest part of the day (besides the 3 hours in the waiting room) was keeping Samuel’s leg completely straight and still for 6 hours post op. For the first hour it took 4 of us to keep Samuel still as he was coming out of his sedated state and was very mad at us for holding his leg down. Once he became more lucid and distracted (by playing PlayStation with Dada) our task became easier. A quick eco showed that his heart looks good but he’ll remain under ICU observation with the anticipation of being released tomorrow morning sometime.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers for Samuel! He certainly has been at peace this entire time and a wonderful patient…7 days and 6 nights confined to a bed for an active 5 year old boy is not an easy task, but he has done so without much complaint. We are so grateful that we will be united as a family tomorrow!